Tagged With "Children Now"
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How Poverty Alters the Young Brain by Eric Jaffe
“Behavioral scientists have made some truly groundbreaking insights into the cognitive costs of poverty in recent years. We now know, for instance, that scarcity puts a huge strain on our mental resources—the equivalent of stripping 13 points off our IQ, or losing a night’s sleep—making it that much tougher to handle daily tasks or decisions. That’s just one of many findings pointing to the same conclusion: poverty literally alters the way you process the world.” Click here to read the full...
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How the Body Keeps the Score: Intensive Trauma Treatment Course [pesi.com]
By Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, PESI, January 7, 2020 Trauma is horrendous. It overwhelms its victims and often the people who try to treat it. It reshapes one’s sense of self, bodily experience and brain organization — leaving people stuck in terror, isolation, and shame. My life’s work has been to find the most effective pathways to healing trauma. It’s why I founded the Trauma Center, have been part of groundbreaking research, and wrote the #1 New York Times bestselling book The Body Keeps...
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How to blog about what's happening related to ACEs Science in your community
NOTE: Have you posted a 'Resilience' screening or ACEs Science conference? Attended a great trauma-informed training? Participated in a community discussion related to ACEs science? Presented about ACEs science? If so, WE WANT YOU - to write about it in a Blog Post. When you share your accomplishments, big and small with your community it documents your successes, inspires others to get involved and do more and ignites ideas in other communities! See below for tips on how to blog and a guide...
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In a room full of caring people, ACEs are high
When Dr. Robert Anda began giving presentations about the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study after its first publication in 1998, he often asked people in the audience to anonymously fill out a ...
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In ACEs Connection webinar, physicians talk trauma, offer tips for helping pediatric immigrant patients
Dr. Raul Gutierrez, a pediatrician in the San Francisco Bay Area, said he and his fellow clinicians see constant fear and its health consequences every single day among the largely immigrant and Latino population they serve. It’s all the result of anti-immigrant policies and the news cycle that feeds the fear. Dr. Raul Gutierrez “It is almost inescapable with the repercussions of immigration policy on the radio, television, social media and from friends and family,” Gutierrez told the 69...
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James Redford and Sonoma County Leaders Discuss Resilience at Sonoma Film Festival
On April 2, film maker James Redford screened his new movie "Resilience" at Sonoma's Film Fest. "I had too much content to create just one film. Paper Tigers became a vehicle for talking about Adverse Childhood Experiences. We furthered the message of hope in the follow-up film Resilience." Redford shared his discovery of the Felitti and Anda study on Adverse Childhood Experiences . "I thought to myself, this study came out almost twenty years ago and the whole world isn't taking action?" He...
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January 24, 2018 ACEs Connection Meeting: How should we proceed?
At the January 24, 2018 meeting of the Sonoma County ACEs Connection, the Steering Committee organized work group sessions among members to answer our most important question: How should our group proceed moving forward? All over the room at Child Parent Institute there were large "Post-It" notes on the wall that the groups brainstormed answers to four questions about the direction of our group: (1) What do you enjoy about the General Meetings? (2) What could we use more of/doesn't serve us?
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January 24, 2018 ACEs Connection Meeting: Reflections & Visions for the Future
At the General Meeting for the Sonoma County ACEs Connection that took place on January 24, 2018, people came together to reflect on their experience in the coalition and to brainstorm about the future of the group. The questions included: What do you enjoy about the General Meetings? What could we use more of/what doesn't serve us? In a post-fire Sonoma County, where and how could we better serve our community? Does our name truly reflect what we are and where we are going? Who are some...
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[June 14] Hanna's Professional Networking B'fast: Jessica Jackson
After her husband was incarcerated, she set out to change the prison system. Bringing together unlikely allies, identifying breakthrough policies, and implementing new approaches to safety and rehabilitation.
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Kaiser Supports North Bay's VOICES through Youth & Trauma Informed Care Grant
"Kaiser Permanente Northern California Region—Community Benefit Programs (KPCBP)’s Youth and Trauma-informed Care grant program (YTIC), through which 20 community based agencies and school based health centers were funded in 2014, is a critical strategy for addressing community violence by focusing on prevention as well as healing. Experience of trauma in childhood is associated with a range of negative health, social, and educational outcomes. Trauma is frequently undiagnosed or...
