Trauma-Informed Leadership and Workplace Culture Insights

This Monday, people across the US will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day to mark the achievements of the Civil Rights Movement, which...

Last week, we discussed how to recognize trauma states at work. The classic fight, flight, freeze, and appease trauma responses can reveal themselves in subtle ways, and other lesser-known trauma states can plague professional environments. Now that we know how to spot when someone is stuck in survival mode at work, it’s time to talk about how to help someone get out of that mindset. Today, we’ll explore the answer to the question: how can we respond to someone when they’re

Recognizing trauma responses is an important skill for trauma-informed leaders to learn—and knowing these common trauma responses is a great place to start. When we view the world with a trauma-informed lens, we can identify two distinct states of mind or headspaces. Of course, this is an overly simplified model that helps us understand the neurobiology of trauma —but it can help us easily identify when someone (including ourselves) is experiencing a trauma response. These t

Download this newsletter as a printable PDF: Monthly Reflections July brought challenges for many as we collectively processed the trauma of the overturning of Roe v. Wade at the end of June and shortly after celebrated American "independence" on the 4th of July amidst the looming recession marked by high gas prices and bad interest rates. Now more than ever, having personal and individual safety plans is essential, and we created ours this month, outlining our crisis plans a

Most people acknowledge the close link between childhood trauma and social-emotional problems later in life. Studies have also shown that adverse childhood experiences contribute to a person’s risk of chronic illness—and the correlation between ACEs and various other issues is astonishing. In this article, you’ll learn: What are ACEs? How to determine an “ACE score” The correlation between ACEs and various problems Why learning about ACEs is important What are ACEs? The acron

Last week I spent 3 days with a room full of exhausted yet engaged teachers, who were eager to learn about trauma and not only how it applied to their students, but how it was showing up for them. In the process of the training, we spent considerable time talking about Maslow's Hierarchy. Later that night, I was invited to the school board meeting, to share our progress and the important work being done in the district. Unprompted, their board president started talking about

When we experience a traumatic event, shame and guilt are common survival skills we rely on. Like the flight, fight, freeze and appease response, these coping skills that are often meant for our survival, can leave us paralyzed. Logically, it’s easy to say, “of course, that wasn’t your fault.” But most survivors of trauma know just how hard it is to believe. Today we’ll explore a few questions relating to guilt and trauma, like “Why is it that survivors of traumatic experienc

Trigger Warning: Please note that this blog contains a discussion of suicide, self-injurious behavior, depression and/or references of...

If you need access to a crisis helpline right now, call 800-273-8255, the 24-hour National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Trigger Warning:...

In the past several weeks, we’ve explored what resilience is and how we can create resilience in our lives and organizations through positive, stable adult relationships and a greater connection to faith and cultural traditions. Today, we’re going to dive even deeper and explore how to build resilience through mastery of a life skill. How mastery of a life skill helps us cultivate resilience Whether your life skill is communication, carpentry, or commercial waste management,

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY, Mich. (WPBN/WGTU) -- The Chefalo family has taken a lot of trips over the past few years for...

I live in a world full of people with giant hearts. Its true. Everywhere you look in the world of Human Services and Child Advocacy you...

Six years ago, our family gave up Christmas! That's right, we gave it all up: no tress, no decorations, no fancy ham dinner and...

I try really hard on this blog to bring you thoughts and ideas that you might not have heard before. I try to speak not only from my personal experience in the foster care system, but from helping numerous clients through the criminal justice system and from listening to the stories of countless individuals who have chosen me to share their stories. I want to try and tackle the issues that are difficult to talk about; those that we try to box up and pretend aren't happening.

Did you know nearly 50% of foster children end up incarcerated within two years of aging out of the foster care system? During her nearly...

Sorry I’ve been silent. I’ve been brooding, angry over the system, policies and government. I find it is best that I don’t write when I’m angry, but this last bout of anger doesn’t seem to be going away, so I hope that you don’t mind that I finally decided to try and vent on my blog. It started rather simply: I was reading the latest report from the National Center of Law for Children. They do one every year. I could barely get through paragraph two before I was writing ques

Shenandoah Chefalo is back, continuing on for those who can’t find their voice. Welcome to the 62nd episode of Giving Back Insights, my...

Last year at this time, I received a private Facebook message from an individual who was struggling. She was a professional who was concerned about youth but didn't have much time to volunteer or mentor, but after hearing me speak, she felt motivated to do something to help foster youth. I remembered her because we had talked at an event for a while, trying to find something that would work for her schedule. In the end, she decided to sponsor a foster child for the holida

Most people are familiar with the horror stories associated with our foster care system. Our guest for this program, Ms. Shenandoah...

Shenandoah Chefalo, author of "Garbage Bag Suitcase: A Memoir," calls attention to a failing American foster care system. You can listen...