Tagged With "Adult Children of Alcoholics"
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A New Documentary About Breaking the Cycle of Trauma is Launching This Fall!
We are thrilled to announce the premiere of Wrestling Ghosts , a documentary about breaking the cycle of trauma, at the LA Film festival on Sept. 27th. “Incredible. Haunting and strange and beautiful and incredibly moving.” -Dan Cogan, Founder Impact Partners Wrestling Ghosts follows the epic inner journey of Kim, a young mother who, over two heartbreaking and inspiring years, battles the traumas from her past in order to create a new present and future for her and her family. In this...
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A New Word to Help Children and Adults with High ACEs: Lasticity
We can talk about grit, resilience and mindsets all we want. These approaches, while useful in a limited way, operate off a deficit model. There is something wrong in individuals that needs to be fixed -- repaired. And, there is a built in assumption that those who have high ACEs can return to the status quo ante -- they can bounce back. But, these are flawed arguments and here's why. Those with high ACEs are forever changed; they cannot bounce back. (There are neurological reasons among...
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ACEs Validated My Teaching Experience
When I first heard about the CDC-Kaiser Permanente ACE Study , it felt like a light bulb had actually gone on. Finally, FINALLY, someone was validating what I saw every single day teaching in East Oakland. For eight years, I taught at an elementary school in the most violent part of Oakland , the part that the police called the “Killing Zone.” The kids in my class had seen friends, neighbors, and family members shot or stabbed, and routinely hid in bathrooms and closets when gang fights...
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Alice Miller's For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence
In Alice Miller’s classic book For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence, Miller hammers home her provocative stance that the root causes of ALL violence are a consequence of childhood trauma.
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Anna, Age Eight: The data-driven prevention of childhood trauma and maltreatment
ENDING AN EPIDEMIC OF CHILDHOOD TRAUMA REQUIRES COURAGE, COMPASSION AND A PLAN. ANNA, AGE EIGHT PROVIDES THE SOLUTION. NEW BOOK ANNA AGE EIGHT: THE DATA-DRIVEN PREVENTION OF CHILDHOOD TRAUMA AND MALTREATMENT By Katherine Ortega Courtney, PhD and Dominic Cappello If one in eight children suffered from an unknown but debilitating virus, outrage would boil, editorials would harangue public officials, and agencies would mobilize to counter the threat. The CDC would scramble resources to develop...
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Babies and Toddlers Risk Emotional Damage and Post-Trauma Stress in Toxic Homes
Saving your children, family and loved ones from inter-generational post-traumatic stress... Following is an excerpt from my latest book, My Journey of Healing in Life After Trauma, Part 2. "Extensive research has shown babies will pick up on toxic circumstances and behaviors and demonstrate post trauma stress symptoms as they become older. The goal of My Journey of Healing, Part 2 is to specifically help parents with stress triggers to save their kids from becoming emotionally damaged...
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Books by Category
The following books have been recommended by ACEs Connection members. Categories (see below) Brain and Neurology Child Abuse Child and Human Development Children’s Books Depression Domestic Violence Foster Care Grief Law Enforcement and...
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Book Review: Juvie Talk: Unlocking the Language of Juvenile Justice [JJIE.org]
Juvie Talk: Unlocking the Language of Juvenile Justice Richard Ross Richard Ross Photography 2016 271 pages “Juvie Talk” is a visual diary of juvenile justice, taking the reader on a journey to meet young people across the country who share their stories with a startling and refreshing open and honest dialogue. They speak of their parents, their siblings, their foster homes, their struggles and experiences, often with violence, abuse and drugs. They speak of their ambitions, their schooling,...
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Book Review: Juvie Talk: Unlocking the Language of Juvenile Justice [JJIE.org]
Juvie Talk: Unlocking the Language of Juvenile Justice Richard Ross Richard Ross Photography 2016 271 pages “Juvie Talk” is a visual diary of juvenile justice, taking the reader on a journey to meet young people across the country who share their stories with a startling and refreshing open and honest dialogue. They speak of their parents, their siblings, their foster homes, their struggles and experiences, often with violence, abuse and drugs. They speak of their ambitions, their schooling,...