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Last minute invite to meet for coffee or tea Thurs at 9:30am
Thursday October 26th a couple of Sonoma County ACEs members will be m eeting informally around 9:30am at Coffee Catz in Sebastopol - we just want to get together and check in with one another. Please feel to join us. If this is something we want to continue - we can look into times and locations that work best for most. But for now - it is Coffee Catz this Thurs at 9:30am ! Hope to see you there! Karen 6761 Sebastopol Ave, Sebastopol, CA 95472
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Last Month's Early Childhood Mental Health Summit - Let's Put Our Learning into Practice Now
Just one month ago, on September 28, First 5 and partners pulled together a few hundred community members for an Early Childhood Mental Health Summit called " Building Relationships to Support Families in Times of Stress ." With the local wildfires distressing many families and children, community support is needed now more than ever. The event aimed to ensure participants: 1.) Expanded their understanding of Early Childhood mental Health as the capacity to form close relationships, manage...
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Leaders in SF public housing deal with their own and community trauma head on
Sengthong Sithounnolat, Jeris Woodson, Donald Greene, Ashley Blanco On a recent Saturday, 10 people gather around a table at the offices of Trauma Transformed in Oakland, Calif., where quotes from figures like Frederick Douglas, Nelson Mandela, and Coretta Scott King grace one wall as light streams in from a skylight above. The group is known as the Resident Warriors, which meets weekly. One participant talks of her recovery from addiction and her mother’s murder. Another mentions being...
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Legislation Signals Growing Support for Significance of Trauma Indicators [CaliforniaHealthline.org]
As a college student, Rob Bonta had a summer job working as a counselor for troubled kids. Now, two decades later he is bringing legislation to address some of the needs he saw then. “I worked with some of these kids as a counselor out of college, and I’d walk them home and hear some of these stories,” Assembly member Bonta (D-Oakland) said. “Shootings they heard. Or shootings they witnessed the night before.” It was the summer of his junior year at Yale, when...
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Lesson learned integrating ACEs science into health clinics: Staff first, THEN patients
Nearly two years ago, a team of colleagues at LifeLong Medical Clinics jumped at the opportunity to integrate practices based on ACEs science to prevent and heal trauma in their patients when it joined a two-year learning collaborative known as the Resilient Beginnings Collaborative (RBC). A few months after training began, the staff realized they had to put on the brakes.
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Local Researchers' study shows: Trauma support for welfare recipients helps them earn more [medicalxpress.com]
People on welfare can earn more money in their jobs—and potentially leave the program—if the trauma they've faced since childhood is addressed, Drexel University research shows... "Financial education without the trauma-informed peer support had virtually no impact on improving income and in promoting health," said Mariana Chilton, PhD, director of the Center for Hunger-Free Communities and professor in the Dornsife School of Public Health. "Once the trauma-informed peer support was mixed...
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Local Teachers Love Learning about ACES!
Grace Harris MFT, Parent Resources Director for Child Parent Institute reported that she recently presented to staff at several schools on ACES and Trauma Informed Care (TIC). When asked, less than 10% of school staff said they were aware of...
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Love Our Neighbors Training:Bystander Intervention for Hate & Bias Incidents
Love Our Neighbors Training: Bystander Intervention for Hate & Bias Incidents Tuesday, February 14, 2017 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM (PST) 300 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Suite 520 Oakland, CA 94612 This Valentine’s Day, BARHII’s Structural Racism and Social Determinants of Health Committee would like to invite you to a training that addresses what we can do as individuals to protect and support the members of our community who are vulnerable to racist, sexist, homophobic, islamophobic attacks and...
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Lumpers and Splitters: Who Doesn’t Believe in ACES?
Here’s the problem. Since you are reading this on ACES Connections, you are likely not the type of person who questions ACES. Like me, when you first heard about ACES, you shouted “Eureka!” or felt the heavens open up or maybe simply thought “Well, that makes sense.” Writing this blog, I’m preaching to the choir. After all, there is so much scientific evidence to support ACES, doesn’t everyone believe it? Well, working in Public Health...
