Monty’s Day in Court

illustrated cover of courthouse with little boy. Title Monty's Day in Court

Helping children from hard places If you’re reading this blog, chances are that you are either parenting a child from a hard place or know such a child in some […]

Child Abuse, Coronavirus, and Mental Health

Mental Health Awareness Month Every May, advocacy organizations such as Mental Health America come together to raise awareness around needs related to mental health. These needs have increased during the […]

Child Trafficking: How Teachers Can Help

Child trafficking: from victim to advocate In 2019, I found myself in front of an auditorium full of school staff members from 70 Colorado school districts, speaking at a training […]

ATN: The Power of Community

globe shape filled with photos of people

[N]ext week, I will speak for the second time at the Creating Trauma Sensitive Schools Conference, where my topic will be “Behavior through the Lens of Attachment, Trauma, and Dissociation.”

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 […]

Throwing Myself on the Floor

Gril covering her ears while screaming

  –by Janyne McConnaughey, PhD It was inexplicable. I was a twenty-seven-year-old wife and mother of an infant, and I had just left the family gathering and thrown myself on the floor […]

Neediness: An Unintended Consequence of Shame

–by Janyne A. McConnaughey, Ph.D. originally published June 21, 2017 on Janyne’s blog I stood in the doorway. I was very small, maybe two. I was sucking on my two middle […]