Tagged With "Neural Re-Narrating"
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The implicit bias of, “Mental Illness” and “mentally ill”, a lexicon of hurt.
How can we heal from the implicit bias of “ Mental Illness ” and “ mentally ill ”? I hear these words and it sounds like fingernails scraping down the chalkboard. “ The stain of dehumanization colors the mind, body and spirit and it is not so easily washed away.” - Michael Skinner Recently I read a blog post at the ACEsConnection website, “Erasing My ACES” by Sirena Wheeler. It was posted on April, 19, 2020. It struck a chord with me, many in fact and it put me on a spiral down memory lane.
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The implicit bias of, “Mental Illness” and “mentally ill”, a lexicon of hurt.
How can we heal from the implicit bias of “ Mental Illness ” and “ mentally ill ”? I hear these words and it sounds like fingernails scraping down the chalkboard. “ The stain of dehumanization colors the mind, body and spirit and it is not so easily washed away.” - Michael Skinner Recently I read a blog post at the ACEsConnection website, “Erasing My ACES” by Sirena Wheeler. It was posted on April, 19, 2020. It struck a chord with me, many in fact and it put me on a spiral down memory lane.
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To Help Heal Trauma, Talk Less, and Write More
For a lot of people with Childhood PTSD, talking about traumatic memories can make symptoms worse -- worse than if we were to do nothing at all. Yet talking about the past is the default mode of therapy for virtually everyone who is depressed, anxious or troubled about the past. It's true that talking can be crucial to emotional healing. But there is a lot of research that supports WRITING as a more effective way to communicate past trauma and relieve symptoms of Childhood PTSD. In this...
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Trauma-Informed Resources Available During COVID-19 Quarantine (www.attachmenttraumanetwork.org)
Cissy's Note: We're not alone and organizations like the Attachment Trauma Network are summarizing resources and offerings and remembering the entire school community - including parents. Below, there's an excerpt from a recent blog post with resources. Also, per Julie Beem, the Executive Director of the Trauma Attachment Network, (she's smart, kind, and wonderful), more resources will be coming this week and next. And they will be shared here as soon as they are available. While these...
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Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Can be a Great Coping Tool & Here's How to Bring it Into Your Practice [bustle.com]
By Jay Polish, Bustle, August 18, 2019 Whether you’ve never tried yoga or are deeply into your practice, you probably know that yoga has an intense way of integrating your body’s movements with your mind’s inner chatter. For some, that connection facilitates a sense of calm and restoration. For others, that peace seems far away, if not impossible, and yoga classes offer more fear than relief. When yoga calls unexpected attention to your mind and body — and when it involves subtle competition...
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What is Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD)?
Most people have heard of post-traumatic stress disorder that afflicts many men and women returning from a war zone. It is characterized by flashbacks, unstable moods, and survivor’s remorse. However, many have never heard of a condition that often develops in childhood and changes the course of the child’s life forever, complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD). For a good definition of CPTSD, we turned to Beauty After Bruises, an organization that offers outreach focused on adult...
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What’s Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness? [Mindful Leader]
By David Treleaven A few months ago, a colleague who taught meditation in corporate settings asked for my advice. A woman in one of his programs had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, and she was now experiencing symptoms of traumatic stress. When she’d meditate, images and sensations would flood her field of consciousness, leaving her more rattled than before. “Should I keep meditating?” she’d asked him. “I want to work with my stress, but practicing seems to be making things...
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What Will It Be Like When the Lockdown Lifts? [psychologytoday.com]
By Bryan E. Robinson, Psychology Today, April 15, 2020 Although we don’t know exactly when, at some point in the future self-isolation will end, and many of us will return to offices, restaurants, and houses of worship. But what will that look like? One thing for sure, we will never return to normal; we will return to “a new normal.” And each of us will have repair work to do as we re-enter the world of physical proximity to coworkers and reconnecting with friends, neighbors, and loved ones.
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ACEs Connection's Inclusion Tool makes sure nobody's left out
We developed ACEs Connection's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Tool — called the Inclusion Tool, for short — to ensure that ACEs initiatives across the world focus on being inclusive when forming a steering committee, recruiting leaders, providing education about ACEs science, recruiting members, or providing resources and services within their communities. The more inclusive your ACEs initiative is, the more diverse it will be, giving your initiative a real shot at achieving equity and...
