When we think about Alaska, we think of Denali, pictures we’ve seen, movies we’ve watched, the wonderful wildlife, and people still living on the cusp of the frontier. But what films don’t always show, and what books don’t always cover, is the incredible challenges of this environment: the high rates of trauma, the high rates of addiction, the high rates of suicide, and the high rates of child abuse. How do you help families identify the root causes of trauma and truly heal?  We talk to Patrick Anderson, CEO of RurAL CAP, about the nexus of a brutal truth and enduring hope.

Topics in this episode:

• Working in Alaska (1:26)
• Toxic stress (7:47)
• Historical trauma (12:57)
• The fear response (17:48)
• Six step healing hypothesis (26:28)
• Whole community healing (38:28)
• Two generation response (42:33)
• The Stockdale paradox: Brutal truth and enduring hope (46:10)

Links:

Patrick M. Anderson, CEO of RurAL CAP (Rural Alaska Community Action Program, Inc.)

RurAL Cap’s health and well-being programs

The original study into adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)

CDC Vital Signs issue on the effects of ACEs

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

AAP website on Early Brain and Child Development

Three types of stress responses

Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)

1867 Treaty of Cession

Joseph LeDoux, Ph.D.

Dr. Vincent Fellitti

Lean thinking, or the Toyota Production System

Martin Seligman, Ph.D., positive psychology

Angela Duckworth, Ph.D., Grit

David Berceli, Ph.D.

Dr. James Gordon, Breathe, Shake, Dance (YouTube) 

EMDR, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

Capt. Joseph Hibbeln, M.D.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D.

The Stockdale Paradox

Carol Dweck, Ph.D.

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at nationalchildrensalliance.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast or email us at

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