Stories

Love and Laughter 2021

The Year in review and how to laugh at it.

How to Have an Open Dialogue About Race , Bias, and Discrimination When Considering ACEs

This is the eleventh session in the AAVC 12-lecture series. In this session, Dr. Eugene will present on How to Have an Open Dialogue About Race , Bias, and Discrimination When Considering ACEs. (Lecture/Interactive Q&A).

Dr. Dominique Eugene is an early career Clinical Psychologist, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, a Registered Play Therapist and Supervisor, a Certified Trauma Specialist, and an Infant-Family and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. As a psychologist, she is well-versed in providing therapeutic interventions to under-represented, culturally and ethnically disadvantaged communities. 

In this session, attendees will learn: 

• How social determinants of health, including racism and discrimination, may be risk factors for toxic stress and how you can incorporate culturally sensitive approaches in ACE screening and response.

• How to create a personal plan of action to address racial and social injustice in Infant Mental Health daily practice and organizational structures.

• To reflect on their own identities and connect with others to build mutual support on the impact of their identities on social justice. 

Beyond ACE Screening: Role of Protective Factors in Enhancing Resilience.

Dr Suzanne Roberts is an Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics (Clinician-Educator track) at the Keck School of Medicine at USC. She works as pediatrician in the Division of General Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles caring for children with special health care needs. Through her work with children in foster care, Dr. Roberts learned of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Study and became interested in the pediatrician’s role in mediating the impact of early life adversity.

In this session, attendees will learn: 

• Principles of programs/practices that promote capacity for resilience.

• About protective factors you could share with parents/caregivers at the various developmental stages of their child to promote optimal health

• About the Blue Zone pyramid and PERMA-V framework.

Doorway Sisters

Spontaneous support as we need it.

Laughter and Anxiety

It’s true: laughter is strong medicine. It draws people together in ways that trigger healthy physical and emotional changes in the body. Laughter strengthens your immune system, boosts mood, diminishes pain, and protects you from the damaging effects of stress. Nothing works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh. Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hope, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert. It also helps you release anger and forgive sooner.

With so much power to heal and renew, the ability to laugh easily and frequently is a tremendous resource for surmounting problems, enhancing your relationships, and supporting both physical and emotional health. Best of all, this priceless medicine is fun, free, and easy to use.

The Community Resiliency Model: An Introduction.

This is the ninth session in the AAVC 12-lecture series. In this session, Dr. Chudzynski will present on The Community Resiliency Model: An Introduction. (Lecture/Interactive Q&A).

Dr. Joy Chudzynski is a clinical psychologist specializing in addiction treatment and trauma and an Assistant Clinical Professor at UCLA’s Center for Behavioral and Addiction Medicine in the Department of Family Medicine where she provides short-term, evidence-based treatments for a range of psychological and substance use disorders within a primary care setting. Dr. Chudzynski’s areas of expertise include substance abuse, trauma, Motivational Interviewing, the neurobiology of drug abuse, CBT and DBT interventions, and co-occurring disorders. 

In this session, attendees will learn: 

• How our biology and nervous system as a uniting thread in the human experience to introduce the shift in understanding trauma/stress reactions as biology not mental weakness

• The importance of this biological model as it relates to helping people understand and heal from ACEs

• How to use the Wellness Skills from this course to regulate the nervous system

Developmental & Relational Paradigm When Considering ACEs

This is the seventh session in the AAVC 12-lecture series. In this session, Dr. Shaw and Judith Drouin will present on Developmental & Relational Paradigm When Considering ACEs (Lecture/Interactive Q&A).

Judith Drouin is currently in private practice as a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, focusing on parent-child relationships and children who have experienced trauma.  She works for the California Inclusion and Behavior Consultation Network (CIBC) providing direct services to preschool staff who have children with challenging behaviors.  Judith has earned Phase I and Phase II (Train the Trainer) Certificates from the Child Trauma Academy Certificate program with Dr. Bruce Perry, Neurosequential Model Network. 

 

Dr. Danielle Teuber-Onstot-Shaw is the Staff Psychiatrist at Casa Pacifica Center for Children and Families. Dr. Shaw enjoys learning more about treating the youth she sees at Casa Pacifica. She founded a local Pediatric Mental Health Collaborative to bring pediatricians together with local mental health professionals and is also on the American Academy of Pediatrics CA Chapter 2 ACEs Committee. 

In this session, attendees will learn: 

• About the relationship between the developmental stage of the brain and when trauma occurs.

• How all  functioning of the brain is state dependent, directly affecting behavior and physical symptoms.

• How positive relational health can support and repair healthy brain development.

• How, based on relational health & brain plasticity, to formulate a plan to facilitate hope & optimism for children & caregivers.

Dream Time/ All I Am Is You

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdkgMDB9JPE

This is a very contemplative and personal film with a unique vision. The way Hitler is used as a character goes against expectations, but is surprising and insightful. People have a tendency to see only the surface of things, not what lies beneath. This film lies beneath. It’s beautifully done, Steve. Whitley

The song All I Am Is You was written and performed by lead actor and polymath Steve Altman after it became clear that Instant Karma was going to be an expensive addition. No truth to the rumor that this is a lost John Lennon track.

Uganda - A RAW Conversation Continues

Uganda - A RAW Conversation Part 1