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"Breaking the Silence" Warriors of HOPE Series Concludes This Sunday with a 2-Hour LIVE Worldwide Webcast Event!
The “Breaking the Silence with Dr. Gregory Williams” radio program will be featuring a SPECIAL LIVE 2-HOUR WORLDWIDE WEBCAST this Sunday evening, May 10 th from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM Central Time. This event will be a special conclusion to their WARRIORS OF HOPE series featuring all the guest from the entire series together for one life-changing webcast. The guests are some of the most sought after authors, experts and speakers on the various topics of trauma, abuse, and resilience in the...
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Broadcast Premier of 'Broken Places' on PBS [pbs.org]
From Public Broadcasting Service, March 3, 2020 Peabody Award-winning and two-time Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Roger Weisberg teams up with WNET’s Chasing the Dream public media initiative on his 33rd national public television documentary Broken Places, premiering on April 6 at 10 PM on PBS (check local listings). WNET is presenting Producer/Director Roger Weisberg’s 33rd national public television documentary, Broken Places on April 6th. This poignant production represents the...
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Building a Collection of Books for Children, Teens and Adults
The Drug Endangered Children’s Initiative is grateful to our community partners who shared their favorite book titles with us, especially Joanne Peterson from Learn to Cope and Gina Williams from East Bridgewater Public Schools for these suggestions. We look forward to discovering and sharing more resources in the new year, please comment with your favorites.
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Can Upstream Prevention Make the US Safe from Violent Crime?
New book on Science and Secrets of Ending Violent crime uses the best evidence available to conclude that the US has the knowledge to dramatically reduce violent crime. It shows to how to persuade the public and politicians to make a major shift from mass incarceration to smart investments in proven ¨upstream¨ solutions before crime happens. Action would save thousands of lives, avoid unnecessary trauma and protect women and children.
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Garbage Bag Suitcase-Available Now!
Plagued and embarrassed by my name, made worse by a nomadic childhood that made it impossible to build lasting relationships, I developed tough skin at an early age. Along the way I learned to deal with disappointment, push through discomfort,...
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Childhood Disrupted: How Your Biography Becomes Your Biology, and How You Can Heal
What is soon to become one of the go-to resources for ACEs related books by Donna Jackson Nakazawa. July 7th, that the date the book Childhood Disrupted: How Your Biography Becomes Your Biology, and How You Can Heal by Donna Jackson Nakazawa is on...
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Children, Race, and Power: The Book That Continues to Read
I recently read Markowitz and Rosner’s Children, Race, and Power . This book is a recount of Dr.’s Kenneth and Mamie Clark Northside Center in Harlem in the late 1940’s. Their journey while valiant was met with much heartbreak. Fast forward 70 years and it doesn’t appear that much has changed. Dollars continue to be wasted, and the contentment with the status quo and lack of outcomes seems a close resemblance to today. We can say we have the best intentions and well-meaning hearts, but...
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Director's Note about tonight's PBS broadcast of Broken Places (4//6)
The film trailer is available here. Learn more about Broken Places via this review written by @Laurie Udesky (ACEs Connection Staff) entitled, Documentary Broken Places uses archival footage to tell stories of ACEs and resilience over time . Tonight's Airing: Check your local listing time here. Film clips and more viewer information can be found on the PBS website .
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"Don't Try This Alone" on Amazon
Don't Try This Alone: The Silent Epidemic of Attachment Disorder" on Amazon 2-28-18; Kindle out soon... http://www.amazon.com/dp/1976120128 Thank you to my ACEsConnection community for all your support for the last five years during the daunting experience of documenting this story... Kathy was an overachiever—an economist, technical writer, and classical singer married 27 years to her college sweetheart. It looked like Kathy was fine. But deep within her hid a pain from infancy so severe...
