Movies that Matter: Paper Tigers – A Discussion with Jim Sporleder
ATN is commemorating Children’s Mental Health Month (May) and PTSD Month (June) with three Movies that Matter. On May 11, ATN gathered for a Q&A with Jim Sporleder, the retired principal of Lincoln Alternative High School in Walla Walla, WA who is now a trauma-informed coach, consultant, and speaker. Lincoln is the subject of the […]
My Why: Healing from Trauma
My introduction to ATN was not as an educator, but as a survivor of childhood trauma. I had recently retired from a 40-year career in education and was searching for answers. The previous year, I had found myself on a therapist’s couch where a tsunami of repressed memories buried under layers of dissociative coping skills […]
Business as Usual…Except more Sorrow and Resolve
For nearly 30 years ATN has been in the trenches with children significantly impacted by early childhood trauma…now understood as developmental trauma, attachment trauma, relationship trauma. Our roots are working with children who struggled due to very early abuse, neglect, maltreatment – including abandonment, witnessing violence and horrific mistreatment. But the truth is, many children […]
ATN’s COVID-19 Response
TOUCHING TRAUMA AT ITS HEART EMPOWERING TRAUMA-INFORMED FAMILIES, SCHOOLS, AND COMMUNITIES You are not alone ATN knows that the social distancing going on now can be VERY unsettling for our children impacted by trauma. Their early adversities cause them heightened anxiety when there are changes and when the adults in their world seem tense. Yet, […]
Focusing on Attachment: What Else I Didn’t Know
What happens once you know? What comes after “you don’t know what you don’t know,” anyway? Well, now, I think it’s “when you know better, you do better,” but that is now, not then. Back then, it took several steps. First, I had to grasp that I had more to figure out about my amazingly […]
You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know
“You don’t know what you don’t know” In my parent group for those whose children think differently, a favorite phrase is “you don’t know what you don’t know.” This phrase has come to reassure me as I look back over the years. I carried guilt that I could never do enough and worried that I […]
ATN Member Book Study: What Happened to You?
THIS BOOK STUDY HAS ENDED. Calling all ATN Members to join in the discussion of What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience and Healing by Dr. Bruce Perry & Oprah Winfrey. This 5-session book discussion will be led by ATN staff over Zoom – so grab your book and computer or tablet and join […]
Two Words: Attachment Insecurity
Trying to do everything right I never imagined that two words, “attachment insecurity,” could have such a distressing and at the same time life-affirming effect on a person. My son already carried a diagnosis thought of as hard-to-parent. I felt like I was already there, bearing that heaviness alongside him. We had endured some of […]
“Guilty”: An Ending or a Beginning?
What I was going to write Tuesday afternoon, I had a whole thing I was going to write about childhood trauma in Miracle Creek by Angie Kim. At some point, I probably will go ahead and write that post. But just before I sat down with notebook and pen (yes, I am that weirdo who […]
#TSS 2021–Thank You!
Thank you for the conference… This Mom can’t say thank you enough for the Trauma Sensitive Schools Conference in February 2021. What a great experience to join with others who are passionate about finding answers, having hard conversations, and learning heavy things. There is nothing worse than traveling a tough, unexpected road silently and alone. […]