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Ancestral Trauma Meets Yoga in a Hospital Setting
I heard a story this week that sent sensation to my heart. It was the story of a woman of color and her child. They were at a hospital, I'm unsure the specifics of where or why. One of the nurses, a white woman, had an interaction with the child and then complimented the child on their appearance, strength and intelligence. The mother proceeded to hide her child behind her back and said, "oh no my child is none of that." On the surface, as a white woman, I thought, "Ahh, that is kind of the...
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Are You Re-Traumatizing Yourself? 16 Things We Do That Can Set Us Back with Childhood PTSD
Part of the damage from abuse and neglect in childhood is what actually happened when we were kids. But a significant part of the problem today comes from what I call "Inside Traumas." These are self-defeating behaviors that are common to people who are frequently in a state of dysregulation. They start as an innocent attempt to feel calm and stable, but they can grow into significant traumas that cause real problems for us and others. If you'd like to learn about my online course, Healing...
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Benefits of Meditation
From many centuries ago, peoples are practicing meditation to control their minds, their thought and so on. By which they can make their mind to think positive and move ahead towards their goals in life. Peoples are struggling with the practice of meditation for physical, spiritual and emotional well being. But if we look from a scientific point of view, thus really meditation does anything the physical and mental conditions of an individual. Does meditation really works! After being some...
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Calming Your Anxious Mind Through Rhythmic Movement
5 Rhythmic Movement Practices That Can Calm Our Anxious Mind
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Effective way to do Meditation
The most effective way to do meditation is to take your mind to the zero thought state. Meditation should not be something in which you try to make you mind silent. Your mind shall become silent automatically with the help of your subconscious mind power. We have written some posts on the basics of meditation and zero thought of mind . We really appreciate you if you read our blog once. And if you have any opinion please let us know. I know in the community of ace connection, there's a lot...
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Effective way to do Meditation
The most effective way to do meditation is to take your mind to the zero thought state. Meditation should not be something in which you try to make you mind silent. Your mind shall become silent automatically with the help of your subconscious mind power. We have written some posts on the basics of meditation and zero thought of mind . We really appreciate you if you read our blog once. And if you have any opinion please let us know. I know in the community of ace connection, there's a lot...
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Erasing My ACES
Why I hid ACES from my medical records in order to receive equal treatment.
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Free Webinars Teach You to Calm Brain Dysregulation From Childhood PTSD
I've just scheduled five free Zoom webinars in the next four weeks, open to you and others interested in learning and trying my "Daily Practice." These are the techniques I've used for more than 25 years to re-regulate my brain and emotions, supporting the healing of Childhood PTSD. There are two particular and simple techniques we'll cover in each 55-minute webinar: 1. Writing fears and resentments 2. 20-minute simple meditation Plus time for Q&A with me Get more info and register here.
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From Compassion Fatigue to Healing Centered Engagement: Turning Trauma Informed Values into Action
To pave the way for a truly strengths-based approach to full healing and recovery for both service users and burned out staff, we must educate them on (1) the central role of primal body responses to trauma (past and present), and (2) the early development of adaptive thoughts and behaviors in response to
traumatic experience.
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2019 Beyond Paper Tigers Conference Series - Why Take Course One and Course Two?
Community Resilience Initiative is officially launching a new series of blog posts, building to our 2019 Beyond Paper Tigers conference on June 25th - 27th. We’ll cover a range of topics relevant to conference material, events, and inspirations. In addition to the regular conference, CRI is offering two training add-on options on Tuesday June 25, 2019 prior to the conference: Resilience-Based Trainings, Course One and Two . https://criresilient.org/beyon...re-conference-event/ “A group of...
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Mind & Body Empowerment for Human Trafficking Victims (starr.org)
Building Resilience and Belonging through Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Starr believes, as its founder Floyd Starr did, that there is no such thing as a bad child. And, when you provide a safe environment, when you treat a child with dignity and respect, it changes a child’s heart. And that, in the end, is what changes a child’s life. It’s a powerful story that we have been helping children write for over 100 years at Starr Commonwealth. For all students on Starr’s campus, this approach is applied...
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Preparing and Advocating for Medical Care as a Trauma Survivor
With all the health care changes and challenges in today’s society, going to the doctor or dentist is difficult enough for the average person. With a history of childhood or adolescent sexual trauma, a medical appointment can become re-traumatizing if not handled with care by the survivor and provider. Think about it, some other adult is making decisions on the survivor’s behalf, touching their body, has their hands in the survivor’s mouth rendering them unable to make their needs known or...
