Tagged With "emotional learning"
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UPDATED with The Human Element: Hosting a Film Screening to Start or Grow an ACEs Initiative: How-to Guide
Movie screenings of documentaries, such as Paper Tigers or Resilience are popular ways to introduce communities to ACEs science. Cissy White provides details about how to put on a screening event.
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USDA Announces Record-Breaking Funding for 2019 Farm to School Grants [USDA.gov]
By USDA, July 16, 2019 WASHINGTON, July 16, 2019 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced today the award of more than $9 million in USDA Farm to School Program grants that will increase the amount of healthy, local f oods served in school s and c reate economic opportunities for nearby farmers. This year marks an all-time high of funding and projects in the program, with grants supporting 126 selected projects across 42 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. These...
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When Hidden Grief Gets Triggered During COVID-19 Confinement
first published by The Meadows 4/15/20 Our sense of loss during the current COVID-19 crisis can trigger hidden emotions from when we experienced a sense of loss before. Whatever early losses you have had in your life — whether they be your own divorce, your parents, or both, or the abandonment of one parent, a childhood or parental illness or death, financial upheaval, constant moving around, or growing up with parental addiction or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) — they are likely to...
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When It Comes to Your Mental Health, Listen to Your Body [verilymag.com]
In our culture, lack of sleep is worn like a badge of honor. We glorify busyness. Very few things cause us to change up our usual routine or do anything other than what we expect of ourselves. We tend to run on overdrive, barreling through the day’s to-do lists regardless of what we are feeling, to the point that we often don’t even realize what we are feeling—and not just emotionally. We often suppress or ignore physical and emotional feelings that get in the way or slow us down—feelings...
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Why Kids With ACEs Shouldn't Get a Pass on Chores
Don't worry that chores are too stressful for kids with ACEs, says trauma researcher Bob Sege, MD. “You don’t want to coddle them,” Sege said, “because the message they will get is that they are damaged goods. They need to know that the adversity they suffered is only one part of them; it’s not all of them.”
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Why Resilience is Harmful and How to Improve it
Resilience is awesome, but also poses some risks and challenges. In 2012 a special edition of the Social Justice Studies academic research journal explored some of the risks. An intro and 5 academic research articles go very deeply into the topic of the "Dangers of Resilience Promotion." All the articles can be downloaded free at this link. https://journals.library.brocku.ca/index.php/SSJ/issue/view/70 I will attempt to summarize those 6 articles here in common language, cuz the articles are...
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With a Little Help from my Friends—The Importance of Peer Relationships For Social-Emotional Development [rwjf.org]
The Issue Successfully navigating the social world of peers can be challenging. Children and teenagers benefit from the social and emotional support that friends offer, but they can also experience occasional social stressors and peer conflicts. Key Findings Peer relationships provide a unique context in which children learn a range of critical social emotional skills, such as empathy, cooperation, and problem-solving strategies. Peer relationships can also contribute negatively to social...
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Working Sessions
Merita Irby (Managing Partner, Big Picture Approach Consulting And Co-Founder & Executive Vice President, The Forum For Youth Investment) led the interactive working sessions. Cross-sector table activities focused on identifying what “ready and resilient” look like; the skillsets and mindsets that will help children be “ready”; and how different organizations and sectors can effectively partner. The slides and workbooks that guided the activities are available here.
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World Premiere: Stress & Resilience: How Toxic Stress Affects Us, and What We Can Do About It [developingchild.harvard.edu]
By Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University, November 13, 2019 When the stress in your life just doesn’t let up, and it feels like you have no support to get through the day—let alone do everything you need to do to be the best parent you can be—it can seem like there’s nothing that can make it better. But there are resources that can help, and this kind of stress—known as “toxic stress”—doesn’t have to define your life. In this video, learn more about what toxic stress is, how it...
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YBRS survey and report from Monroe County, New York
Elizabeth Meeker, an ACEs Connection member from Monroe County, New York shared that her county schools added ACEs questions to their Youth Behavioral Risk Survey (YBRS) in 2015, which is administered to students in schools. They were kind enough to share the instrument as well as a summary report of findings (both attached here). Elizabeth has indicated that she is available to answer questions that you all may have about the implementation of the survey. Thank you Elizabeth, for sharing!
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10 Steps To Success: Building Systems to Prevent and Treat ACEs
Here are ten tested steps that guide our 100% Community initiative focused on the data-driven and cross-sector prevention of ACEs, trauma and health disparities. The ten steps are those taken by local stakeholders as part of the 100% Community initiative. Action teams will choose to focus on one of ten family-focused sectors, following the key phases of continuous quality improvement which include: assessment, planning, action and evaluation. We seek improvements in all ten sectors, from...
