This month, my book, The Trauma-Informed Pediatric Practice: A Resilience-Based Roadmap to Early Relational Health, was released from The American Academy of Pediatrics. The entire process has been surreal and, until I held the book in my hands, I still had not realized the impact it would have on me. One day in June, my book arrived, […]

Happy post-long weekend to celebrate America’s birthday! I hope you all celebrated and enjoyed sunshine, barbecues, and friends. For those of you who’ve been following for a while, you know that we spend a lot of time at rodeos during the summer. My son has been participating in rodeo events since 2018 and it’s truly […]

I hope you’re flowing into some lazy summer days. (In fact, if you’re in Clackamas, you’re in for a treat for summer days as we partner with Clackamas Early Learning Hub for the Summer Summit – it’s free, register here!) For those of us in the northwest, the sun that we’ve been waiting for has swept away cloudy, […]

Oh goodness, do I have an announcement for you! Drum roll…. If you’re a professional who serves children and families in Clackamas County, you’re in for a treat! For two days in August, you can get trained in my signature curriculum, Cards for Connection©, FOR FREE! We’re calling it the Summer Summit and you can register here!! Sponsored by the Clackamas […]

If you haven’t read this newsletter about “ending well,” check it out here. Today, I’m building on that message as we celebrate the graduates of 2024. If you’ve worked with kids and families as long as I have, you know that they wind their way into your heart. The trust you build with families and the […]

Today, I’m walking you through, step by step, how our team created a trauma-informed retreat. We invited 15 guests to our farm for a 2-day, soul-filling retreat about what it means to provide trauma-responsive care when you work in the lives of children and families. It was magical! Let me know what you think and […]

It’s the end of the year for so many of us. Students, teachers, administrators, bus drivers, librarians – goodness! So many of my favorite people! For some, there are culminating events, for others, it’s simply onto the next year. But you know what? YOU made it! Whether you’re celebrating simply surviving or a major milestone […]

For the past several weeks, we’ve been talking about a compassionate approach to understanding others, called the suitcase analogy. If you missed it, you should check it out! Last week, I literally got my suitcases out and traveled, for the first time ever, to Europe. It’s been since the holidays since I put my feet up […]

We’ve been talking about suitcases the past two weeks. If you missed these, you can check them out here. And speaking of suitcases, I am out of the office this week! It’s been a busy spring season, and I’m taking a much-needed break before my team moves into busy summer trainings, in-services, and workshops. We still […]

If you missed our chat last week, we talked all about a trauma-responsive approach to every day interactions. It’s called the suitcase analogy and you can check it out here. Today, we’re taking this another step and asking ourselves, “What do we do with all of this baggage?” I’m outlining FIVE things you can do right now […]