Trauma Responses Explained: Fight, Flight, Freeze, Appease
Trauma is pervasive and often overlooked. By understanding how our survival instincts (also known as trauma brain or fight, flight,...
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The Art of Trauma-Informed Care
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Shenandoah Chefalo
Jun 46 min read
Structural Violence in Medicine: “Doctors Have a New Plan for Fat Kids”
The institutions that hope to repair the damage of structural violence are often the same ones that cause it. I began listening to the...
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Shenandoah Chefalo
Apr 235 min read
10 Ways to Be Mindful That Aren't Deep Breathing
When I introduce mindfulness to organizations, people usually think of deep breathing. While breathing and meditation are methods of...
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Shenandoah Chefalo
Apr 163 min read
Removing Obstacles to Self Care is Self Care
When committing to self-care is too challenging, preparing for self-care is sometimes the best decision we can make to take care of...
260
Shenandoah Chefalo
Apr 93 min read
5 Ways to Mindfully Develop Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is a superpower in today's workforce. And, leaders need to prioritize their social-emotional skills if they hope...
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Shenandoah Chefalo
Apr 25 min read
Healing Through Mindfulness: Slowing Down & Asking for Help
What does healing look like? We often think the answer will be sold to us in pretty packaging, but the truth is that healing requires...
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Shenandoah Chefalo
Mar 184 min read
5 Gender Inequity Facts We Don’t Talk About: Uncovering Trauma Ghosts for Women in the Workforce
In looking back, we can see how far we’ve come after making great strides for gender equity in our history. Women’s History Month is also...
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Shenandoah Chefalo
Feb 206 min read
11 Practical Tips for Building Secure Attachments and Healing from Trauma in Relationships
Understanding attachment theory helps us make the important first step of the trauma-informed paradigm shift. Once we make the shift, we...
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Shenandoah Chefalo
Feb 134 min read
Trauma-Informed Attachment Theory: How Childhood Experiences Impact Adult Relationships and Attachment Styles
Attachment styles can help us understand how our trauma impacts our relationships—and what we can do about it. I work with many...
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Shenandoah Chefalo
Feb 64 min read
7 Characteristics of a Healthy Relationship
Whether you’re considering your romantic, platonic, or professional relationships, knowing these 7 characteristics of a healthy...
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Shenandoah Chefalo
Jan 303 min read
9 Phrases for Building Relationships at Work
Whether you're collaborating closely on projects together, passing projects off, or simply brushing shoulders your coworkers have a...
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Shenandoah Chefalo
Jan 234 min read
5 Secrets to Personal Growth No One Tells You
People are always asking me: what do I do to heal my trauma? And people are always disappointed when I tell them the answer. Why? Because...
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Shenandoah Chefalo
Dec 5, 20237 min read
7 Subtle Self-Harm Strategies You Might Do
This blog discusses self-harm and suicide, which can be sensitive topics to many readers. Please establish your safety before reading,...
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Shenandoah Chefalo
Nov 28, 20237 min read
9 Types of Safety Most People Don’t Know About
Safety is a crucial topic for trauma-informed systems, and understanding how your community defines safety is no small task. If I asked...
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Shenandoah Chefalo
Nov 21, 20235 min read
Why is Safety Important in a Trauma Informed Approach?
No matter what model you use, SAMHSA or Sanctuary, safety is a core value of trauma-informed care. Safety is arguably one of the most...
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Shenandoah Chefalo
Nov 29, 20224 min read
Empathy is a Professional Superpower
All human beings are born with a capacity for empathy, but ultimately, empathy is a learned behavior—much like language. Just as language...
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Shenandoah Chefalo
Jul 26, 20223 min read
ACEs: Everything You Need to Know About Adverse Childhood Experiences
Most people acknowledge the close link between childhood trauma and social-emotional problems later in life. Studies have also shown that...
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Shenandoah Chefalo
Jun 21, 20222 min read
Trauma-Informed Leadership and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Last week I spent 3 days with a room full of exhausted yet engaged teachers, who were eager to learn about trauma and not only how it...
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Shenandoah Chefalo
May 3, 20224 min read
Navigating Grief: How to Take Care of Yourself in a Worst-Case Scenario
Trigger Warning: Please note that this blog contains a discussion of suicide, self-injurious behavior, depression and/or references of...
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Shenandoah Chefalo
Apr 25, 20228 min read
Teen Suicide Prevention: How to Care for Depressed Teens and Children
If you need access to a crisis helpline right now, call 800-273-8255, the 24-hour National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Trigger Warning:...
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