I was excited in 2008 about my introduction to the world of childhood acquired trauma and the Adverse Childhood Experience Study. Then I realized that the incredible information made available to us through the ACE Study was not being effectively utilized. The need was great, but not available resources. My background was that of an ACE Victim when I started. Through long study and deep thinking, I began to see a pathway for healing. In the past few years, the phrase "Emotion has no...

Over a decade ago I was introduced to Gary Craig's Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) and watched a video of 6 Veterans with PTSD and their families undergoing treatment with EFT. By the end of one week, each Veteran has resolved between 50 and 100% of their symptoms. The first Veteran in the video was a Gulf War Veteran, Andy Hodnick, of Fairbanks, AK. In his first interview, you see him Tremoring, a classic fear response that is attempting to dissipate fear chemicals triggered by a dump of...

A week ago I spoke about my "Game of Resilience: Bridging the Gap at my alma Mater, Princeton University. I had been invited to attend a small gathering of two classes experiencing major reunions. One of the presentations at this conference discussed the major construction boom occurring on campus, given by the architect overseeing the construction. I asked 3 questions, and I thought the most important question was whether Princeton had considered the impacts of trauma and how design could...

I would like to examine this statement from Audrey Stillerman on response to Dr. Gordon’s comment on academic narrowmindedness posted 10/23/2022. Please accept this as a means of expanding discussion and not solely criticism. I am interested in opposing viewpoints. “Along with other experts, the authors are concerned that ACE scores may be misappropriated as a screening or diagnostic tool to infer individual client risk and misapplied in treatment algorithms that inappropriately assign...

Simon Sinek wrote: "The limbic brain comprises the middle two sections and is responsible for all our feelings, such as trust and loyalty. This area of the brain is responsible for all human behaviour and all our decision-making. It is where our emotional connection takes place, and it has no capacity for language." As a CEO responsible for health and behavioral health systems, I noticed early on that most patients and clients didn't improve during talk therapy. As I learned the nuance of...

During six weeks at the Blackfoot Reservation in the 1930’s, 30-year-old Abraham Maslow did not find support for his theory that social hierarchies are maintained by dominance. Instead, he saw a tribal community where “…levels of cooperation, minimal inequality, restorative justice, full bellies, and high levels of life satisfaction…” were the norm. During my career in Alaska, I watched a transformation of villages from substandard houses with outhouses and honey buckets to places with more...

The Stockade Paradox says that we must accept the brutal realities of our existence, yet maintaining enduring hope that we will prevail in the end. I have applied the Paradox to my study of ACE's which began in 2008. I was an early advocate for addressing ACEs in Alaska. In 2013 I wrote a resolution for a Representative in Alaska that called for considering ACEs in health and other policies in Alaska. It took years, but the Representative and other allies improved the resolution I submitted...

The revelation that The Boss, Bruce Springsteen, suffered from major depression for a good part of his life should not come as a revelation to those of us who have had bouts with depression. [ STORY LINK ] The ACE Study revealed that about 23% of the population will experience depression at some point in our lives. [ LINK HERE ] Women suffer at a rate about 10 percentage points higher than men do, but when you think of the U.S. population, there are a lot of us. A second story, where the...

I spent about 3 years living in a small town in Alaska, the birthplace of my father. Cordova, Alaska is within the traditional territory of the Aleut and Eyak people. The local tribe, Native Village of Eyak, owns the paper. Since 1999, suicide in the U.S. has increased by about 26%. It continues to increase in Alaska. One fact we don't know is whether our current programs are working. I don't believe they are. Just the fact that we report the incidence of suicide on an annual number per...

Dr. Gabor Maté [ LINK HERE ] has garnered headlines in Canada for his early research regarding the possible use of ayahuasca [ LINK HERE ], a plant-derived psychedelic drug from South America, for healing addictions. The results appear meaningful and worthy of consideration by adults with childhood acquired trauma. Dr. Maté has described his reasons for promoting ayahuasca in his blog [LINK HERE ]. He says: “I have witnessed people overcome addictions to substances, sexual compulsion, and...

The management philosophy I advocate, Lean Thinking [ LINK HERE ], adheres to a principle popularized by Dr. W. Edwards Deming, “Continuous Improvement.” [ LINK HERE ] He stated as his fifth point of 14 points for the transformation of management, “ 5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs.” As I have explained in past blogs, the restoration to health strategy (RtH) I envision has a...

Could this be serious? You might not need psychotropic drugs to heal your brain? Who would propose such an idea? And why would any sane person accept this idea? OK. I am not being serious. I just blogged about whether we can trust our own brain, and the answer is frequently we cannot. Our mind plays tricks on us because of its low computing power in the prefrontal cortex. That lack of computing power is dealt with by the brain in some increasingly predictable ways, like resistance to change.

