Tagged With "child development"
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Welcoming Communities for New Americans & People on the Margins TiCong Linear Plan
Hello All, Attached is first draft Linear Plan for Building Welcoming Communities. Please edit away and track changes then send your edits to Kimberly dot Konkel at hhs dot gov and I will incorporate them. Shalom, Kimberly
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A Better Way Seminar
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A call for help: suicide in children
This is the second in the series on children and suicide. The first post asked the question, “Do elementary age children seriously consider suicide?” It is important to understand all you can about suicide in young...
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A program to Teach ACEs concepts/Importance of Avoiding Toxic Stress to Parents at our Local Lutheran Church. Ideas?
Hi everyone. I wanted to get some input. Our Lutheran Church has asked if I might be interested in working with mothers at risk due to ACEs in their own childhood's for negative outcomes in their children and to work with the church to develop a...
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Advocating for Rachel, Part One - insights from Intermountain Board member and friend, Crystal Amundson
Note: Crystal Amundson LCPC, RPT-S runs a private practice in Helena, Montana, where she works as a child play therapist. Crystal specializes in Play Therapy, working with children ages 2-12, alongside their caregivers. She is a previous employee and current board member at Intermountain. Her passion and expertise is in the field of early childhood mental health. Crystal prepared this case study with accompanying prompts for action by faith-based groups and community groups that hope to make...
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Building a Resilient Community (United Way of East Central Iowa)
ACES: Building a Resilient Community Childhood trauma has affected the majority of people in our community. Specific family problems as well as child abuse and neglect (summarized as Adverse Childhood Experience, or ACEs) have been shown to...
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Building a Trauma-Informed Nation - Be a Part - Become an Amplifier Site
Home Background REGISTER to participate in person REGISTER to participate via webcast REGISTER to participate at an amplifier site (webcast downlink) REGISTER to host an amplifier site Amplifier Site (webcast downlink) Speakers...
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Developing compassion for our neighbors and ourselves: trauma-informed faith
Even when we feel like God doesn’t hear us, he can guide our path to people and ideas that will resonate with our spirits and bring healing... The process of becoming trauma-informed can help us to develop compassion. We can overcome personal barriers that prevent us from reaching out to others in loving ways. We will be able to feel and share more of God’s love.
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Drawing connections, building empathy and resilience in traumatized children
At Intermountain's residential services, we have spent a lot of time this past month focusing on thankfulness, gratitude, and recognizing how richly we have been blessed. This has allowed me, as their chaplain, to encourage empathetic responses to the needs of others while also building a positive self-image as each child recognizes that they have something to give others. Woven into this narrative was a recognition of our interdependence and that it is not a sign of weakness to acknowledge...
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Faith and Mental Health: Creating a culture of encounter and friendship
My article “Faith and mental health: Creating a culture of encounter and friendship” has been published in the May issue of Review & Expositor: An International Baptist Journal. Article introduces the Mental Health and Faith Community Partnership which the Interfaith Disability Advocacy Coalition helped launch with the American Psychiatric Association and focuses on how congregations and faith leaders can work with psychiatrists and the mental health community to reduce stigma and...
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Growth through Trauma-Informed Strategies: Coaching and Consultation with Rick Griffin
There is a Chinese proverb that states, “If you want 1 year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people." The benefits are evident, yet the real question becomes, “how do you grow people?” This Big Idea Session, CRI’s Trauma Coaching and Trauma Consultation Training, answers this question. Schools, organizations, and parents are discovering that the traditional “command and control” style of working with...
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"Helping Kids Heal" Five Minutes with Chris Haughee from Covenant Companion
Five Minutes with Chris Haughee: Helping Kids Heal covenantcompanion.com /2018/04/16/five-minutes-with-chris-haughee-helping-kids-heal/ By Guest Author April 16, 2018 Chris Haughee Chris Haughee is a Covenant chaplain working at Intermountain Residential, an intensive residential program for children who demonstrate behavioral challenges with campuses in Helena and Kalispell, Montana. Chris and his family attend Headwaters Covenant Church in Helena. He writes about the ministry at...
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Intermountain Video Podcast: How Kids Navigate a Pandemic
Meegan Bryce, MSW, began her work at Intermountain with children and families as a Direct Care Counselor in 2004. She has since been a Cottage Supervisor, Child and Family Therapist, the Residential Manager and now serves as the Residential Director. Meegan is a Montana native and enjoys all the outdoor activities that Montana has to offer, especially river rafting. In this video podcast, she speaks with Development Officer Tyler Zimmer about how the Covid-19 pandemic is affecting the...
