I got home from NY TINRC’s Join the Journey conference over a week ago, it’s clear that I’ll be integrating my experience there indefinitely. I left the conference deeply inspired, and also with a hangover. It’s the heaviness that comes from honing in on trauma – my heightened sense of...
Picture a symphony, where the musicians dance in exquisite synchrony, their instruments weaving a tapestry of melodies. But then, like an unexpected thunderclap in a peaceful garden, a hammer hurtles onto the stage. And as if summoned by some unseen force, more hammers rain down, a relentless torrent of percussion....
With the goal of creating a safe and supportive environment, a collaborative group of school districts in Wayne and Seneca Counties, respectively, utilize a Community Schools framework to gather and organize resources. It appears that a significant correlation exists between the implementation of these practices and improvement in several key...
Traditional psychology promotes the direct connection between body and mind as the crux of mental health; more easily visualized as a straight line from point A to point B. There is, however, an equally important [and rarely spoken of] third element in this equation; a “point C” which is seldom...
My mother is from Brooklyn and despite living in Rochester, NY for over 50 years, she has not lost her accent of origin. With the advent of new technology, we have learned that Siri does not understand Brooklynese which has led to text messages that range from confusing to outright hilarious. ...
Dale Carnegie is quoted as saying a person’s name is to him or her [sic] the sweetest and most important sound in any language. This may very well be true. However, history has shown us that there is a lot of bias associated with names. This is especially true amongst...
Spiritual teacher and author Eckhart Tolle said, “Awareness is the greatest agent for change.” Being aware includes information or knowledge and a level of understanding. Let’s start with information: Mental health includes emotional, psychological, and social well-being. Our mental health affects how we think, feel, and act and helps determine how we...
As we recognized Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Awareness Day at the end of April and move into Mental Health Awareness Month in May, I have been reflecting on children’s mental health and well-being. The headlines are everywhere about “the crisis in children’s mental health”, particularly in the context of the...
The first time I attended an ACEs training for human service providers, I found the trainer to be brilliant and the research fascinating. The trauma-informed practices were so promising, yet left me feeling dizzy with the magnitude of the work that needed to be done. I suddenly saw the impact...
“Childhood trauma can lead to an adulthood spent in survival mode, afraid to plant roots, to plan for the future, to trust, and to let joy in. It’s a blessing to shift from surviving to thriving. It’s not simple, but there is more than survival.” – Unknown “Rarely, if ever,...
