“Run,” he would shout. On two legs, I couldn’t match the speed of a terrified calf or steer, but I was plenty fast, especially in a sprint, so I’d launch myself across the gravel in front of our trailer while my father stood about ten yards behind me twirling his rope.

When you first hear about it, it sounds unlikely, fact that something that happened to someone in utero, at the age of two months, or four years, or any time in childhood, is what is killing them as an adult, or making them want to die, or making them want to hurt themselves or others. Yet the connection between childhood trauma and adult disease, mental illness, addiction, suicide, violence – most all of society’s ills – is as irrefutable as the myriad truths revealed about it in the...

Jason Lee is an author based out of Coquitlam BC. He’s also a mental health advocate and speaker at events across Canada. His book Living with the Dragon, Healing 15 000 Days of Abuse and Shame has received praise from counselors and comes highly recommended as a resource particularly for men in recovery from depression, anxiety and anger stemming from childhood abuse and trauma. In this interview, we talk about how his book is changing the way people are viewing mental health, depression...

Research has proven Adverse Childhood Experiences, known as ACEs, can have a long-lasting detrimental effect well into adulthood. Those struggling with repeating patterns, autoimmune diseases, and behaviors such as addiction and difficulties in relationships now have a profound and personal resource in author Christina Beauchemin’s new book, “Let My Legacy Be Love: A Story of Discovery and Transformation: Tracing Adult Issues to Childhood Hurts”. In this memoir/self-help hybrid, Beauchemin...

At nine months old, Autumn started banging her head. Victoria and Nathaniel had installed swings for their twin girls in the doorway of the living room, and Autumn would lean out of the swing in order to whack herself on the posts. They would carefully snuggle her back in, secure her, and pad the posts with pillows, but she continued to bang. Sometimes she banged with such vigor that she scarred herself and shook the house. She also started to rock, vigorously pulsating back and forth. She...

Six-year-old Jada feels a persistent expectation of danger. She overreacts to provocative situations and has difficulty managing her emotions, which often flare up without warning. To her teachers, Jada appears touchy, temperamental, and aggressive. She is easily frustrated, which makes her susceptible to bullying. When something happens at school that triggers Jada, she may lash out in fury. How can teachers manage a kid like Jada who may have suffered trauma, but whose emotional reactions...

Beyond The Crack Generation takes readers on an autobiographical journey to explain how dysfunctional, counterproductive behavior became a cultural norm in the quest for prosperity and survival among youth. Addressing the pervasive and lingering impact that the crack cocaine epidemic had on mainstream Hip Hop culture and Urban America as a whole, it answers the echoing question: How did our young people lose their way? It offers a glimpse in the psychology of a young man in search of...

In this stirring follow-up to the award-winning Fostering Resilient Learners, Kristin Van Marter Souers and Pete Hall take you to the next level of trauma-invested practice. To get there, they explain, educators need to build a "nest"—a positive learning environment shaped by three new Rs of education: relationship , responsibility , and regulation . Drawing from their extensive experience working with schools, students, and families throughout the country, the authors Explain how to create...

To prevent and treat trauma, we all benefit from receiving a basic education in how emotions work in the mind and body. Sadly, we don't get this education in our formal schooling. So we must take it upon ourselves to learn.

From the picture book dream team behind I Am Yoga and I Am Peace comes the third book in their wellness series: I Am Human . A hopeful meditation on all the great (and challenging) parts of being human, I Am Human shows that it’s okay to make mistakes while also emphasizing the power of good choices by offering a kind word or smile or by saying “I’m sorry.” At its heart, this picture book is a celebration of empathy and compassion that lifts up the flawed fullness of humanity and encourages...

PTSD Is a National epidemic effecting about 8% of the population at any one time. That is about 26 million Americans, almost the size of the state of Texas. The following is information about who I am and what my book is about: I have my Masters in Counseling. The ideas in the book "Unlocking the Puzzle of PTSD. A Holistic Guide to Restoring Inner Peace" are easy and effective methods I used for 25 years as a licensed therapist specializing in trauma. These ideas are to help people to...

“I was one of those statistics that ACEs scientists and researchers talk about,” Dr. Gregory Williams, an administrator in the Baylor College of Medicine, told the school’s first-year class. Williams’ presentation about the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and his own experience as a trauma survivor, was organized by Dr. Reena Isaac of Texas Children’s Hospital for her class, "Hiding in Plain Sight: Understanding and Identifying Victims of Violence.” Williams regularly speaks...