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Is spirituality essential for recovery? [Behavioral.net]
Get ready to squirm in your seats because we need to have a talk with you about spirituality. Spirituality is a topic we behavioral health types have shied away from: Professionals are taught to avoid it in their practices, and organizations have...
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Personal stories from witnesses, U.S. representatives provided an emotional wallop to House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on childhood trauma
Room erupts in applause for the grandmother of witness William Kellibrew during July 11 House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing. The power of personal stories from witnesses and committee members fueled the July 11 hearing on childhood trauma in the House Oversight and Reform Committee* throughout the nearly four hours of often emotional and searing testimony and member questions and statements (Click here for 3:47 hour video). The hearing was organized into a two panels—testimony from...
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Police and community leaders meet to talk race, religion, and bias; will march together in August (ocregister.com)
IRVINE – Police officers, African Americans, Christians, Muslims, Mormons, Sikhs and Jews. On Wednesday morning, they all sat down at Christ Our Redeemer African American Episcopal Church to talk to about the issues that concern them the most today – race, religion, fair policing and implicit bias. This was the fourth meeting of the Orange County Sheriff Department’s Interfaith Advisory Council, which was formed in January to mobilize diverse faith communities and engage with the Sheriff to...
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SAMHSA’s Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach
Please check out SAMHSA's new guideance on Trauma: http://store.samhsa.gov/shin/content//SMA14-4884/SMA14-4884.pdf From the intro: "The purpose of this paper is to develop a working concept of trauma and a trauma-informed approach and...
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Six-week adult Sunday school curriculum on trauma-informed ministry coming soon!
Within the next month, I will be making available a draft version of an adult Sunday School curriculum that will introduce the concept of trauma-informed ministry to churches. If there are members of ACEsConnection that would like to "test run" the curriculum, I'd be honored if you'd reach out to me in the comments section or via a direct message. Email works, too! Just send to chrish@intermountain.org. The curriculum just takes a look at the "slice" of trauma-informed ministry that I am...
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Some 350 Florida Leaders Expected to Attend Think Tank with Dr. Vincent Felitti, Co-Principal Investigator of the ACE Study; Expert on ACEs Science
Leaders from across the Sunshine State will take part in a “Think Tank” in Naples, FL, on Monday, August 6, to help create a more trauma-informed Florida. The estimated 350 attendees will include policy makers and community teams made up of school superintendents, law enforcement officers, judges, hospital administrators, mayors, PTA presidents, child welfare experts, mental health and substance abuse treatment providers, philanthropists, university researchers, state agency heads, and...
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Something to Consider... for the next time you teach or preach on worry
As I start to talk with pastors about why ACEs matter and why they should inform themselves and their congregations, I regularly hear something like this: "But why does it matter? What difference should it make in ministry? Can't I simply preach and teach the Bible and leave the results up to God?" By way of answer to these questions, I am starting to put together a training called "10 things that kid with ACEs would like you to know: moving your church toward greater empathy." The following...
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The 4 Noble Truths of Emotional Suffering (lionsroar.com)
The Buddha laid out a four-step path to freedom from difficult emotions. The secret, says Anyen Rinpoche, is understanding why our emotions cause us so much suffering. Once we know that, the path to freedom becomes clear. In Buddhism we call this the first noble truth: the truth of suffering . This is the second noble truth: the origin of suffering . We suffer because we do not know how to deal with our emotions and emotional reactions. This is the third noble truth: the truth of cessation .
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The Tiny Cell that Connects our Physical and Mental Health, and Solves a Decades-old Mystery of Why Toxic Stress Leads to Brain Changes that Spark Depression, Anxiety
More than a decade ago, I was diagnosed with several autoimmune diseases, one after another, including Guillain-Barré syndrome , which left me paralyzed twice while raising two young children. All told I spent six years in and out of bed and hospitals, learning, between crises, to use a cane or walker to navigate life as a working-mother-with-chronic-illness. My immune system was repeatedly and mistakenly attacking my body, causing the nerves in my arms, legs, and those I needed to swallow...
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Thinking About Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Impacts Through a Science-Informed, Early Childhood Lens [developingchild.harvard.edu]
By Jack P. Shonkoff and David R. Williams, Center on the Developing Child, April 27, 2020 The COVID-19 virus is ruthlessly contagious and, at the same time, highly selective. Its capacity to infect is universal, but the consequences of becoming infected are not. While there are exceptions, children are less likely to show symptoms, older adults and those with pre-existing medical conditions are the most susceptible, and communities of color in the United States are experiencing dramatically...