As the CEO for two organizations, one problem we encounter are the “resisters.” Change comes very hard to some people. In my experience, a hard core resister will go to extraordinary measures to stop change. I let one one of my top line executives go after showing extraordinary insubordination. As I filled the leadership void for a while, I was using his executive computer and discovered searches for dirt on me, including a search for lawsuits, bar association discipline and other attempts...

Thanks to Samantha Sangenito for sharing research about holocaust survivor children with schizophrenia on ACEsConnection. The source of schizophrenia is an important issue we should address as a member of the ACEs community. Although you can find advocates who state that there is no relationship between childhood adversity and schizophrenia, the research is starting to show that those diagnosed with schizophrenia actually have a higher rate of childhood adversity that the general population.

The last post I wrote was about how children are damaged by the incarceration of their parents. Yesterday, I read about research estimating the actual cost of incarceration in the U.S. at $1 trillion. [ LINK HERE ] Stories abound of the direct cost of incarceration, but reading about the real human cost is rare. Think about what $1.2 trillion represents. For 2015 the U.S. budget was $3.8 Trillion. [ LINK HERE ] The federal budget approximates about 21% of gross domestic product.

As a middle aged, naive and wide eyed kid with a new mission, that of addressing the many behavioral issues we faced in our Alaska Native Community, I focused on what I referred to as restoring responsible fatherhood to families. As the son of an absent father, I believed that the simple act of re engaging fathers with their children could have immediate results. Well, as I discovered, nothing is easy, especially in the field of corrections. I did start a fatherhood initiative for Alaska...

I am posting a publisher’s opinion from the Arctic Sounder, a rural Alaska Weekly newspaper. Editor Carey Restino discusses an effort by Recover Alaska to collect success stories about recovery from alcohol addiction. In her article, Ms. Restino addresses the very high rates of addiction in rural Alaska, and our need to address it. She is absolutely right, and I commend her for writing about it. When I returned to Alaska in 1978, my first public service volunteer activity was serving on the...

My first foray into the world of social services led me to become involved with what I thought was an under-appreciated aspect of parenting: the role of a father and the problems caused by an absent father. I drew from my own experience growing up. My parents first separated when I was about four-and-a-half years old. There were four children in our family. The youngest was only about six months old when the separation happened. My parents reconciled long enough for a fifth child to be...

As a voracious reader, I come across a lot of information that helps give me a particular worldview. And it’s different than what is shared by many others. This article -- " I spent five years with some of Trump's biggest fans. Here's what they won't tell you. " -- captures a world view that I don’t totally share, but it also seems to be one that is not informed by any discussion of the pervasive impact of childhood trauma and living though generations of a certain transmission of culture.

I don’t typically post twice in one day, but this blog “Open Letter” on Huffington Post caught my eye and I thought it should be shared. The focus is on education, and there are a number of themes we can see in the letter. First, the author, Diane Ravitch, has an academic background and insight, but states that she has abandoned the reform efforts of the day because the favored reforms among politicians are “useless and counterproductive….” What she seems to be staying is that the story she...

Society absorbs a lot of costs that are associated with childhood inflicted trauma (ACEs). Yet we fund programs regularly, and don’t really require solid data on results. That just seems to be a byproduct of people managing programs. We commit to results, secure funding based on that commitment, then do everything we can to prove that we have results. We secure data that suggests progress, and hide any data that then problem might be getting worse (at least in my experience). Fortunately, we...

I am a licensed attorney in Alaska, although I went inactive for my license a number of years ago and no longer actively practice law. But I have had experience practicing criminal law and being active in public policy issues surrounding criminal law for decades. A number of years ago, I noted that in addition to Alaska Native men being overrepresented in Alaska jails by almost 100%, women were becoming an increasing part of the population that was incarcerated. As this study indicates [...

We all do it. We take sides and the side we typically take is that of the victim. I recently posted a blog titled “ Angry Man. ” As I watched the interaction unfold, my mind wanted to support the poor theater manager being subjected to the tirade. I watched the manager try to protect the rest of us patrons from the foul language, the angry words and the loudness of his complaint. Empathy for the victim drives many of us to this state of empathy, one so powerful that we turn to hating the...

At a movie theater recently, an older man came up to the manager, someone I have talked to on a casual basis. The manager recognizes me and is always friendly when I visit their theater. He is always courteous to patrons, and is a military veteran. We have lots of veterans here in Alaska. The older man was angry, and complaining about a $5 issue. He was using profanity profusely, and apparently was also a veteran. His voice was loud and he was politely asked if he could stop using profanity.

