The author had a chipped tooth. It ruined her looks, she thought. She had to interview someone for her book, and she really wanted to cancel. The interview subject was Mariatu Kamara, the young woman from Sierra Leone who wrote “The Bite of the Mango,” a memoir about surviving a civil war, rape, losing the baby that resulted from the rape, having her hands chopped off, making it to safety and finally leaving everyone she knew to seek refuge in Canada. The author thought about this, about why...

The opening quote in Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha's gripping book, What The Eyes Don't See, struck me right in the heart: "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." so says Dr. Suess. Caring is something that may be in short supply during our current political climate. Grappling with caring, too much or too little is worth a moment of self-reflection. We have to know what we care about, and lead with our "why," in order to make an impact. Dr. Mona...

Pat Hays has written a devotional book that gives wonderful insight into the joys and struggles that parenting a child with emotional special needs presents. Her book, My Tears in His Bottle: prayers from the heart of a special needs’ mom , contains excerpts from her personal prayer journal as she worked through the last fifteen years of balancing her calling to be an adoptive parent with the roadblocks she encountered in her neighborhood, friendships, school district, marriage, and church...

I just finished reading Great Expectations for the second time. I could relate to it much easier this reading as I used an ACEs lens to understand Pip's experiences and challenges. Dickens knew in 1860 the effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences. It seems strange to see humanity hasn't really evolved emotionally and socially that much in 160 years. Hopefully the ACEs movement will help propel our consciousness raising.

Change Your World is the newest addition to the body of resources on Resilience. It has been written by Michael Ungar, PhD - one of the most informed voices in resilience research. Although the reviewer was skeptical leading up to reading the book, expecting more victim blaming, which is often the predominant theme of resilience promotion, she was pleasantly surprised. She now recommends this book to everyone interested in learning how to build a healthier humanity.

Learning to find my gifts within my chaos has changed everything. Everything.

Naturally, I would at times experience panic attack symptoms, and would almost always cry. Sometimes slow tears cascading down my cheeks. Other times full-on ugly crying, requiring a pause in the action.

Naturally, I would at times experience panic attack symptoms, and would almost always cry. Sometimes slow tears cascading down my cheeks. Other times full-on ugly crying, requiring a pause in the action.

The author takes us on a journey into a deep place within us, a place where the truth is known "within every cell of (our) body"; beyond the masks we wear, the criticisms we've cloaked ourselves in, our over-thinker personas, fueled by the old doubts we've absorbed into our beings.

The author takes us on a journey into a deep place within us, a place where the truth is known "within every cell of (our) body"; beyond the masks we wear, the criticisms we've cloaked ourselves in, our over-thinker personas, fueled by the old doubts we've absorbed into our beings.

hI I am a independent researcher and have just finished my evidence base research of alleviating workplace PTSD, depression ,anxiety/depression in 10 hours. I would like to get these results published with you, how do I do this? Regards Beverley Searle

Thanks Elizabeth I find your review with critique and reservations spot on. Lately I've been thinking of the ACEs phenomenon as a special case of a broader phenomenon that has come to be known as structural violence. There are various definitions of this term but I find the version offered by Bandi X Lee ( Violence: an interdisciplinary approach to causes, consequences and cures ) illuminating and useful in terms of formulating remedies. Structural violence: "It refers to the avoidable...

Hi Dennis. Thanks for your comment. You'll want to read and work through My Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa Menakem to help address structural violence.

Thanks for the reference. Ill check it out.

Chris: Thank you for sharing this. The title immediately got my attention. As an parent with high ACEs, I have been constantly raised up by adoptive parents who have learned and shared what they have learned about love, attachment, trauma and parenting. It has not only benefited my parenting but my own healing. Because, unlike many of us with high ACEs in childhood, who have a whole family and maybe generations and generations with high ACEs, that's not always the case with adoptive families...

Yesterday I logged onto Goodreads, the website that tracks the books you and your friends are reading, and I noticed that an old college classmate had marked a book "to-read": What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing From Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo. "Ooh a new trauma book?" I thought, my interest piqued. Turns out this book was very new—the newest. It was released on the auspicious 2/2/22, mere days ago. I wondered if her story and insights would be boring since I've been spending at...

Thanks for recommendation about the book, Alison. Beautifully written and makes me want to download and listen immediately (alas, work calls through this afternoon .

My friends have really believed me on this and 3 of them stopped everything immediately and listened to or read this book—and they said, "you were right, this is the most amazing book!" Let me know when you read it so we can discuss it!