Healing Horizons: Weekly News & Research - September 5, 2024
Welcome to our weekly news show, Healing Horizons, hosted by experts Bri Twombly and Alison Cebulla. Dive into the most recent updates on trauma-informed care practices, positive and adverse childhood experiences, and the critical concept of psychological safety. Each episode is designed to keep you informed on the latest research, trends, and best practices in these essential areas. Whether you're a healthcare professional, educator, or simply passionate about mental health, our show provides valuable insights and practical advice. Stay tuned for in-depth discussions and expert interviews that will enhance your understanding and application of trauma-informed care and psychological safety.
Here are the news stories and research we featured:
Transcript:
Holistic Mental Health Key to Maui’s Recovery - Hawaii Business Magazine
Mental health therapy must be as diverse as the people who need it. That’s why it can be so impactful to redefine mental health services through an indigenous lens, according to Keolamau Tengan, executive director of Wailuku nonprofitt Ka‘ehu, whose Mālama ‘Ohana program uses a Hawaiian cultural worldview to address mental health.
“We offer an ‘āina (land) or kai (ocean) based program to get the body moving and acting in service and connection to nature. We then combine that with different activities based on Hawaiian art and culture,” says Tengan.
The program offers four to six cultural activity stations at no charge to attendees, and, through repetitive activities such as lei making or lauhala weaving, helps ground participants back into their body so they can start to open up and share their feelings.
Supporting Ka‘ehu’s work with a Maui Strong Fund grant is part of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation’s culturally grounded and holistic approach to Maui’s mental health response. Embracing the principles of trauma-informed care, it recognizes that a variety of alternative therapies can help individuals impacted by a collective trauma reflect on and improve their mental health.
Above the Clouds Texas, a faith-based nonprofit offering free ballet, theater, hip-hop, jazz and vocal lessons to children ages 5-17 arrived in Fort Worth two years ago. It aims to make arts education accessible to families who would not be able to afford it otherwise
The program relies on shoe and costume donations from dance studios. Financial donations and grants help pay the dance instructors.
Above the Clouds was co-founded in Wisconsin in 2001 by artist and professional dancer Linda Wade. She brings worship and dance to incarcerated women in Wisconsin and Texas prisons through a ministry called Discipleship Unlimited.
Wade formed the nonprofit as a way to make art a form of self-expression for kids with adverse childhood experiences and prevent them from being incarcerated later in life.
Nearly half of the children in the program are in families who have been impacted by incarceration, Washington said. She hopes the program can serve as a safe space for kids to explore the arts and express themselves.
People with acute and severe mental health challenges, which are significantly impacting their day to day lives, are receiving the care and supports they need to improve their quality of life through Island Health’s Bridging Care Program.
Based in Victoria, Canada, the program offers recovery oriented, trauma informed intensive day treatment. Since opening in April 2023, the program has provided short-term (1-4 weeks) skills-based services and transitional supports to 160 people who might otherwise have needed to be admitted to hospital for inpatient psychiatric care.
The program has been so successful Island Health is in the process of developing a virtual Bridging Care Program to support people who live outside of the South Island.
The program’s interdisciplinary team ranges from psychiatrists, occupational and recreational therapist to nurses and peer support to teach skills such as mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.
Participants attend daily group sessions, participate in discussions and skills training. Outside of group work, they complete ‘homework,’ and receive one-on-one counseling to practice and reinforce skills that are relevant to their goals. Clients also have access to consultation with psychiatry while participating in the program. Before discharge, clients have a plan in place to continue to support their wellness and goals.
International Journal of Cardiology, September 2024
Longitudinal Study of 1874 Australian Children, birth to age 12
Researchers found that Adverse experiences have detrimental effects on cardiovascular health in children.
That children exposed to positive experiences have better cardiovascular health.
And that positive experiences may buffer the detrimental effect of adverse experiences
Promoting positive experiences is needed to improve cardiovascular health
One researcher stated, "This research shows that by investing in the early years, we can have healthier futures for all Australian children."
Biological Psychiatry, July 2024
the research team used data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, which includes a large sample of children and adolescents from across the United States. The researchers focused on a sample of approximately 11,800 children aged 9 to 14 years old.
The study found that children who experience emotional neglect tend to have younger-looking brains.
This finding suggests that emotional neglect may delay brain maturation, possibly because the absence of emotional and social support slows the development of certain brain structures.
The study also found that children exposed to more other forms of adversity, such as caregiver mental illness and socioeconomic hardship, often have older-looking brains
JAMA Network Open, August 2024
Objective To assess whether vulnerability to negative life events varied across 5 developmental periods from preschool to young adulthood.
Analyzed data from 3 community-representative studies set in the southeastern US with a total of 3258 participants (1519 female) aged 2 to 30 years
Life events with emotional symptoms were compared across preschool (<7 years), childhood (7-12 years), adolescence (13-17 years), late adolescence (18-22 years), and young adulthood (23-30 years).
stressful events had a larger association with emotional symptoms in young adulthood than in other developmental periods
vulnerability to traumatic and stressful events was generally similar across the first 3 decades of life; These findings suggest response to stressful events is similar from childhood to adulthood
Dreaming, September 2024
This study investigated the influence of emotional abuse and neglect, the mediating role of rumination, and the moderating role of perceived social support on the frequency of disturbed dreaming.
A total of 847 Chinese participants participated in the study, including 482 female and 365 male, aged 17–22 years
The study found that individuals who experienced higher levels of emotional abuse or neglect as children were more likely to have frequent disturbed dreams, which include both nightmares that wake the dreamer and bad dreams that cause distress but do not wake the person. The research also identified rumination, or the tendency to focus on negative thoughts, as a key factor that mediates this relationship.
Those who had experienced emotional abuse and neglect were more likely to ruminate, which in turn was associated with more frequent disturbed dreaming. This finding supports the idea that how individuals process their emotions and thoughts plays a crucial role in determining the frequency and intensity of their disturbed dreams.
While social support did not appear to directly influence the relationship between emotional abuse and neglect and disturbed dreaming, it did have a significant impact on how rumination affected disturbed dreaming. Participants who reported higher levels of social support were less likely to have frequent disturbed dreams, even if they were prone to ruminating. This suggests that having a strong support network might help individuals cope better with negative thoughts, reducing the likelihood that these thoughts will translate into disturbed dreaming.
