Emotions are not some kind of cosmic error. They exist for our benefit. Emotions tell us (sometimes before our brains get there) to move away or towards people, situations, and ideas. They are a kind of compass for our lives. But only when we allow them to be so. Curious about how that works?

HEARTS Professional Learning Institute We know how hard it is especially now to manage deadlines. To provide a bit of ease to folx, we’ve extended our deadline to Monday May 17th at 11:59pm . If you need any more information, we are here to help , so please respond directly to this email with your questions. Hope you can join our HEARTS community! This year only , those who join us will be able to participate for the full two years of the Institute free of charge . This inaugural institute...

Use your words. It seems like such a friendly, gentle reminder. And it would make grown up lives so much easier if kids would just say what they want! Except what if they a) don’t know the right words or b) don’t know what they want? I walked up on an educator (let’s call them G) and a small child in the hallway. I could see the child had been crying, and was now stomping their feet and making sounds with their mouth, something like, “Uh uh uh uh uhhhh!” G, who was kneeling down on the...

All of us have rider off the horse moments. Many times we need a trusted other to help us get our riders back on (like when you have a tough day and call your mother/brother/partner/sister/roommate/friend to tell them about it). Who are your trusted others in your school or workplace? Let them know you appreciate them!

The HEARTS team met folks from Californians for Safety and Justice (CSJ) in April last year when they contacted us about AB2701 , a bill that sought to create a state-wide grant program for providers of school-based trauma services using the HEARTS program approach as a model. Dr. Joyce Dorado and I worked with the team just before it was presented and I was excited to testify at a hearing about the bill. I went to Sacramento the day before to see another hearing taking place, and spent...

I remember the first time I filled out the ACEs questionnaire. I was horrified to discover that I was in the “four or more” category, with all kinds of negative health and mental health outcomes on my horizon.

I've been a member here for what seems like a very long time, but this is my first post. I want to start with a quick introduction to myself. I came to the work of trauma informed care and ACEs almost by accident. I had never even heard of this branch of psychology, although I had been working in it even before I was a licensed practitioner. I have long worked with people on the down side of power, especially children. When I went to my first formal presentation about trauma, I suddenly...