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Dr. Claudia Gold: Empathy & Listening as ACE-Informed Practice
"You are absolutely not doomed from having ACEs."
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Educational Trauma: Examples From Testing to the School-to-Prison Pipeline (Dr. Lee-Anne Gray)
Educational Trauma is the inadvertent and unintentional perpetration and perpetuation of harm in schools. The use of standards and the normal distribution or the bell curve to rank students and identify those at risk of developing problems later is born in the same theories and practices as eugenics. Eugenics practices thrive in schools and feed the school-to-prison pipeline, which is the most extreme example of Educational Trauma. This book ambitiously aims to open a feld of inquiry into...
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Emotional Agility as a Tool to Help Teens Manage Their Feelings (ww2.kqed.org)
“Emotions are absolutely fundamental to our long-term success – our grit, our ability to self-regulate, to negotiate conflict and to solve problems. They influence our relationships and our ability to be effective in our jobs,” said David, author of the book “ Emotional Agility ” and an instructor at Harvard Medical School. “Children who grow up into adults who are not able to navigate emotions effectively will be at a major disadvantage. ” Research out of Stanford University found that...
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Emotional First-Aid for Children: Compassion in Action: How to Quickly Help in Times of Trouble
In Compassion in Action, Emotional First Aid for Kids , you will learn valuable techniques to help children successfully move through upset and trauma. You’ll find self-regulation and recovery techniques to help yourself, so you can help others more effectively. These practical tools support parents, caregivers, teachers and community members who want to protect children. The strategies are easy to learn, apply and remember, for both every day use, and in times of trouble. In Emotional...
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Eyes Are Never Quiet
From our recent book: Eyes are Never Discipline is not something we do to children. It is something we help them to build from within. Far too often school district discipline policies and procedures equate discipline with forms of punishment. For many schools, the code of conduct is made of long lists of possible behavioral infractions and the associated consequences (i.e., punishments). To properly engage with this debate, an overview of terminology is needed. “Discipline,” on the one...
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Fathers’ Day in America [Message by The Rev. Patricia Templeton]
I recently finished a haunting novel, Before We Were Yours , in which Lisa Wingate tells a fictionalized account of the true story of one of this country’s great scandals, the Tennessee Children’s Home Society and its director, Georgia Tann. From the 1920s through 1950, Tann and her organization facilitated the adoption of thousands of children across the country. Tann was a prominent member of society, held up as the “Mother of Modern Adoption,” and consulted by Eleanor Roosevelt on issues...
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Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago's South Side (Eve L. Ewing)
In the spring of 2013, approximately 12,000 children in Chicago received notice that their last day of school would be not only the final day of the year, but also the final day of their school’s very existence. The nation’s third largest school district would eventually shutter 53 schools, citing budget limitations, building underutilization, and concerns about academic performance. Of the thousands of displaced students, 94% were low-income and 88% were African-American, leading critics to...
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Healing ACE's
Healing Childhood Trauma I’d like to thank each member of ACE’s Connection for all your work helping and supporting children through various activities and organizations. You are clearly a collection of people who care about the children of the world. It is in recognition of these efforts that I ask you to consider two books on healing childhood trauma. They represent a life-time partnership dedicated to raising and educating healthy children. Secondly, I’d like to ask you for a word of...
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Healing Our Divided Society: 50 years after Kerner, racial and ethnic discrimination still holds children back (childtrends.org)
Fifty years after the release of the Kerner Commission’s report , Child Trends’ President Carol Emig reflects on how much has changed and how much remains to be done to realize the Commission’s call for “common opportunity for all.” Emig notes that while the lives of many children today are better than the lives of children 50 years ago, serious racial and ethnic inequities persist and work remains to address discrimination that often has deep and overlooked historical roots. Such work will...