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12 Myths of the Science of ACEs
The two biggest myths about ACEs science are: MYTH #1 — That it’s just about the 10 ACEs in the ACE Study — the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study . It’s about sooooo much more than that. MYTH #2 — And that it’s just about ACEs…adverse childhood experiences. These two myths are intertwined. The ACE Study issued the first of its 70+ publications in 1998, and for many people it was the lightning bolt, the grand “aha” moment, the unexpected doorway into a blazing new...
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12 Myths of the Science of ACEs
The two biggest myths about ACEs science are: MYTH #1 — That it’s just about the 10 ACEs in the ACE Study — the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study . It’s about sooooo much more than that. MYTH #2 — And that it’s just about ACEs…adverse childhood experiences. These two myths are intertwined. The ACE Study issued the first of its 70+ publications in 1998, and for many people it was the lightning bolt, the grand “aha” moment, the unexpected doorway into a blazing new...
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3 Realms of ACEs Handout
3 Realms of ACEs was created by ACEs Connection with inspiration and guidance from Building Community Resilience Collaborative and Networks and the International Transformational Resilience Coalition. The ACEs in these three realms - household, community, and environment - intertwine throughout people’s lives, and affect the viability of families, communities, organizations, and systems. The handout also covers five important findings from the ACEs study. Download the pdf in the attachments...
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3 Realms of ACEs Handout
3 Realms of ACEs was created by ACEs Connection with inspiration and guidance from Building Community Resilience Collaborative and Networks and the International Transformational Resilience Coalition. The ACEs in these three realms - household, community, and environment - intertwine throughout people’s lives, and affect the viability of families, communities, organizations, and systems. The handout also covers five important findings from the ACEs study. Download the pdf in the attachments...
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43 Amazing Benefits of Child-led Free Play
Self-directed free play is vital for the healthy development of children. Here we see 43 science-backed benefits it brings.
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7 Ways to Help a Child Deal with Traumatic Stress
Traumatic stress feels awful. Thankfully, there are small things we can all do to help relax a hyperaroused nervous system.
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ACE Surveillance Study of Teachers and Administrators in Public and Private Schools in Southwest Nigeria, West Africa
Note: These findings were presented at the Child Trauma Conference in Lagos on October 25-26, 2019. Rationale: Many children today live with layers of stress both subtle and overt which in this report are collectively referred to as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Specifically, these ACEs are physical, emotional and sexual abuse; physical and emotional neglect; household dysfunction and domestic violence as well as community violence. The children have a life marked by chaos,...
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ACEs | Alcohol's Harm to Others | Secondhand Drinking
It is likely most readers know someone or they are the someone who has personally experienced alcohol's harm to others | secondhand drinking. The tragedy is we hardly talk about it in ways that can change the lives of those affected -- especially the lives of children. In other words, we hardly talk about it in ways that can prevent, intervene, or treat adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Alcohol’s Harm to Others | Secondhand Drinking and the ACEs Connection One of the 10 ACEs measured in...
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ACES Science 101 (FAQs)
What are ACEs? ACEs are adverse childhood experiences that harm children's developing brains so profoundly that the effects show up decades later; they cause much of chronic disease, most mental illness, and are at the root of most violence. ...
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Adult Health Problems Linked to Childhood Trauma
It is possible to reduce risk for ACEs It is possible to reduce risk for ACEs while also mitigating consequences for those already affected by these experiences by creating the conditions for healthy communities and focusing on primary prevention. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just released new information showing negative outcomes linked to ACEs, how we can help those who have experienced ACEs AND how we can prevent ACEs from happening in the first place! Learn what...
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BABY ACES: When we consider the traumas that qualify as ACEs, babies need their own list.
Babies are obviously very different from older children developmentally, including their ability to understand and process trauma. Indeed, a baby may be completely unaware of an actual ACE— say, the incarceration of their father— which a middle schooler would be painfully aware of. Yet at the same time, the baby could be much-more-acutely impacted by the secondary effect of this same ACE: a sad, stressed, and distracted mother. Similarly, if a parent dies in a car accident when a child is in...
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Baylor College of Medicine students introduced to ACEs science
“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...
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Beyond the Crack Generation, Author K-Rahn Vallatine
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...
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Brain can be trained in compassion, study shows (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
A new study by researchers at the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the Waisman Center of the University of Wisconsin–Madison shows that adults can be trained to be more compassionate. The report, recently published online in the journal Psychological Science , is the first to investigate whether training adults in compassion can result in greater altruistic behavior and related changes in neural systems underlying compassion. “Our fundamental question was, ‘Can compassion be trained...