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Rebuilding Lives while Building Homes: Tony McGuire's Resilience-Building Carpentry Class
Tony McGuire is a great carpenter. He ran his own construction business for years. Then he wanted to get into teaching. He became a Tenured Faculty member at a local community college, and landed in the state penitentiary as a Basic Skills Carpentry instructor. So how could that be connected to saving lives with a 20 buck investment? Tony got touched by CRI’s trauma-informed training. He saw himself past and present and knew somehow that, “with this information comes the responsibility to...
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Resentment: A Trigger for CPTSD and Dysregulation
What’s the difference between anger and resentment in Childhood PTSD? Is it really so wrong to be resentful? Isn’t there a risk of becoming a forgiving “doormat” if you lose the resentment you carry against those who wronged you? In this video I explain the everyday toxicity of resentful thoughts, and how to use my Daily Practice to release resentment and fear, and gain more clarity, and more power to make choices in life. You can learn my techniques for releasing fear and resentment, and...
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Settling In While Feeling Unsettled
How quickly the outside world has influenced our inner world and changed our thoughts, patterns, and triggers. Life is definitely coming in waves. We feel a sense of safety if we can be in a healthy home, fear and worry if we have to venture out for food, calm returns after we practice something that soothes and regulates us, and anxiety builds when we hear news and the impact the virus has on the whole world. We are beginning to expect and accept many unpredictable and unknown...
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Seven Benefits of Working with a Therapy Animal from a Handler's Perspective
Sometimes I feel selfish for walking away from our therapy dog sessions with my heart overflowing with joy, a smile radiating from my face AND heart. I love watching this dog turn a child’s tears into giggles. Sammie has a thing for kids. Her tail wags every time she sees one. Whether we are walking the halls at a school or the trails at a nature preserve. She wants to meet them all and offer a snuggle. As a result, her tail thumps in canine happiness, and I just can’t help but grin.
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Six Signs Your Brain is Dysregulated (and Ten Steps to Get Re-Regulated Again)
Adults who experienced early trauma are prone to dysregulation of the brain and nervous system, especially in response to stress. Dysregulation, in turn, can trigger (or exacerbate) depression, anxiety, illness, addiction and emotional outbursts. So clearly, learning to re-regulate is the first step in healing the effects of Childhood PTSD. If you think you may be experiencing dysregulation, learn about common symptoms (as well as ten on-the-spot healing techniques) on this free download.
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Take Care of You in Troubled Times
Self-care strategies work. In my book, “Goodbye Anxiety, Hello Freedom”, I share 35 different strategies, as one-size- doesn’t -fit-all! Today, I’ve got 5 simple tips to share that will help you relax and find your emotional balance. The #1 Most Important Thing to Add to Your Self-Care Routine Limit how much media you consume and how often. I’ve said this for years and now it is absolutely critical. Checking the latest news over and over again is like taking a jackhammer to our nervous...
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Why Your Brain Needs to Dream (dailygood.org)
Research shows that dreaming is not just a byproduct of sleep, but serves its own important functions in our well-being. It’s said that time heals all wounds, but my research suggests that time spent in dream sleep is what heals. REM-sleep dreaming appears to take the painful sting out of difficult, even traumatic, emotional episodes experienced during the day, offering emotional resolution when you awake the next morning. REM sleep is the only time when our brain is completely devoid of the...
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Re: Effective way to do Meditation
Amardeep, thank you for sharing these links here. The Re-Reality site looks to be chockfull of helpful articles. And you're right -- there are many people on ACEs Connection who are very knowledgable on topics such as meditation, and many here who wish to learn more about it.
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Re: How You and Your Kids Can De-Stress During Coronavirus [pbs.org]
I like that! Forgot about those! And one of their best features is that, to enjoy it, you have to slow down and appreciate the effect of the 'glitter storm.' One of my favorite mentors told me long ago that the answer to many of the maladies I was observing was from what she called, 'too much, too fast.' I keep this in mind as much as I can, no matter what the situation, intervention or protocol. And I preach it to my students and clients: Slowing down helps us better regulate our system,...
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Re: How You and Your Kids Can De-Stress During Coronavirus [pbs.org]
"Too much, too fast." YES! Simple and clear but not easy to adjust that internal motor/setting/way of responding. Thanks for encouragement, reminder, explanation, and this comment, Jondi! It's just what I needed! Cissy
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Re: What’s Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness? [Mindful Leader]
GREAT article. Love this: " At the same time, I believe we can do better. Mindfulness doesn’t need to work for everyone, but I’m convinced that certain modifications can help support survivors—at the very least ensuring that they are not re-traumatizing themselves in practice. For those of us offering mindfulness in workplaces, or other institutions, this is a competency we can develop to help make us more effective." I really believe this isn't done enough (in yoga classes, schools etc.
