ATN Angel: Donald Craig Peterson
By: Julie Beem Tireless. That’s the word that comes to mind when describing Craig Peterson. Those on Facebook know him as Donald Craig Peterson. Craig is an author, an activist, an advocate, an advisor…but most importantly he’s a dad. Parenting six he adopted as a single parent has been far from easy. His children have […]
ATN Angel – Marc Deprey
By: Julie Beem In celebration of ATN’s 2016 Angels in Adoption award, we’re profiling ATN members who have helped ATN win the award — and who have themselves been Angels to families and children. Late one night I flew into the San Francisco airport and there he stood. Neither one of us was sure we’d […]
DON’T Muscle Through
by: Gari Lister I woke up this morning and checked my phone as I lay in bed (yes, I know it’s terrible. . . ) and here is what I read over and over again: “I’m done.” “I can’t take it anymore. I just can’t.” “He’s killed the best parts of me.” “I hate […]
That Familiar Holiday Rant: “You’ll never be my real family!”
by: D. Craig Peterson Six words. For many vulnerable children, they give context to a complicated history. For many parents who’ve opened their hearts, they cut to the bone. The words unfortunately rear their ugly head, especially during the holidays – when family gatherings are the norm. I know too well. After years of […]
I Believe Square Pegs Need Trauma-Sensitive Schools
by: Melissa Sadin At ATN we believe that early childhood trauma and attachment disruption impacts brain development. A study found that children living in an Eastern European orphanage had larger more reactive amygdalae and smaller hippocampal volume than children in the same country that had never been in an orphanage. In addition, the same researchers […]
If You Believe
by: Julie Beem The holidays are a time to focus on what we believe. Do you believe in Santa Claus? Peace on Earth? Practicing Gratitude? Family as The Most Important Thing? Well, you can believe all of these things and more, yet, if you’re a traumatized child or the family who loves a traumatized child, […]
Stop the Madness – Schools Must Be Trauma Sensitive
by: Julie Beem I knew it — from the first time this photo and story showed up in my Facebook feed. The security officer forcefully removed a teenage girl from her math class after she had been using her cell phone — by knocking her chair to the ground. And then I saw an interview […]
Trauma Informed and The Power of Words
by: Melissa Sadin The idea that our words have the power to wound might be as old as time itself. In the Bible it is said, “For in many things we offend in word….” Many of us grew up with the sayings, “Loose lips sink ships” and “If you don’t have anything nice to say, […]
Everyday, I Get Up and Go to Work . . .
Volunteering is the ultimate exercise in democracy. You vote in elections once a year, but when you volunteer, you vote everyday, about the kind of community you want to live in. – Unknown by: Julie Beem Everyday, I get up and stumble into my home office…to volunteer. Often I’m three cups of coffee in and still […]
Inspiration: Taking Flight
by: Gari Lister One of my youngest daughter’s biggest challenges is self esteem – and sadly her lack of self esteem is combined with an inability to imagine and dream. Not dream at night, but dream of an exciting future. My sweet girl can very easily imagine herself getting cancer, or epilepsy, or even cystic […]