Episodes

K Thomas will discuss the current state of Queer and trans rights across the US and the deep history of resiliency within the LGBTQIA2S+ communities. K will address how racism, reproductive justice, and LGBTQIA+ rights are intertwined within recent SCOTUS decisions. We will also explore how embracing the strengths of the Queer and trans communities enables us to choose compassion over comprehension towards marginalized identities. Lastly, K will provide a few tangible ways to be an active ally t...

Resiliency Within will highlight the strength, resiliency, and positive contributions of the queer community during several episodes. The Rev. Dr. Keith A. Menhinick joins us in this episode, Chasing Resilience in Queer Communities. Dr. M, as his Theology students call him at Emory University, states, Many people in helping and caregiving professions see LGBTQ+ people in terms of their trauma--the ways they’ve been hurt, excluded, rejected, harmed--without a focus on resiliency. Queer folks and ...

Michael Sapp, the CEO of the Trauma Resource Institute, and Elaine Miller-Karas the host of Resiliency Within and the Co-Founder of the Trauma Resource Institute, will reflect on pressing contemporary issues of war, wokeism, healing, and forgiveness through the wisdom of the characters of Ted Lasso, a series on AppleTV. Their working definition of woke is not politicized but rather a word that has been used as far back as the early 1900s to mean being conscious of racial discrimination in societ...

Guy MacPherson, Ph.D., will share his journey as the founder of the Trauma Therapist Project, which has grown to include the Trauma Therapist Podcast and Newsletter. He has interviewed over 700 therapists who have dedicated their lives to helping those people who have been impacted by trauma. He will share what he has learned that is important for all of us who are healing from the traumas experienced from our lived experience. Guy focuses on honoring and cultivating trauma therapists' authentic...

Dr. Brooke Ellison was on Resiliency Within on March 20th. Her interview was so inspiring to so many we wanted her back. She agreed to continue to share perspectives about disability and advocacy that she eloquently describes in her latest book, Look Both Ways. After a nearly fatal run-in with a car at age 11 that left her paralyzed from the neck down and unable to breathe on her own, Brooke Ellison went on to graduate from Harvard, write a memoir, earn master’s and doctoral degrees, and teach p...

Dr. Ilene Naomi Rusk has a trauma-informed science-based approach to brain health and optimal longevity. She’s developed a user-friendly way of using a functional medicine approach to help prevent Alzheimer’s and improve cognitive health. Dr. Rusk focuses mainly on helping her patients build stress resilience, and she focuses on numerous lifestyle pillars of brain health. These lifestyle pillars, like sleep, diet, and movement, and how we engage with them, can directly affect how we think and fe...

Ask a youth involved in Juvenile Justice how they feel and the response you will most likely hear is “I feel disrespected.” The default response from the system is often along the lines of “You don’t know what respect is.” And thus sets off an often vicious downward spiral. It doesn’t have to be this way. Ask a youth how you might show respect, and the entire conversation shifts: respect and trust have room to grow. Together trust and respect become an anchor creating a bridge between youth and ...

Cammie Wolf Rice, the Founder & CEO of the Christopher Wolf Crusade, recently released her book, The Flight, on September 18, 2022, Christopher's birthday. Cammie will share her journey after her son's death and the innovative initiative she created in response to her son’s lost 14-year battle with opioids. She will share the mission of the Christopher Wolf Crusade (CWC) and how it is dedicated to ending the opioid epidemic by focusing on prevention. CWC has a new in-hospital position called the...

Award-winning author and thought leader Dawson Church, Ph.D., blends cutting-edge neuroscience with intense firsthand experience to show you how to rewire your brain for happiness. Dr. Dawson will talk about his book, Bliss Brain: The Neuroscience of Remodeling Your Brain for Resilience, Creativity, and Joy In Bliss Brain, famed researcher Dawson Church digs deep into leading-edge science and finds stunning evidence of rapid and radical brain change. When we cultivate these pleasurable states ov...

Dr. Jamie Gamboa and Brian Stefan, MSW, of Spotlight on Suicide (SOS) return to discuss the Suicidal Ideation Toolbox (SIT), which contains accessible skills for helping professionals and everyone who experiences deep suffering and suicidal thoughts. Everyone experiences thoughts of suicide (whether they be passing and/or passive thoughts or more active thoughts) at some point in our lives, but many of us are not equipped with the tools to handle it. That's not your fault! People have been afrai...

Ned Bachus’s novel is about Sarah Goins, a college professor with a thriving career and close-knit academic community who is eager to draw her boyfriend, Mike Flannagan, deeper into her world. But Mike, a groundskeeper at a local seminary, resists, instead keeping her at arm’s length as he struggles to come to terms with a past haunted by loss. Late one night, Mike crosses paths with Domenic Gallo, a neighborhood barber who has been injured in a mugging. As Mike helps the elderly man, Domenic te...

Implementing trauma- and resilience-informed systems in rural communities offers its own set of challenges and awards. Many rural communities lack the resources of their urban cousins, yet connection to available resources can be more easily obtained. This is what makes the Community Resiliency Model (CRM) such a good fit for rural areas. It provides a resource that costs very little and can be obtained by a next door neighbor, a church clergyperson, or a coach’s assistant. First 5 Mendocino int...