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Mapping the ACEs science movement — How close are we to a tipping point?
[Note: This is most of a keynote presentation I gave at last week's sold-out National ACEs Conference in San Francisco. The energy at this conference was incredible. To all who attended, thank you for doing so. To those of you who weren't able to attend, we hope the posts about the conference give you some idea of the speakers and sessions.] We have come an extraordinarily long way in spreading the word about ACEs science. During the first National ACEs conference in Philadelphia five years...
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Mapping Trauma Informed Care throughout First 5 Associations
On April 15th, representatives from 6 counties met on a conference call to discuss recent First 5 activities around Trauma Informed Care (TIC). Since our first gathering at last year's Association Summit, we have been meeting quarterly via conference call and have learned that there is a lot going on with TIC. So much is going on that we decided to send out a survey gathering data to map all our TIC efforts across the state. Please let us know if you are at a First 5 and are interested in...
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MARC Booklet 2016: Features Sonoma County
Please find attached the 2016 booklet for the Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities (MARC) project, including Sonoma County and the other 13 communities that have been selected to participate in this 2 year learning collaborative. This is a great summary of the work happening in all 14 communities across the country. I am looking forward to working with you all as we tell your story to the world!
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MARC Group Postings
Dear Sonoma County ACES Connection members, This morning I was reading the ACES Connection's MARC group postings and when I read the WA state proposal, I had to share. There seem to be many similarities to what we want to accomplish, although we are working on a smaller (local) scale - maybe we might learn from their statewide processes too? Very exciting! I particularly like how they are planning to bring their individual partners together into a more formal group and their shared decision...
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SONOMA COUNTY MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ACT (MHSA)2017-2020 Three-Year Integrated Plan & Annual Update for 2015-2016
To read the full report, click here : Mental Health Services Act Integrated Report 2017 - 2020 Or see attached for a printable version of the report.
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Middle school tackles everybody's trauma; result is calmer, happier kids, teachers and big drop in suspensions
Sixth grader Cayla White (right) helps lead class meditation with Niroga Institute’s Lauren Banister (photo: Laurie Udesky) ________________________________ During the 2014/2015 school year, things were looking grim at Park Middle School in Antioch, CA. At the time, staff couldn’t corral student disruptions. Teacher morale was plummeting. By the end of February 2015, 192 kids of the 997 students had been suspended -- 19.2 percent of the student population. “I was watching really good people...
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Mindful-Based Practices, Therapeutic Activities, & Ways to Relax: For Teachers, Parents, & Children
Yoga is a great activity for children and adults and is easy to do just about anywhere! Children need to have multiple healthy ways to express their feelings and have opportunities for mind and body awareness. Yoga is beneficial because it is... Non-competitive Gender neutral Enhances motor skills and balance Improves listening skills in a fun approach Children can focus on what is happening in the moment A healthy way to express feelings Supports social and emotional learning and...
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Minutes from our May 27th meeting
May 27, 2015 QUOTE: Never before in the history of medicine have we had better insight into the factors that determine the health of an individual from infancy to adulthood, which is part of the life course perspective—a way of looking at life...
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Mobilizing ACEs, Trauma, and Resilience Networks to Support and Strengthen Pandemic Response Efforts [MARC.HealthFederation.org]
By @Anndee Hochman
“What are your signs of stress?” asked the leaders of a recent mindfulness webinar hosted by the Philadelphia ACE Task Force (PATF), held during the week that U.S. cases of COVID-19 neared half a million and more than sixty Philadelphians had died of the disease.
Participants spilled their responses into the chat box: “headache…teeth grinding…can’t think clearly…nervous stomach…ruminating thoughts…muscle pain…itchiness…bad dreams.”
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Moms say children need access to substance use treatment
Many of the women in Moms United to End the War on Drugs have been advocating for increased access to treatment options like methadone or naloxone, used to treat opiate overdoses, for years — sometimes decades. Now, they say that things are...