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Building A Trauma Informed System of Care Toolkit
We are delighted to make available the Building Strong Brains of Tennessee funded, Building A Trauma Informed System of Care toolkit. This toolkit is based upon the work of the Northeast Tennessee ACEs Connection group and it's many partners since 2015. In time, Building Strong Brains of Tennessee will also have printed copies available. In preparing this toolkit, Dr. Andi Clements and I tried to share in a very transparent fashion the steps we've taken, mistakes we've made and inspiring...
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Childhood PTSD is a Disease of Loneliness. Here's How to Learn to Connect Again.
Trauma from childhood is, in essence, an injury to the ability connect with people. And that's why so many people who were traumatized as kids experience loneliness throughout their lives -- sometimes even when they're surrounded by people. In this post I share a 10-minute video excerpted from my online course "Healing Childhood PTSD." it's all about loneliness and disconnection, and how to reconnect again. READ THE POST AND WATCHED HERE.
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Documentary Broken Places uses archival footage to tell stories of ACEs and resilience over time
Why do children exposed to the same level of adversity in childhood have different outcomes? Why do some thrive and others become completely damaged? These were the kinds of burning questions that prompted filmmaker Roger Weisberg to produce the documentary Broken Places , which was shown in a private screening at the 2018 National ACEs Conference in San Francisco. The film delves into the adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) that each of the adults profiled in it endured first as children.
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Educating the Whole Child: Improving School Climate to Support Student Success
Each year in the United States, 46 million children are exposed to violence, crime, abuse, homelessness, or food insecurity, as well as a range of other experiences that cause psychological trauma. These experiences create toxic stress that can affect children’s attention, learning, and behavior. Research on human development shows that the effects of such trauma can be mitigated when students learn in a positive school climate that offers long-term, secure relationships that supports...
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Effects of Massage on Mental Health [The Psych Talk]
Massage therapy has been praised in recent years due to its effect on both physical and mental health. Massage is the manipulation of soft tissues in the body. Massage techniques are commonly applied with hands, fingers, elbows, knees, forearms, feet, or a device. The purpose of massage is generally for the treatment of body stress or pain however it can also alleviate some of the symptoms of mental illness and neurological disorders. Depression & Anxiety: In an immune study on breast...
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Emotional Well-Being and Coping During COVID-19 [psychiatry.ucsf.edu]
From Weill Institute for Neurosciences, UCSF, May 2020 These are unprecedented times. We need to work extra hard to manage our emotions well. Expect to have a lot of mixed feelings. Naturally we feel anxiety, and maybe waves of panic, particularly when seeing new headlines. A recent article by stress scientist and Vice Chair of Adult Psychology Elissa Epel, PhD, outlines the psychology behind the COVID-19 panic response and how we can try to make the best of this situation. Our anxiety is...
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Five Things You Wish Your Community’s Early Childhood Programs Knew [CitiesSpeak.org]
By NLC Staff on May 10, 2019 Cities, towns, and villages are places of innovation and solution finding. If you want to improve early childhood wellbeing—local leaders are key partners. The Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing (NOW) Learning Community is a program of Boston Medical Center’s Vital Village. The learning community’s goal is to support local early childhood coalitions and build their capacity to work together with the broader community to improve the wellbeing of our...
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Free Resource: A Children's Book to Help Understand Social Distancing
Here's a link to the book I wrote to help kids understand social distancing and express their own emotions. This is really important or things stay bottled up inside. It is now in video version; podcast and ebook are coming. Feel free to forward to others -- kids of all ages across the nation and the globe.Reprint the link. Do an article on it. Share with friends. Circulate it. Tweet it. Free resource. Bottom line: make it viral. The cover is attached!!! I hope it helps. Navigating emotions...
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Growing Resilient Kids
Resiliency is defined as the ability to bounce back from stressful events we encounter in life. When something we encounter is so overwhelming to us that we become stuck in it, that is one definition of trauma. Resiliency can be viewed as the antidote to trauma. In fact, when we effectively process trauma we have experienced, we often come out the other side far more resilient than before. Our nervous systems have a higher stretch capacity, so to speak. How do we help our kids stretch and...
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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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Keynote Presentation – From Knowing the Need, to Setting the Vision
Sean Slade (Senior Director of Global Outreach at ASCD), talked about the factors that can influence a child’s ability to learn, thrive and succeed at home, in school and in the community. The presentation also included an overview of the ASCD’s Whole Child Tenets and how different sectors must work together to have a positive impact on whole child health.