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Re: Why Trauma Survivors Can't Just "Let It Go" [themighty.com]
Oh. My. Goodness. You have no idea how this article rocked my world this past week. So I have this pesky little highway phobia I have yet to conquer. Emphasis on YET. After 4 years and 98 sessions with EMDR, we never did find the trigger memory. There I was in Denver this past week, having flown in on only half a Xanax (I usually require multiple Xanax starting the day before a flight), in my son's car as he drove down a crazy packed highway in downtown rush hour traffic. I tried every...
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Re: Why Trauma Survivors Can't Just "Let It Go" [themighty.com]
Wow! This is such a beautiful thing to read (not the part about the intractable highway phobia, of course ). You just never know what is going to come along out of the clear blue and give you the boost you need to overcome -- of course, you have been priming that pump for a long time with all that good, diligent self-care. I am thrilled to hear that you avoided a panic attack and flew Xanax-free (and that maybe this post played a role in that). In fact, as someone who's motto is "Xanax --...
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Re: Why Trauma Survivors Can't Just "Let It Go" [themighty.com]
This made my day! Thank you 😁 Your flying motto made me laugh out loud as it has been mine, as well, for thirty-something years. As a matter of fact, when I traveled to Mexico a few years ago with a group of 8 friends, they dubbed me Captain Xanax on the plane 😂 I'm such a fan of being drug-free though that I try my best to overcome without medication. Just my own personal goal.
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Re: Six Signs Your Brain is Dysregulated (and Ten Steps to Get Re-Regulated Again)
For many childhood trauma survivors, there's a certain something, a je ne sais quoi, that colors their daily living no matter how well-treated any other related diagnoses, such as anxiety or depression, are. Maybe that certain something, or one part of that certain something, is the brain dysregulation you describe here, Anna. It sure rings true to me, and I bet it does to others too. The do-anywhere methods for re-regulating are much appreciated, and I'll be testing some of them out soon...
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Re: To Help Heal Trauma, Talk Less, and Write More
Yes! There must be a mountain of research (not to mention anecdotal evidence) that writing is one of the most effective ways to process the emotion from traumatic events, not to mention everyday stresses and worries. While talk therapy has its place and its benefits, it's not always the best approach for recovering from trauma, for the reasons you cite. From personal experience, I'd caution anyone who's considering writing about a trauma they've experienced, especially if they have not yet...
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Re: Are You Re-Traumatizing Yourself? 16 Things We Do That Can Set Us Back with Childhood PTSD
While I agree that these behaviors can be re-traumatizing and are characteristic of dysregulation, in my mind they are all simply symptoms of unaddressed, untreated/undertreated trauma. They're the "cries for help" that tell the person experiencing them (and maybe the people around them) that there's something not quite right. But even after effective treatment of childhood trauma, they can still crop up because those old habits we developed to survive all those years ago die very hard.
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Rebecca Lewis Pankratz: Breaking Generational Poverty, Poverty Circles, & Poverty Programs
"A CEs Connection is the curator of incredible hope, healing and possibility. Parents are not the bad guys. Most of us are just kids with ACEs who grew up..." Rebecca Lewis-Pankratz Last Friday, @Rebecca Lewis-Pankratz joined our A Better Normal series to discuss poverty circles and programs. Rebecca is the Director of Learning Centers as Essdack, as well as a poverty consultant, and we met online, via Twitter (her handle is @pOVERty’s Edge. Rebecca is a brilliant speaker, gifted writer, and...
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Back-to-School in a Pandemic? Questions, Concerns, and Discussion with School Nurse, Robin Cogan
Robin is a brilliant, passionate, and vocal school nurse with almost two decades of experience as a New Jersey school nurse in the Camden City School District. She is the Legislative Co-Chair for the New Jersey State School Nurses Association and she joined us last week for A Better Normal community discussion about back-to-school (or not) plans families are facing this school year. Robin serves as faculty in the School Nurse Certificate Program at Rutgers University-Camden School of Nursing...
