The Mental Health Digest - Trauma-Informed Resources For You

Watch This Expert Break Down the Official Trauma-Informed Principles and Practices

Why this matters for your mental health

Trauma can happen to anyone. And whether something is traumatic or not is completely up to the person experiencing it. Yes, there are diagnostic criteria to guide practice, but the experience of trauma is personal.

But how should individuals and organizations think about helping people who have experienced trauma?

In this clear and information-packed video, Dr. Scott Giacomucci breaks down the six trauma-informed principles as defined by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Fun fact, I managed a SAMHSA mental health grant for the State of Montana at one point, and that's where I learned what bureaucracy actually means. State Government + Federal Government = FUN!

Find Out Your ACE (Trauma) Score With This Helpful Guide (PERSONAL RESOURCE)

Why this matters for your mental health

The ACE Study (More in resource #4) set the stage for how we think about the categories of trauma. While anything created by humans will be reductionist, the ACE questionnaire does a good job boiling down a complex subject into ten questions targeting sources of childhood trauma.

It's important to note that this is not a diagnostic tool. It's meant to inform and start a conversation.

Please don't beat yourself up if you get a high score. Use this as a way to gain awareness and realize how far you've already come.

Read A Practical Compassion-Fatigue Guide to Understand and Heal Your Trauma Response (BOOK I LOVED)

Why this matters for your mental health

The word "trauma" sounds so overwhelming when you hear it. What do you actually do to deal with it? Not everyone can find trauma-informed medical professionals to guide them. A book can be a good option to at least know what you're up against.

Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others,  while written with health professionals in mind, could be life-changing for anyone who has lived through traumatic experiences.

I thought this book was so practical and relatable. A breath of fresh air in a sea of dense, depressing resources that don't meet people where they are. 

Learn About The ACE Study that Started the Trauma-Informed Movement

Why this matters for your mental health

Here's information about the groundbreaking CDC-Kaiser Permanente ACE Study right from the source, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website. 

This is a good resource for anyone who likes to understand where long-term studies come from and how they shape our understanding.

AAPI LGBTQ+ Youth Face Heightened Risk for Mental Health Challenges (NEW STUDY)

Why this matters for your mental health

We're kind of ending with a downer here, but this is really important. Asian-American and Pacific Islander youth who identify as LGBTQ+ are in trouble, according to a study just released. 

Some key stats from the study conducted by The Trevor Project:

• 49% of Pacific Islander and 50% of trans AAPI respondents reported that they had seriously considered suicide in the past year, compared to a base rate of 40% for all respondents across the broader survey
• Only 19% of AAPI respondents were out, compared to 27% of LGBTQ+ youth as a whole. Trans AAPIs were also out to most of the important people in their lives at a lower rate (13%) than all trans youth (17%)

The reality? 

It's really hard not being able to be who you are. No one should need to take their life to escape that pain. 

Not feeling accepted and understood is at the core of lots of mental health issues. We all need to be understood mentally, psychologically, socially, spiritually, AND culturally.