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...

"You are absolutely not doomed from having ACEs."

Here is the short, half day course on Empathy, Stress (Reduction) and Neural Science delivered at the Joe Palombo Center for Neuroscience at the Institute for Clinical Social Work on December 03, 2016. The session engages each of the following modules in the discussion segment, including suggested readings. Except for the first two topics, we can take them in any order and the participants will get to select: This is your mind on neuroscience – mirror neurons: do they exist, and if not, so...

From Amazon: Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors integrates a neurobiologically informed understanding of trauma, dissociation, and attachment with a practical approach to treatment, all communicated in straightforward language accessible to both client and therapist. Readers will be exposed to a model that emphasizes "resolution"―a transformation in the relationship to one’s self, replacing shame, self-loathing, and assumptions of guilt with compassionate acceptance. Its...

What if we all lived in a culture of hope? What if we all worked in a culture of hope? What if everyone dealing with childhood trauma, challenges and difficulties found a place where hope was so high that it invaded their lives as they soon as they arrived? What if our families had a culture of hope? What if every marriage had high hope?

Long before I heard of ACEs or the phrase “childhood adversity,” I started to write a book; my first. Now, hot off the press, my memoir isn’t the book I set out to write. But who am I kidding? It’s exactly the book that had to be written. It finally gnawed at me, dared me, to excavate for truth. My book was supposed to be about walking the Camino de Santiago Compostela in 2013. After I’d hiked nearly 1000 kms of trails across Spain, I told my family and friends that I would write a book...

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...

It is no longer possible to deny that there is widespread alienation, desperation, and violence among the youth that we have sometimes persuaded ourselves is a tranquil and unproblematic middle class. Yet, for the most part, that crisis has been either ignored or, when it explodes into public view, misunderstood. And this is a tragedy, because there are lives at stake.

“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.

I am a Professor of Clinical Psychology at The University of Queensland, Australia. I recently released my memoir “The Trauma Banquet”. In this book I share about my ACEs and how I learnt to be resilient in the context of their enduring pervasive echoes. I have been practicing psychology for almost 40 years and I have engaged thousands of clients in psychotherapy. As a full professor I have also been teaching psychology and conducting research, which has focused on building resilience in the...

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...

The other day I was the guest on Amee Quiriconi’s podcast ONE BROKEN MOM, which is focused on parenting, kids and the effects of trauma on how we manage it all. It was so fun talking with a fellow traveler, helping to get the word out about how we heal from Childhood PTSD. You can check out One Broken Mom here. You can take my online course, “ Healing Childhood PTSD” here .

I really believe that stories like these enable us to viscerally connect to the ACEs research in a way that reading the science alone does not. Really looking forward to seeing the movie when a screening pops up near San Diego! Jill

Excited to view it! I love the idea of following someone along their healing journey, into and through therapy. If you would like to join me on-air to discuss this project, your mission, your message, on The Healing Place Podcast , feel free to send me a private message. I am flexible with my time . . . day, evening, or weekends and we can record via Zoom or phone interview. Best wishes on your movie premiere! Peace, Teri www.teriwellbrock.com

Watched this documentary several nights ago and cannot stop thinking about it. It is haunting — because it is honest, real, and gives hope. Love it. Will write an in-depth review soon. For now? Visit the website at wrestlingghosts.com and learn more. Kim and Matt’s healing journey is epic, encouraging. Their boys are so precious. I am so glad they found hope and healing and that their story is being shared. Anyone who struggles with self-acceptance, parenting, marriage, focus, purpose, and...

This movie was SO GOOD. It was hard to watch in a good way. It was honest, realistic, and showed how / why those of us Parenting with ACEs can't always just do things differently even when we wish we could. I loved the honesty, the support group scenes, ALL THE TYPES of treatment, all the work, and though it's only one woman's story it does show parenting and I hope, will usher a REALLY overdue conversation with and by and about parents who are parenting with ACEs. Cis

In the spring of 2017, Nandini Murali, a South Indian journalist and author, returned from an out-of-town assignment to an eerily quiet home. Typically, her husband would greet her at the front door, but that morning he hadn't answered her phone calls. It was Nandini who discovered his body, and confronted an unfathomable reality. T.R. Murali, one of the most prominent urologists in India, and her beloved husband of 33 years, had ended his own life. "Space dissolved," writes Nandini, of that...

Hi Folks, The latest edition of the Surviving Spirit Newsletter is posted at the website - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/index.php Once again I've tried to create a mix of articles, videos, music, books, podcasts, resources, etc, that offer Hope, Healing & Help. As the saying goes, “ Take what you like and leave the rest. ” or here's the PDF - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/pdfs/2021-04-The_Surviving_Spirit_Newsletter_April_2021.pdf To sign up for an e-mail copy, please...

Discussions about Indigenizing the academy have abounded in Canada over the past few years. And yet, despite the numerous policies and reports that have been written, there is a lack of clarity around what pedagogical methods could help to decolonize our institutions. In Sharing Breath: Embodied Learning and Decolonization , edited by Sheila Batacharya and Yuk-Lin Renita Wong, contributors demonstrate how the academy cannot be decolonized while we still subscribe to the Western idea of mind...

Hi folks, Welcome to the August Edition of the Surviving Spirit Newsletter. Hope, Healing & Help for Trauma, Abuse & Mental Health is out - It can be read online via this & you can also subscribe - http://ml.survivingspirit.com/dada/mail.cgi/archive/newsletter/20220825143551/ or this - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/pdfs/2022-08-The_Surviving_Spirit_Newsletter_August_2022.pdf Newsletter Contents : I created these two music videos for the International Human Trafficking...

Combining three generations of family experience with ACES research and positive psychology, THE WINNING FAMILY helps prevent dysfunctional behaviors and discipline problems from the inside out.

(This is a review of what I believe is an important new resource for the PACEs [for positive and adverse childhood experiences] science movement. Opinions expressed are my own, and are shared as a parent, advocate, author, and longtime student of trauma, healing, and prevention. Thoughts are also shared through my lens as someone who believes, deeply, in the incredible importance of and value in building healthier, more compassionate communities to support and nurture pregnant and new...