Suicide is a rare, but emotionally devastating, event. I am sometimes criticized for minimizing its impact. That is not my purpose. Completed suicides number slightly less than 43,000 in 2015. For every suicide, there are a reported 25 attempts. Ideation strikes many more. If we examine the rate of suicide in our country, I believe it can guide us to a greater state of understating about the emotional health of our population. I know determining the results are more difficult, but if our...

Native women in the U.S. are killed by police at a very high rate, at least according to this story [ LINK HERE ]. A young, petite Native woman is killed by a police officer for suspected shoplifting. The alleged weapon she is said to be carrying is a pair of medical scissors. I can't see them in the photo. There are two cops present, and as you can see, the one in the picture is big guy. The story references a story about another Native woman victim [ LINK HERE ]. A young pregnant tribal...

This article from Johns Hopkins Public Health Magazine [ LINK HERE ] has an interesting take on the concept of resilience. I hear this phrase often, "resilience trumps ACE's." Here is what they say: "The good news is resilience—self-regulation of emotions, optimism and hope—can trump ACEs. (In fact, regardless of ACE status, children lacking resilience fare worse.) Children with ACEs who also have resilience had one-fifth the odds of having mental or emotional problems like ADHD or...

When I was a boy, my mother would give me and two of my sisters a quarter to go to the movies at the Northern Lights Theater in Cordova, AK. We were a divorced family at the time and I had a stepdad in the home. I was unaware of the trauma we had gone through, alcoholism and domestic violence, that led to my dad’s absence. The trauma was building up in the three of us, and Saturday movies were a treat we could look forward to. A quarter bought us admission, popcorn and a soda. For a couple...

The Veterans Administration has issued a news release updating their knowledge base about Veteran suicide. [ LINK HERE ] While news about suicide is never good, I am heartened to read that the VA is developing "Predictive Modeling" for the purpose of identifying those Veterans who have a high risk of attempt. I explained the model I believe should be followed in place of the existing programs, but did not think of Predictive Modeling to describe it. We have a lot of data that we can use to...

As I read the post about young women who wanted to start an invisible self treatment program for some of their friends who suffered from addiction [ LINK HERE ], it reminds me of many conversations I have had with high ACE individuals, especially women, in rural Alaska Villages. When they told about the abuse they were subjected to, they were ordered not to talk about it. And if they persisted, they were shunned. Think about it. If a parent is abusing their children, and the other parent is...

Understanding who we are and the prospects for our future are two areas I think a lot about. When I was growing up in a traumatizing home, I often spent hours daydreaming about how life was going to be once I left home. I read catalogs about boats and fishing gear, mountain climbing and learning how to fly. I lived in this future where things were going to be so much better. I thought about going to college and eating unlimited amounts of food in a cafeteria. I was always dreaming of a...

When I hear the word "resilience" in the context of helping children or students to manage their toxic stress, I object, respectfully, to the individual making the statement. In this article in the Atlantic Monthly -- "How Kids Learn Resilience" -- I came across an interesting admission. “For all our talk about noncognitive skills, nobody has yet found a reliable way to teach kids to be grittier or more resilient. And it has become clear, at the same time, that the educators who are best...

President Obama signed a new act to amend the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act by enacting certain requirements for foster care placements in Indian Country. Known as the Native American Children’s Safety Act , the new law places some stringent requirements that may actually harm tribal efforts to implement the Indian Child Welfare Act. It’s tough to argue against efforts to protect our children, and the imposition of tough requirements for that protection. So many...

The Juneau Empire published a story [ LINK HERE ] about the rate of sexual assault at the University of Alaska system statewide. It does not paint a pretty picture, with 1 of every 9 students experiencing unwanted or uninvited sexual contact in the preceding year. But I thank the University for conducting the survey and releasing the results (Although they are required by federal law to do so). While this action followed last year’s revelation that the University [ LINK HERE ] was not...

The Juneau Suicide Prevention Coalition sponsored another Suicide Prevention Conference in Alaska's Capitol City. [ LINK HERE ] I spoke at one of the first conferences years ago. I was fortunate to attend part of last year's conference. I like to see what progress is being made in disseminating information about the ACE Study. This particular conference looked like it might have some reach because a prominent Alaska Native Politician came out and spoke about the trauma his family experienced...

This article -- The Education Practice That is Costing Taxpayers Billions of Dollars -- is about what may happen to students who are suspended from school. While not everything bad happens to all students who are suspended, there are enough of them to have a societal impact. The problem is that the societal impact is far enough into the future that it becomes disconnected from the event that might cause it. Or maybe there are a lot of events that might lead to the result, but we aren't aware...