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Today's kids are experiencing a world full of trauma. Is your church trauma-informed?
In our world today, many children experience early childhood trauma. Through a lot of research, we now know that childhood trauma can affect children for the rest of their lives. ACEs too High explains in several articles and research reviews how trauma in early childhood can affect kids’ behavior and health during childhood and cause lifelong problems. We know early trauma causes toxic stress in the brains of young children—so much so that the American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a...
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Tools and how to use them is focus of second webinar on Community Resiliency Model, May 14, 2020
The second of two free Community Resiliency (CRM) webinars with Elaine Miller-Karas , key creator of the CRM, will be held Thursday, May 14, from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. ET, (10 a.m. CT; 9 a.m. MT, and 8 a.m. PT) and will include the practical application of tools of the model. CRM is an ACEs science-based biological model for helping individuals become emotionally regulated during natural disasters and other dysregulating times. Miller-Karas will be joined by CRM trainers from Wilmington, NC:...
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Toxic Stress: Issue Brief on Family Separation and Child Detention [immigrationinitiative.harvard.edu]
By Jack P. Shonkoff, Immigration Initiative at Harvard, October 2019 Background The separation of children from their parents and their prolonged detention for an indefinite period of time raise profound concerns that transcend partisan politics and demand immediate resolution. Forcibly separating children from their parents is like setting a house on fire. Preventing rapid reunification is like blocking the first responders from doing their job. And subjecting children to prolonged...
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Trauma-Informed Churches – CMConnect Conference Notes
This blog post are notes written by GJ Farmer and taken from a workshop Linda Ranson Jacobs presented for CMConnect Conference in 2015. Early trauma causes disorganized attachment. In early attachments children feel safe. If there are attachment issues, the impulse is fight or flight. Childhood trauma affects children into adulthood. If we want a church of the future, we must become trauma-informed. “Sometimes that angry look, that stare, that inappropriate response, is a cry for help more...
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Two New Grant Opportunities for Youth Development and Diversion Services
In 2019, more than $40 million will become available to fund community-based, culturally rooted, trauma-informed services for youth in California as alternatives to arrest and incarceration. Thousands of California youth are arrested every year for low-level offenses. Youth who are arrested or incarcerated for low-level offenses are less likely to graduate high school, more likely to suffer negative health-outcomes, and more likely to have later contact with the justice system.
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USD Kroc Insight newsletter - Look Both Ways: Religous Leaders and the Challenge of Engaging Community and Police
Across the United States, including in San Diego where the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice (Kroc IPJ) launched the Building Trust Partnership (BTP), relationships between communities and law enforcement are strained and plagued by mistrust. To build relationships and restore trust between police and communities while confronting difficult, emotionally and politically charged issues, religious leaders must engage with both sides and remain neutral, even when speaking to one may be...
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Why you faith community should know about ACEs - from Helenair.com
As I begin to share with faith communities throughout Montana why adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) matter and how they can help build more resilient children and healthier communities, I sometimes hear something like this: "But why does it matter? What difference should it make in ministry?” The ACE survey measured the prevalence of ten stress-inducing factors in childhood including abuse, neglect, and substance abuse in the home, and these factors definitely influence ministries...
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Addiction Linear Plan of TiCong
Hello All, Attached is first draft Linear Plan on Addiction. Please edit away and track changes then send your edits to Kimberly dot Konkel at hhs dot gov and I will incorporate them. Shalom, Kimberly
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Building Resilience and Expanding Health Linear Plan
Hello All, Attached is first draft Linear Plan on Building Resilience and Expanding Health. Please edit away and track changes then send your edits to Kimberly dot Konkel at hhs dot gov and I will incorporate them. Shalom, Kimberly
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Worth Forwarding - "Caught between the Amygdala and a Hard Place" - by Karyn Purvis, Ph.D. & David Cross, Ph.D.
As so many disturbing and traumatic events involving children have been covered by the media recently - it caused me to reflect on my own journey of becoming trauma-informed. Now that I know what I know, I cannot view such stories in a trauma- un informed way. I've found myself in discussions with others who may, or may not be, trauma-informed. It turns out this one factor predictably correlates with the type of conversation that ensues around any topic covered by the media where children...
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Decreasing Violence and Addressing Toxic Stress and Trauma in our Communities TiCong Linear Plan
Hello All, Attached is first draft Linear Plan on Violence, Toxic Stress, and Trauma. Again, please edit away and track changes then send your edits to Kimberly dot Konkel at hhs dot gov and I will incorporate them. Shalom, Kimberly
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On the job training isn't enough!