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Helping Children To Thrive Despite Early Struggles [AnnDouglas.net]
“The beauty of being human is that we constantly evolve and change. We have experiences every day that can alter the course of our lives to help us rebuild what was broken and rediscover what was lost. We, as humans, are never irreparably broken because our brains and bodies are built to change and adapt. And young children are often able to change more easily than the rest of us, when makes the earliest years of life the most full of hope. The key to that hope is in relationships.” - Sara...
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Helping Kids Find the Wisdom in Overwhelm
In an unprecedented global shutdown, many of us, especially without the noise and distraction of everyday life, are facing intensified, often destabilizing feelings. And that includes kids—whether they’re able to say so or not.
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How Neuroscience Can Help Your Kid Make Good Choices (greatergood.berkeley.edu)
Self-regulation may sound like a tall order—but it’s also the best choice, according to Erin Clabough, a neuroscientist, mother of four, and author of the book Second Nature: How Parents Can Use Neuroscience to Help Kids Develop Empathy, Creativity, and Self-Control . Self-regulation is a skill that we need whenever we want to make a good choice or work toward a goal, especially when strong feelings are involved—in ourselves or others. Unfortunately, the qualities that support...
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How Neuroscience Can Help Your Kid Make Good Choices (mindful.org)
Imagine the following scenario: Your eight-year-old son is repeatedly poked with a pencil by his classmate at school. How does he respond? He might endure the pokes without complaint by using willpower, or he might stay silent, succumbing to feelings of fear or powerlessness. He could lose his self-control and act out, attacking his classmate verbally or poking him back. Or does your son “self-regulate” by considering his options and resources, taking stock of his feelings and strengths,...
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I Am Human, by Author Susan Verde
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...
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Inaugural 2019 KPJR Book Club. Self-Reg: How to Help Your Child (and You) Break the Stress Cycle and Successfully Engage with Life
KPJR Films is pleased to present the selection for the inaugural 2019 KPJR Book Club. Self-Reg: How to Help Your Child (and You) Break the Stress Cycle and Successfully Engage with Life is a ground-breaking book that presents an entirely new understanding of your child's emotions and behavior that serves as a practical guide for parents to help their kids engage calmly and successfully in learning and life. Rooted in decades of clinical practice and research by leading child psychologist Dr.
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Internal Family Systems Therapy (The Guilford Family Therapy Series) by Richard C. Schwartz
Although not the first to propose that we all have an interior assembly of sub personalities, or "parts," which make up an internal family system (IFS), Richard Schwartz presents the IFS model in an extremely accessible way. He describes how, when the self is threatened by trauma, overwhelm, fright, and so on, these "parts" focus on protecting us from harm. I read this book last year; I found Schwartz's discussion of how we can cultivate compassion for our own seemingly negative traits--say,...
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Interview with Hilary Jacobs Hendel
I first came across Hilary Jacobs Hendel’s work when I read a New York Times article in which Hendel, a practicing psychotherapist and writer, described the “Change Triangle,” an upside down triangle that explains how emotions work. The Change Triangle is also a roadmap that teaches us how we can use emotions as guides to both heal trauma and attain a more vital and calm state of being. As a follower of Hendel’s blog—and an avid user of the Change Triangle to understand my own inner...
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Irritable Hearts: A PTSD Love Story by Mac McClelland
I wrote an essay / blog post about this book recently. You can find it at http://www.ptsdmusical.com/blog/women-children-last-mac-mcclelland-s-irritable-hearts-ptsd-love-story/ - I also refer to David Morris's somewhat similar memoir, The Evil...
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Judging Me, by Mary Elizabeth Bullock
Last week I had the pleasure of attending Day 1 of the CAMFT "Advancing the Art and Science of Psychotherapy" conference in Orange County, where I got to hear Gabor Mate and Vincent Felitti weigh in on the impact of ACEs. What a singular experience to hear this dynamic duo on stage together! (My husband remarked that I was "lit up like a Christmas tree" when I got home that night.) While discussing the meaning of "resilience," Dr. Felitti recommended the book Judging Me, by Mary Elizabeth...
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KPJR FILMS Presents June's Book Club Selection & Author Tweet Up!
