BRAVE: What I Chose to Tell

What's your story

When I talk about BRAVE: A Personal Story of Healing Childhood Trauma, I sense assumptions from the outset. They are understandable  – after all, the title says it’s about childhood trauma, right? Yet at the same time, I want to laugh and say, “Could you just read the book before you make up your mind?” […]

A Trauma-Informed Revolution

hand with empowering words

by Sandi Lerman [original version published by the author, who is also a parent coach and educator, on Adoption Roots and Wings on March 12, 2018] “It is my hope that our story on trauma-informed care will not only be impactful but will also be revolutionary. It certainly has caused a revolution in my own […]

2018 Parenting Summit

Trauma Sensitive Parenting Summit

Our Free Summit has ended. Thank you to the thousands of you who came and participated. After Friday, November 16, the Summit will be available in our store. Watch interviews with parenting experts and experienced therapeutic parents from around the country. Experts include: Dr. Dan Siegel Dr. Ross Greene Karen Buckwalter, LCSW Sarah Naish Billy […]

What Therapists Want Parents to Know

What Therapists Want Parents to Know

–by Susan M. Ward, LPC In April, ATN blogger Lorraine Fuller wrote a powerful post about what she would like therapists to know. I, like many ATN readers, knew exactly what she meant. Not all therapists are equipped to handle the complex needs of families struggling with attachment disorders and trauma. But there are good […]

Two Kinds of Brave

Author of BRAVE: A Personal Story of Healing Childhood

[warning – this post briefly references an act of sexual assault] In her response to BRAVE: A Personal Story of Healing Childhood Trauma, Laura Dennis, ATN blog manager, asked me to address the following: “There are (at least) 2 kinds of being brave. One is an illusion in which we tell ourselves a version of […]

When The Political Becomes Personal

Julie Beem

Last week was just plain emotionally exhausting! As the mom of a child who experienced severe early childhood trauma, a mom who has spent the last two decades immersed in the study of what these early traumas (abuse, neglect, exposure to violence, separation from your parent) do to the developing brains of infants and toddlers, […]

ATN Responds #KeepFamiliesTogether

US Capitol Building - Advocacy

UPDATED JUNE 21, 2018 On June 20, 2018, President Trump signed an Executive Order halting the practice of separating children from families after they are detained crossing the U.S. border illegally.  There is still more work needed, however, as the President’s E.O. does not address what is to be done with the more than 2,300 […]

Trauma-Informed Parenting: What Adoptive & Foster Parents Can Teach About ACEs

Parent tossing child in the air and catching her - Trauma-Informed Parentin

[original version published on Parenting with ACEs on June 5, 2016] There are many adults with low ACE scores who parent children with high ACE scores. These parents are often feisty and fierce advocates who tirelessly seek out support, strategies and solutions to make the lives of their children easier and better. They are some of the […]

What I Learned -or Remembered- when I Read Brave

BRAVE - book review

1) There are (at least) 2 kinds of being brave. One is an illusion in which we tell ourselves a version of events that we would like to be true. The other is the real deal. It involves facing our fears head on and living to tell the tale. In a future ATN blog post, […]

Five Nuggets of Emotional Wisdom for Mothers of Children with Trauma

Five Nuggets of Emotional Wisdom for Mothers of Children with Trauma

Being a mother is the hardest job in the world when things go smoothly. When you have a child who suffers symptoms of trauma, the hardest job becomes exponentially harder. At my worst moments, when I despaired and felt like I could not go on, I was grateful for the education in emotions that I […]