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Marin Community Clinics in California screen babies for ACEs, provide support in effort to prevent trauma
When Marin Community Clinics (MCC) first considered screening their patients for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) they already had decided that if they were going to prevent children from acquiring ACEs, they had to take a radical approach.
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Maternity Group Home Program Funding Opportunity. Applications Due 07/25/2019 [Admin for Children & Families]
Funding Opportunity Application Due Date: 07/25/2019 Maternity Group Home Program *See attached pdf for more info. Description: The Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families' Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) announces the availability of funds under the Transitional Living Program’s Maternity Group Home (MGH) grant program. The purpose to provide safe, stable, and appropriate shelter only for pregnant and/or parenting youth ages 16 to...
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Next Family Connections TM Course to begin in Rochester NY
Next Family Connections TM Course to begin THURSDAYS Feb. 28, 2019-May 16, 2019 What is Family Connections? Family Connections is a research-based, manualized 12-week course for family members with a relative with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), or symptoms of Emotion Dysregulation. The course seeks to provide the most current information and research on BPD, teaches coping skills based on Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and helps families develop a support network. The Next Course...
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Nominate a Trauma-Informed Care Champion: #TICchampion
Becoming a trauma-informed organization requires clear communication about the transformation process, and support from staff at all levels of an organization. Often these efforts are spearheaded by “trauma-informed care champions”— individuals committed to raising awareness regarding the health effects of trauma and toxic stress and improving care for people who have experienced trauma. This week, the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) invites you to recognize people around you who...
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Only 3 States Have a Gay-Straight Alliance in More Than Half of Their High Schools [childtrends.org]
By Dominique Parris and Brandon Stratford, Child Trends, November 5, 2019 In 45 states and the District of Columbia, less than half of all high schools report having a gay-straight alliance (also known as a genders and sexualities alliance, or GSA), according to 2016 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among the 48 states (as well as the District of Columbia) that provide data, only three states (New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts) can claim that more than half of...
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Crisis in Care Report
The Greater Rochester Health Foundation convened the Commission on Children’s Behavioral Health in the Finger Lakes in spring 2015, in response to concerns from parents, child care providers, schools, pediatricians and children’s mental health clinicians. They consistently raised alarms about the shortfalls of our region’s children’s behavioral health system: the demands placed on it, its capacity, and in some cases, its quality.
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Parent Handouts: Understanding ACEs, Parenting to Prevent & Heal ACEs (English)
Please see the main post for these parent handouts in the ACEs Connection Resources Center. These two flyers ( Understanding ACEs and Parenting to Prevent & Heal ACEs ) can be downloaded, distributed, and used freely. One is brand new and the other is a revision. Both flyers were made with generous support from Family Hui, a Program of Lead for Tomorrow. Translations of these flyers are in progress and will be shared by Family Hui and updated on ACEs Connection when available.
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Prince Harry and Oprah’s New TV Series Could Change the Way We View Mental Health at Work (thriveglobal.com)
A couple of years ago, Prince Harry joined the ever-growing list of high-profile public figures who are opening up about their mental health struggles. “I can safely say that losing my mum at the age of 12, and therefore shutting down all of my emotions for the last 20 years, has had a quite serious effect on not only my personal life, but my work as well,” Harry said on a podcast for The Daily Telegraph . Now Harry and Oprah Winfrey are teaming up on a series for Apple TV+ that will debut...
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Quantifying the Cost of Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders in the US [CHCF]
Maternal mental health disorders are the most common medical complication during and after childbirth, affecting at least one in seven pregnant and postpartum women in the US, and one in six in California. In addition — and alarmingly — half of perinatal women with a diagnosis of depression do not get the treatment they need. The lack of attention has stark human costs. Untreated mothers are more likely to deliver preterm and have a cesarean delivery than those without these disorders, which...
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School Grants for Healthy Kids
School Grants for Healthy Kids Link View Program Website Sponsor Action for Healthy Kids Deadlines Apr 5, 2019 Contact SchoolGrants@ActionforHealthyKids.org Purpose School Grants for Healthy Kids awards funding to implement school health and wellness practices that help students eat better, stay physically active, and be better prepared to learn. Funded schools will also receive technical assistance to help implement a successful project that leads to sustainable change. Priority areas...
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Sesame Street Resources for Families Coping After Natural Disasters
In the aftermath of recent hurricanes and wildfires, the Sesame Street in Communities team wanted to reach out to provide information on our available resources to help families cope in the aftermath of natural disasters, and other traumatic experiences. Bilingual videos, articles, printables and more, are all available for free on our website at www.sesamestreetincommunities.org . Here are the links to a few topic pages that may be most useful to you as you work with families in the...