The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist's Notebook - What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us About Loss, Love, and Healing By Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D. What happens when a young brain is traumatized? How does terror, abuse, or disaster affect a child's mind -- and how can that mind recover? Child psychiatrist Dr. Bruce D. Perry has helped children faced with unimaginable horror: genocide survivors, murder witnesses, kidnapped teenagers, and victims of...
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License to Parent, a Move the World Documentary (2018) by George Siegel
George Siegel wrote, produced, and directed this award winning one-hour film. From the film's website: A documentary film that focuses on the lack of any requirements needed for parenting. The film looks at people's stories--men, women, and children whose paths in life were set by the family to which they were born. The film shows that if we can raise the standard of parenting, we can make our world a better place in which to live. I'm looking forward to viewing the film and then asking...
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Listening to Killers: Bringing Developmental Psychology into the Courtroom in Murder Cases
Only 1/1000 have an ACE score of 9 or 10. In his new book, James Garbarino, shows us how we as society create killers through overwhelming ACEs . He is empathetic and paints a portrait of the reality most killers are...
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Little Flower Yoga for Kids (Jennifer Cohen Harper)
Little Flower Yoga for Kids offers this fun and unique program combining yoga and mindfulness in an easy-to-read format. Written specifically for parents and kids, the book aims at teaching children to pay attention, increase focus, and balance their emotions—all while building physical strength and flexibility. Based on a growing body of evidence that yoga and mindfulness practices can help children develop focus and concentration, the simple yoga exercises in this book can easily be...
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Michigan Trauma Informed Education
We are working with PESI, a leader in professional development, to offer a full day training in trauma informed education. This content follows the content of our book on Supporting and Educating Traumatized Students. We will be in Michigan April 19, (Sterling Heights) 20, (LIvonia) and 21 (Ann Arbor) See the attached brochure If this goes well they will continue to offer this next year. Hope to see you there
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Healing Days: A Guide for Kids Who Have Experienced Trauma by Straus, et al. (2013)
"With “Healing Days,” the American Psychological Association has published an illustrated storybook that aims to help guide young victims through their emotional or physical trauma. The book tells the tale of a child who has had an...
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Helping a Child be a Witness in Court: 101 Things to Know, Say and Do by Cunningham & Stevens (2011) - Canada
Free e-book. Available in both English and French. Across this large and diverse country, a variety of people support children and teens as they wait for the resolution of a criminal case and perhaps when they are called to testify in court. In...
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How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Hidden Power of Character
Claudia Gold, a pediatrician who blogs on Child in Mind and Boston.com , wrote a terrific post about Paul Tough and his book How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Hidden Power of Character . He was...
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"Is That Me Yelling?"
I would love to know what you think of my new book, "Is That Me Yelling?" In it I invite parents to be the experts on their children by learning how to become more familiar with their yelling triggers and learn ways to stay calm in the middle of a...
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"Is That Me Yelling?" A new book for parents and professionals
I am happy to announce that my book, "Is That Me Yelling? is out in bookstores and online. It's been a labor of love to write about ways parents can become more familiar with themselves as they attempt to respond, rather than over-react, to their...
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Jemma's Journey
This is a review from the Like Minds Like Mine newsletter: Mt. Maunganui (New Zealand) psychologist Janet Peters, who has been involved with the New Zealand Mental Health Foundation's Like Minds Like Mine programme for over...
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Lost Lives: The Pandemic Violence Against Children by Dr. Einar Helander
Dr. Anna Luise Kirkengen, professor in family medicine at the Universities of Tromso and Trondheim, reviewed this book for the Kaiser Permanente Journal in Fall 2011 . The 298-page can be purchased on Dr. Helander's site for $20. In her review...
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Parenting Without Borders by Gross-Loh (2013)
Research reveals American kids today lag well behind the rest of the world in terms of academic achievement, happiness, and wellness. Meanwhile the battle over whether parents are to blame for fostering a generation of helpless kids rages on....