GRACE recently convened a team of Christian theologians, pastors, counselors, educators, and child protection professionals who have each demonstrated a commitment to protecting children and serving survivors. This historic committee has embraced the...
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Re: Linear draft plan
My suggestions to the linear plan from Kimberly for tomorrows discussion from our most recent email: A. Under mission and Values: Create trauma-informed congregations that are able to address the co-occurring epidemics of Violence Against Children (ACEs) , adult violence, untreated mental illness... etc.... VALUES Prevention as Young as Possible ( T h ere needs to be a statement here somewhere as to preventing ACEs --- it needs to be specific.... such as our values are to protect the rights...
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Re: Why you faith community should know about ACEs - from Helenair.com
Chris, where did you get the stats for Montana? Is there a link that tells such stats for various states? I'd love to use some of this in presentations to children's pastors when I speak at national conferences. Thanks for your compassion to inform congregations about ACEs.
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Re: Why you faith community should know about ACEs - from Helenair.com
Linda... Here is the source for the stats: http://www.childtrends.org/wp-...xperiences_FINAL.pdf It is not an exhaustive discussion, but does discuss what is most prevalent as far as ACEs for each state. Hope you find it helpful! Chris
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Re: Why you faith community should know about ACEs - from Helenair.com
Thanks bunches. I get Child Trend's news but must have missed this one. Too much to read and keep up with at times.
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Re: Something to Consider... for the next time you teach or preach on worry
Great analogies. You put it so bluntly. Maybe that's been the missing element in talking to pastors and church leaders about how to minister to those in trauma or those adults have a high ACEs score. Keep these thoughts coming. Much appreciated
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Re: Something to Consider... for the next time you teach or preach on worry
Thanks, Linda. Blunt? Ha ha... Here at Intermountain we teach the children to "be direct" and we try and do the same. "Tell me what you need so I can do my best to help you," "Use your words..." etc. etc. So, while I was always a pretty direct person who didn't shy away from confrontation in ministry, I have shed almost all inhibition when it comes to addressing issues head on! Also, Linda, you know better than I do from your time in ministry, these issues don't go away with niceties. This...
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Re: Something to Consider... for the next time you teach or preach on worry
Perhaps it's time for the faith-based community to step back awhile and *listen to* those who sit in their pews (and those who leave). Start by asking those with lived experiences' of emotional distress to share their stories of the memories and events that served as the kindling for later depression, substance abuse and PTSD. Just... LISTEN. Take notes because the ten items on that ACEs list do not comprise the totality of adversities that children experience. Children may be bullied...
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Re: Something to Consider... for the next time you teach or preach on worry
Excellent points, Sandy... just another affirmation of how valuable this online community can be, as your words challenge and fuel me and encourage me at the same time! Vulnerability, TRUE vulnerability, is very hard in spiritual leadership... I have had church members get visibly agitated my times I have dipped my toe in these waters (years ago... pre-ACE Study), because their image (read: idol) of a minister was someone that was a spiritual superhero that didn't bleed... especially not...
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Re: ACE Overcomers Faith-Based Curriculum
Hi, I'm glad to hear about what you're doing with the ACE study. I'm a minister for Healing and Healthy Environments- I see the Healthy Environments as related to Trauma Informed Care and the Healing as related to Traumatic Incident Reduction. I'd love to learn more about how you are working with churches. I have been consulting with churches in the past about abuse prevention and intervention and more recently using Trauma Informed Care as a lens to help groups develop policy and trauma...
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Re: 12 Myths of the Science of ACEs
Wonderful article, and certainly needed! As the ACE study becomes more widely known, myths do develop!
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Re: An ACES Presentation as a Sermon
Hi Folks! I'm attaching two documents that I used to deliver the teaching I mentioned in the post above. There is a Powerpoint file that I used on the Sunday that I've converted to a PDF. And the script that accompanies the Powerpoint is also in a PDF document. This presentation and the supporting documents are a 'work in progress.' As Ronnie and I present this to other churches and ministries in the area, I'm sure that it will evolve. We are doing our best to share this important material...
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Re: Call for Proposals Philadelphia Trauma Conference (March 6th)
Thank you so much for your interest, Stacy! The conference focuses on interprofessional work, drawing attendees from the Medical & Healthcare, Mental Health, Early Childhood, K-12 Education, Juvenile Justice, Child Welfare, Higher Education, Faith, and Community(Block Captains, organizers, etc.) sectors. The majority of sessions are accessible to cross-disciplinary audiences, while a few are targeted to attendees from specific backgrounds/professions. the website for the conference is...