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Monthly Meeting for May, agenda, notes, etc
Quick reminder, we meet the 4th Wed of each month, from 3:30 to 5:00 at Child Parent Institute. Please join us if you can! See below and attached for details regarding our May meeting. Karen
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More than 70 4CA participants converge on Sacramento, talk ACEs to power
Mai Le, an ACEs champion and program associate with First 5 San Mateo, wasted no time getting to the point of why she was asking lawmakers to support legislation that would help prevent adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). “When I was a child, my father had a psychotic break and was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia,” she said in a conversation with Eric Dietz, a staff member for State Senator John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa). L-R: Eric Dietz, Richa Sharma, Mai Le “I’m a high achiever,...
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Mother: 11-year-old boy injured in Santa Rosa park shooting is 'not the same kid' [Press Democrat]
By Chris Smith, Aug 12, 2019 for the Press Democrat As we anguish from the plague of mass shootings, a boy who took a stray bullet as he left soccer practice in Santa Rosa two months ago resists the fear that would have him simply hide from the world from now on. “He’s not the same kid,” the sweet-tempered 11-year-old’s distraught mother told me. “He’s afraid something’s going to happen to him, or to us.” I know the names of the boy and his mom but won’t mention them because they’re...
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Must see movie! This Sunday in Sonoma at Sebastiani Theater
"And Now, Love," is an award-winning documentary memoir on the life and work of Dr. Bernard W. Bail, a highly decorated World War II American Jewish veteran who was captured by the Nazis and rescued by a secret love affair with his German nurse. After the war, Bail came to believe that all wars are the manifestation of the wars within ourselves. Dedicated to healing mental anguish, he became a doctor and psychoanalyst who developed a theory called the “mother’s imprint,” focusing on...
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My hopes for a trauma-informed California
Every evening, I try to engage my daughter in reflection, gratitude, and hope. I try to practice the same, but tonight, I felt the need to share with you all. Today I had the opportunity to attend the Toward a Trauma-Informed Northern California Summit 2018 – it was an incredible experience. We were welcomed with a moving, informative, and engaging keynote speaker, Dr. Isaiah B. Pickens , who laid the foundation for what would be a day of growth, reflection, connection, and peer support. He...
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New organization calls all pediatricians to end crisis that's "hiding in plain sight"
When the question of screening patients for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) was first raised a couple of years ago, Santa Barbara pediatrician Andria Ruth had mixed feelings about it.
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‘None of us will ever be the same’: Survivors of 2017 Tubbs Fire face long-term trauma [Sacramento Bee]
By Panchalay Chalermkraivuth, August 2, 2019, Sacramento Bee Robert “Priest” Morgan hasn’t slept without a cocktail of pills since the night he says God kicked him in the head to wake him up – the night he opened the front door of his Santa Rosa mobile home to see a fire engine, a few people running up and down Sahara Street and screaming. “The sky looked like the Fourth of July,” he said. “The entire park except for my street was an inferno.” It wasn’t Independence Day – it was Oct. 9,...
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‘None of us will ever be the same’: Survivors of 2017 Tubbs Fire face long-term trauma [Sacramento Bee]
BY PANCHALAY CHALERMKRAIVUTH pchalermkraivuth@sacbee.com August 3, 2019 Robert “Priest” Morgan hasn’t slept without a cocktail of pills since the night he says God kicked him in the head to wake him up – the night he opened the front door of his Santa Rosa mobile home to see a fire engine, a few people running up and down Sahara Street and screaming. “The sky looked like the Fourth of July,” he said. “The entire park except for my street was an inferno.” It wasn’t Independence Day – it was...
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North Bay Business Journal Highlights Hanna Boys Center and Efforts to Raise Awareness around ACE's
After bringing in Dr. Anda last year, Hanna is now offering a series of mini-lectures with Dr. Robert Macy. These free lectures are drawing community members and building a community held understanding of how ACE's shape lives. Read the full article here: http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/industrynews/nonprofits/5288686-181/hanna-boys-center-hosts-trauma#page=1 “What we’re really talking about is the impact of adversity and trauma, and what you do about it. What are some strategies to...
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Notes and materials from 10/29 meeting
Here are Karen's great notes from our last meeting. Dear Sonoma County ACES Connection members! Here are notes from today’s meeting. It was such a lively discussion I was not able to capture everything! We now have a set...