I have shared my opposition to spanking children to anyone who would listen, including the 2 mothers of my children. While we were married, the mothers didn’t, as far as I was aware, spank our kids. When we divorced, however, the resumed doing what their parents were doing. And a typical response from others was “my parents spanked me and I turned out just fine, so I don’t see anything wrong with it.” As a social science junkie, I look at the research and apply what I feel is common sense...

This article -- 5 Things Psychologists Wish Their Patients Would Do -- seems to carry a lot of wisdom in the five things psychologists wish for patients to know. Having been through counseling twice, with little, if any benefit, I believe the advice is sound. I don’t know many counselors who actually teach this, however. It’s not standard work for healing, which is how I view the Restoration to Health Strategy (RtH) I envision as a means to healing. The five steps in RtH are knowledge,...

I am reporting, with mixed feelings, what I heard about the fate of HCR 21, the Alaska ACE Resolution introduced by Representative Geran Tarr. The Resolution is sitting in the House Finance Committee, and I am told that it is, to use the words of veterans in the legislative process, "dead." It will apparently not surface this year, although stranger things have happened. So I am disappointed (and prepared to be elated if it does resurface). However it ends, Representative Tarr was able to...

I became extremely interested in suicide prevention after two of my young cousins committed suicide within six months of each other. I began to study the current state of suicide prevention in 2008 and began to envision what I refer to as a future state in about 2009. I wrote a very quick paper summarizing my research because two of my dear friends were deeply engaged in suicide prevention, one as chair of a prevention task force and the other as a teacher, coach and mentor. I gave three...

The Alaska Legislature scheduled adjournment date was Sunday, April 17, 2016, but it continues meeting. During the end of each session, bills that have been held for the end of session negotiations start to break loose. The daily calendar for both the House and Senate can be found here: http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/#tab3. After looking at the bills voted on for the past week, HCR 21 is not on any calendar. It still sits in the House Finance Committee, but could be released at any time since...

Here is an interesting article on anxiety and how it impacts us. According to the article, about 40 million adults are affected in the United States. It is a significant problem, as one who has experienced anxiety over my life. Sometimes it can actually become debilitating and prevent us from making decisions. With an adult population in the U.S. of about 245 million [ LINK HERE ], we know that anxiety impacts over 16% of our population. That’s a huge number. Research in the field of anxiety...

The Alaska State House Health and Social Services Committee, chaired by Representative Paul Seaton, took testimony on HCR 21, titled "Urging Governor Bill Walker to join with the Alaska State Legislature to respond to the public and behavioral health epidemic of adverse childhood experiences by establishing a statewide policy and providing programs to address this epidemic." [ LINK HERE ] HCR 21 now goes to the House Finance Committee but it has no fiscal note, so that shouldn't be an...

Most of us don’t have interactions with the police. For those of us who are minorities, we have reason to be fearful. While my oldest son was going to school in Arizona, he was stopped twice for what we teasing tell him was “Driving While Indian (DWI).” There was no reason to stop him other than his brown face. And as a young paperboy who reported someone climbing into a window in the early morning, then waited for the police to arrive, I had my first negative experience. As I sat in the...

I read lots of news. From my days as a paper boy in Seattle delivering the Post Intelligencer, I had respect for those who reported the news. But over the decades, the role of reporters seems to have shifted and on air reporters have greater prominence. They also seem to require more sensationalism, much of what they create with their reporting. In past blogs, here and elsewhere, I have examined a news article, looked online into the background and reported behaviors of a perpetrator of...

I chuckle when I hear this phrase: “To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” The quote is attributed to Mark Twain. It has a lot of meaning to the brain. It applies to those who are engaged in the battle against childhood trauma as well. Once we gain knowledge about ACEs, and start our advocacy to help by promoting ACEs, the world starts to look like it is consumed by trauma. But that’s not the case. Our brain goes to work, and all of a sudden we are consumed by the knowledge...

As many of you who read my posts know, I advance a healing protocol that contains five levels to work through. The first level is termed “Knowledge.” Because I believe that childhood trauma is a fundamental root cause for many health and behavior issues, I felt it was important to take information about a client about the existence of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s), if they have any, and discuss it with them. This concept is straight out of Dr. Felitti’s experience at Kaiser...

This is a topic I have written about before, but not in this forum. Whac-a-Mole is a carnival game. You hold a hammer, and try to pound a mole back into its hole. Depending on the complexity of the game, you have a number of holes to monitor (nine is a common number) and you can learn to anticipate patterns. The theory is that whacking one mole back in lets it pop up somewhere else. I have used this analogy to discuss public policy choices to try and eliminate certain behaviors (symptoms)...