My guests, Audrey Stillerman, MD, and Bridget Gavaghan will discuss the Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative (the Collaborative) and the Center for Collaborative Study of Trauma, Health Equity, and Neurobiology (THEN). The organizations have been working for over a decade to transform organizations and systems through trauma-informed, resilience-building, and healing-centered policies and practices. A cross-sector movement to prevent trauma and promote thriving across the lifespan, the Collabora...

On March 20th and May 22nd, 2023, Elaine Miller-Karas interviewed Dr. Brooke Ellison. Brooke died on February 4, 2024. We are rebroadcasting this episode in tribute to her life, her wisdom, and her brilliance.

Elaine Miller-Karas and Michael Sapp will discuss Elaine's new book, Building Resilience to Trauma, the Trauma and Community Resiliency Models, 2nd Edition, published by Routledge on March 13, 2023. Dr. Sapp will talk about the neuroscience of the Community and Trauma Resiliency Models. This is Part 2 of 2 Parts. Part 1 aired on March 6, 2023. Part 2 will focus on the neuroscience of the Trauma and Community Resiliency Models. Elaine Miller-Karas, LCSW, will discuss the second edition of her boo...

Elaine Miller-Karas, LCSW, will discuss the second edition of her book, Building Resiliency to Trauma, with Dr. Michael Sapp, the CEO of the Trauma Resource Institute. During and after a traumatic experience, survivors experience a cascade of physical, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, relational, and spiritual responses that can make them feel unbalanced and threatened. The second edition of Building Resilience to Trauma explains common responses from a biological perspective, reframing the hum...

The Center on Child Wellbeing and Trauma (CCWT) is a partnership between Massachusetts’ Office of the Child Advocate and ForHealth Consulting™ at UMass Chan Medical School. CCWT supports child-serving organizations and systems in becoming trauma-informed and responsive through trainings, technical assistance, communities of practice, and coaching. Audrey Smolkin, MPP, Executive Director, and Alison Cebulla, MPH, Associate Director of Curriculum Development and Training, will describe their innov...

As a Deafblind woman with partial vision in one eye and bilateral hearing aids, Elsa Sjunneson lives at the crossroads of blindness and sight, hearing and deafness—much to the confusion of the world around her. While she cannot see well enough to operate without a guide dog or cane, she can see enough to know when someone is reacting to the visible signs of her blindness and can hear when they’re whispering behind her back. And she certainly knows how wrong our one-size-fits-all definitions of d...

Brooke Conway is a mental health and wellness counselor at Kapi‘olani Community College in Honolulu, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i. In this episode we will discuss Brooke’s experiences implementing the Community Resiliency Model (CRM) on her campus as a strategy to support student mental health & wellbeing, particularly while navigating through COVID-19 pandemic and students returning to campus. Hawai‘i’s unique culture, history and place provide a rich landscape to reflect upon the value of accessible wellnes...

Nearly everyone will experience thoughts of suicide at some point in their lives. The problem isn’t that we sometimes feel this way. The problem is that we suffer in silence when what we need most is to connect with non-judgmental and caring others. Neuroscientific findings suggest that humans are hard-wired to connect and that healing takes place in the context of human relationships. What this means is that supportive bonds can help us cultivate resiliency during difficult times. Stigma about ...

J’vanete (Jay-vuh-nay) Skiba will share her perspectives from her role as the Assistant Director for Equity, Education, and Engagement for the New Hanover County Resiliency Task Force in Wilmington, North Carolina. The vision of the task force is a more resilient and compassionate New Hanover County. J’vanete serves the community through the idea of “functional compassion.” “Functional compassion” is the act of engaging in public and personal practices that spur change on a systemic level out of...

Sami Aaron, the founder of the nonprofit, The Resilient Activist, will discuss how people everywhere are experiencing severe emotional distress caused by climate change and environmental devastation. And what makes it even more unbearable for some is when family, friends, employers, and governments don’t understand and often don’t care. She will share how the vision of The Resilient Activist was first ignited in 2003 as Sami struggled to find some meaning from the suicide of her older son, Kevin...

Todd Wilcher, MA, CTRS, will share his work with Covenant House, Georgia. Covenant House provides services to unhoused youth. Their Crisis Shelter, the P.J. Garcia Youth Shelter, serves as a home for up to 60 youths ages 18-24. Youth can find a safe place to stay and wraparound support for 30-90 days. Youth who stay in the shelter work with a case manager to create a plan for their future. At Covenant House Georgia, youth have access to hot meals and showers, medical and mental health care, job ...

Carmen Turner-Schott will share her book, Sun Signs, Houses & Healing: Build Resilience & Transform Your Life Through Astrology. Carmen will share the themes in her book that can help you transform your life in 2023 through transformation, healing, and resiliency. This beginner-friendly book provides insights on all twelve signs and reveals how your birth chart can help you overcome challenges and improve your well-being. Once you have your chart—which you can easily acquire online using your ti...