Last month, I had the pleasure of attending the annual National Council for Behavioral Health Conference. I have been to my fair share of conferences but #NatCon19 was one of the best. First, I'm biased. It took place in my city, Nashville, TN . And the venue was the world renowned Opryland Hotel's Gaylord Convention Center . And, I love, love, love the Opryland Hotel ! As any seasoned conference goer, I had a strategy when it came to which sessions and events I wanted to attend. My game...

Tufts University medical professor Dr. Robert Sege directs the Center for Community-Engaged Medicine and is nationally known for his research on effective health systems approaches that address social determinants of health. He is also the principal investigator for the HOPE framework (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences).The HOPE framework is based on research that shows how positive childhood experiences can mitigate the effects of adverse childhood experiences. Sege and colleagues...

We hear you! With the phenomenal growth of ACEs Connection (we’re now at more than 22,200 terrific members), the volume of content has burgeoned, and email notifications from the site about the latest blog posts and comments can be (OK, OK...are!) overwhelming. Especially to those people (about 17,000 of you) who became members before October 2017, when we changed our system so that new members don’t automatically receive emails about blog posts and comments from ACEs Connection. So, here’s...

Regulate. Relate. Reason. These “3 Rs” (developed by Dr. Bruce Perry) are an easy way to remind adults of how the brain is structured and develops and how communication is impacted when we are under significant stress. But how do you explain this in a way that kids can understand? Enter Nathan from Walnut Creek Elementary School in Austin, Texas. Walnut Creek has been working to implement the Neurosequential Model in Education as part of a pilot project in the Austin Independent School...

2023 has been a year full of wonderful opportunities to share the HOPE framework with partners from across the state and 2024 promises to be even better. I'd like to take a moment to share with you a 2022 blog post from the HOPE National Resource Center that is a great example of opportunities to infuse Positive Childhood Experiences into our everyday lives. Here's wishing you a safe and restful holiday season! Originally posted by Tufts HOPE on 12/08/22: School is out for the holidays, and...

Five years ago, I wrote a blog for this site to encourage readers to engage in a different type of cookie exchange to spread comfort and warmth during a time of year that isn’t always experienced as “merry” or “joyful”. I’d like to revisit that 2019 post with a “HOPE-ful” lens… In their book, Fostering Resilient Learners , Kristin Souers and Pete Hall introduce a concept called “the cookie jar” – the art of giving praise. It’s part of human nature to rely on external feedback to develop a...