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How to Heal Emotional Trauma (wakeup-world.com)
Understanding Emotional Wounds We tend to think of an emotional wound as the original traumatic experience – as the “thing” that happened to us, but the wound is actually the dis-empowering belief that we developed as a result of the traumatic experience. In the search for emotional security, our natural response to any traumatic event is to make sense of it. We “make sense” of things by creating beliefs. Beliefs that we develop in response to traumatic experiences are Traumatic Beliefs.
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A Listening Curriculum: School Radically Re-imagined in the Time of COVID-19
Symbolic of our quick-fix culture, I was recently asked to do a five-minute radio interview addressing the challenge of remote learning without the peer group dynamics of a regular classroom. The time constraint motivated me to get to the core of the education crisis precipitated by the coronavirus pandemic. Decades of developmental science research reveal that our physical and emotional health- our very sense of self- emerges in moment-to-moment interactions in our social world. The...
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New episode of Transforming Trauma!NARM and the Role of Consent in Trauma-Informed Yoga with Colleen Millen
NARM and the Role of Consent in Trauma-Informed Yoga with Colleen Millen In this episode of Transforming Trauma, our host Sarah Buino welcomes NARM Therapist and Accessible Yoga instructor Colleen Millen to dive into and discuss the theme of consent. Throughout the episode, Colleen shares how her understanding of what consent means has deepened through her relationship with yoga and through her ongoing study of the NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM). Each episode of Transforming Trauma...
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How We Can Re-center Ourselves Post-Election (thriveglobal.com)
Let's move forward with empathy, self-compassion, and connection. Like most people I know, sleep eluded me for much of last week leading up to this historic election. The good news is that I have a meditation practice and mantra to which I always come back. Much of Western meditation practice focuses on mindfulness – -noticing thoughts and, hopefully, quieting the mind by focusing on the breath. My 11th book, Meditation Station , deals directly with this concept. Our breath is always with...
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The Surviving Spirit Newsletter November 2020
Hi Folks, The latest edition of the Surviving Spirit Newsletter is posted at the website - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/index.php or PDF - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/pdfs/2020-11-The_Surviving_Spirit_Newsletter_November_2020.pdf To sign up for an e-mail copy, please write to me @ mikeskinner@comcast.net or sign up @ Website via Contact Us. Thank you & take care, Michael. Newsletter Contents : 1] People Constantly Underestimate How Much They Benefit From Being Kind...
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Your Healing Narrative: Write-to-Heal With Neural Re-Narrating
Happy 2021! 2020 was a year unlike any other. But it also brought home for many of us what matters most, including the importance of nurturing and harnessing the power of our nervous system and brain toward equanimity so that we can flourish even in the face of adversity. Your Healing Narrative: Write-to-Heal With Neural Re-Narrating i s my 2021 offering for individuals, parents, teachers, social workers, therapists, and health care professionals, to help ease a little bit of the anxiety,...
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The Adverse Childhood Experiences Recovery Workbook (Dr. Glenn Schiraldi)
A new guide for healing the hidden wounds from ACEs The Adverse Childhood Experiences Recovery Workbook Glenn R. Schiraldi, Ph.D. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, Inc., 2021, 232 pages Practical, powerful skills for healing the hidden wounds of childhood trauma “ Dr. Glenn Schiraldi is one of the world’s most trusted experts on stress and resilience. His Adverse Childhood Experiences Recovery Wor kbook is the most complete, accessible, and evidence-based healing resource available.
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Discovering the Need for Reflection
My son often complains that he can hear my footsteps throughout the house when he’s trying to sleep. He says it sounds like I’m running. ‘Why don’t you slow down,’ he asks. When I think about it I guess I am rushing around to do this and do that, get things accomplished, and finish tasks. In fact, I take pride in my productivity, sometimes patting myself on the back at what I have accomplished by 9:00 a.m.! After my youngest son Jesse died, I started a foundation and began to travel almost...
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How to care for yourself during difficult times
Many people with #ACE’s (Adverse Childhood Experiences) are finding that the early #trauma and sense of unsafety they endured growing up are being re-triggered during these fear-laded times, amidst the #Covid #pandemic, political upheaval, and feeling isolated. Stress and uncertainty can trigger old, sticky feelings of fear, anxiety, or loss from long ago and bring up new, painful negative thoughts and physical symptoms. This can be true even when we’ve worked really hard to resolve our...
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Why I Promote the Science of Hope over Resilience
I said then what I believe even more strongly now: "Hope is the belief that your future can be brighter and better than your past and that you actually have a role to play in making it better."