In My Backyard

In this episode, Tricia invites back Rebecca Corb, a registered clinical social worker in The Guidance Center’s Long Beach School-Based Program, to discuss a screening tool that measures Adverse Childhood Experiences, also referred to as ACEs. ACEs specifically refer to adverse, or traumatic, experiences a child may endure growing up, that have a negative impact […]

In the last decade, the number of children reporting suicidal thinking and feelings of hopelessness has increased by 71% while completed suicides by children have increased by 56%. These grim statistics were true even before the overlay of social isolation and anxiety created by a global pandemic, when children lost loved ones and parents lost […]

We all experience stress throughout our lives. For a child raised with at least one healthy adult relationship, and a relatively trauma-free upbringing, experiencing normal stressors is a positive thing. They learn to adapt and grow to become resilient and functional adults who can navigate the everyday pressures of life. Althouigh, different outcomes emerge when […]

This episode contains a very important conversation about domestic violence, which may include emotional, physical, sexual and economic abuse. This might be painful and triggering for some listeners. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please reach out to the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE. Again, that is 1-800-799-SAFE or 7233. […]

According to The National Center for Transgender Equality, “most people – including most transgender people – (identify as) either male or female.  Although, some people have a gender that blends elements of being a man or a woman, or a gender that is different from either male or female. Today’s podcast is another installment of STORIES, […]

The Center for Disease Control reports that 48,830 people died from gun-related injuries in the United States in 2021 (last year with available data). These horrific statistics only tell a part of the story. They don’t count people who are shot but survive and the witnesses who are left forever changed by the experience. Today’s […]

This episode explores whether there is a link between mental illness and mass killings, a tragic phenomenon that is relatively unique to the United States. The National Council for Behavioral Health wrote in 2019, “after (mass shootings), political leaders often invoke mental illness as the reason for mass violence, a narrative that resonates with the […]

This episode revisits the LA County foster care system, a system that has been the recipient of unfavorable news coverage, particularly related to our most traumatized and troubled children. Foster placement is particularly complicated for our most troubled youth, many of whom are “involved with the juvenile delinquency system, sex trafficked, developmentally disabled or suffering […]

Today’s podcast revisits the pandemic of systemic and institutionalized racism against people of color, and the impact it has on the emotional well-being of children and youth. The mental health system has long recognized that chronic stress has a negative impact on mental health, but it is only relatively recently that trauma and chronic stress […]

Today’s episode discusses school-based mental health, what it is and how this treatment model increases access and availability to services for many children who would otherwise not receive help. The benefits of school-based mental health services have long been noted. The Kaiser Family Foundation found that “school-based mental health services can improve access to care, […]