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Notes and materials from 11/19 meeting
Here is another set of great notes drafted by Karen Clemmer. Dear Sonoma County ACES Connection members! For all who made came to the meeting – thank you for trudging through the rain to participate in our Nov 19 th meeting! ...
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Notes and materials from March 25, 2015
Dear Sonoma County ACES Connection enthusiasts: Thank you to all who participated in today’s ACES meeting. Sometimes the transition between work and a working meeting can be a bit rough. Thankfully, today, Allen provided a...
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Notes from 2-26-2020 SCAC meeting
All were welcomed and each person introduced themselves, highlighting what inspires them to integrate ACEs science into their personal and or professional lives. New members were welcomed! Elizabeth Smith, Founder/ CEO of Project Whole Child introduced herself, and shared that in addition to this role she is a west county school board member , a board member of PeaceTown , and president of the Sebastopol Soroptimist Club ! Whew! When the group’s conversation moved towards identifying a space...
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Notes from 4/22/2015 meeting
Seventeen Sonoma County ACEs Connection members attended our monthly, in-person meeting on April 22. Once again, Allen Nishikawa greeted us with a warm, steamy hand towel so that we could truly “arrive” and be mindful. We agreed that, for...
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Notes from 9.26.18 meeting re aligning with 4CA policy efforts
At the September 26, 2018 Sonoma County ACEs Connection meeting, there was discussion about firming up the SCAC policy subcommittee and aligning efforts with 4CA . For those seeking more information regarding 4CA, click this link: www.4cakids.org See attached for the 4CA Action Plan Link to resent post by Gail Yen at 4CA: ACEs Connection Updates on the (4CA)'s Endorsed Bills Copied from the 4CA website: The C alifornia C ampaign to C ounter C hildhood A dversity is guided by the 4CA Action...
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Notes from May 27, 2015 meeting
May 27, 2015 Never before in the history of medicine have we had better insight into the factors that determine the health of an individual from infancy to adulthood, which is part of the life course perspective—a way of looking at life not as...
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Notes from our 1-23-19 meeting - Check these out!
ACEs Enthusiasts Community Meeting NOTES! Date: January 23, 2019 About this community: We bring the community together to prevent, heal, and treat ACEs while promoting resiliency. Embedded GREEN text= hyper link just click for more information New Year - New Focus! With start of new year, Sonoma County ACEs Connection will re-start fresh with a community focus, while seeking opportunities to leverage and coordinate with others. Welcome & Gather - thanks to Nancy for bringing (lots of!)...
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Notes from our 3.27.19 meeting
ACEs Enthusiasts Community Meeting Notes March 27, 2019 from 3:30 to 5:00 Location: Child Parent Institute About this community: We bring the community together to prevent, heal, and treat ACEs while promoting resiliency. New Year - New Focus! Sonoma County ACEs Connection is starting fresh in 2019 with an emphasis on community, while seeking opportunities to leverage and coordinate with others. Welcome & Gather Mindful moment - volunteer to lead? Welcomed several new folks, representing...
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Notes from our 9/23/15 meeting
Twenty of us attended the meeting. We were warmly greeted by Allen Nishikawa with a warms towel ceremony that allowed us to truly arrive and be present. The topics we discussed were the Paper Tigers viewings, Dr. Anda’s presentation at Hanna...
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Nothing About Them Would Stand Out in a Crowd
photo credit: chuttersnap/unsplash.com By Alice M. Kenny (pseudonym) (The article below is an excerpt from my new book, Crazy Was All I Ever Knew: The Impact of Maternal Mental Illness on Kids . I have used a pseudonym to protect the privacy of family members.) The emotions adult children of parents with mental illness experience are a mixed bag. Sometimes a jumble. Guilt, loss, grief, and resentment are among the emotions that persist or bubble to the surface in adulthood. Some feel...
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November 1 Clinician's Training on Dialectical Behavioral Therapy: Trauma Informed Intervention Offering
This year's ACEs and Resiliency Fellowship program seeks to engage local therapists and counselors in expanding their trauma informed intervention skill set. Join us for our first training on Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, a trauma intervention modality appropriate for individuals in middle school or older. November 1, 2017, 1:00 - 3:00 at Sonoma County Office of Education This training covers the fundamentals of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills: Core Mindfulness, Distress...