Community Development

Over the past decade, children’s mental health challenges have reached epidemic levels—stress, anxiety, childhood depression, and suicide are at unprecedented high rates. Amid high-stakes pressure for kids to succeed, parents and teachers have never needed a road map to healthy child development more urgently. And as psychologist and educator Doug Bolton explains in this eye-opening guide, underlying our modern-day stresses is an even more pervasive problem: We’re relying on practices that are not in line with what science tells us about how to truly motivate children and help them thrive.

In this powerful and practical guide, Minaa shares therapeutic tools, client stories, and actionable insights to help you on your healing journey, along with reflections from her personal experiences. Each chapter focuses on a common emotional struggle—from overcoming dysfunctional family patterns to developing emotional maturity, finding our village, navigating racial trauma, and moving past isolation and despair.

At its heart, polyvagal theory describes how the brain's unconscious sense of safety or danger impacts our emotions and behaviors. In this powerful book, pediatrician and neonatologist Marilyn R. Sanders and child psychiatrist George S. Thompson offer both a meditation on caregiving and a call to action. By attending to the lessons of polyvagal theory—that adult caregivers must be aware of children's unconscious processing of sensory information—the authors show how professionals can play a critical role in establishing a sense of safety even in the face of dangerous situations.

Mexico's Premiere Beach and Jungle Family Vacation Destination Looking for a tropical vacation experience somewhere that is not overrun with tourists and high-rise resorts? The Riviera Nayarit, just north of Puerto Vallarta is a world away from the commercial resort-oriented destination call Vallarta. Discover pristine beaches, hot springs, authentic towns, fun family activities and a truly Mexican experience in one of Mexico's newest and safest family beach jungle vacation destinations. Riviera Nayarit means Family Fun This guidebook, written by an expat that has lived in Nayarit for over ...

We live in a culture that suppresses our ability to truly feel our grief—deeply, safely, and on our own terms. But each person’s experience is as unique as the grief itself. Here, Camille Barton’s take on grief speaks directly to the ways that BIPOC and queer readers disproportionately experience unique constellations of loss.

Life changes dramatically for the entire family when the decision is made to move a person who has dementia from home to community care. Rachael Wonderlin - a gerontologist, dementia care expert, and popular dementia care blogger - helps caregivers cope with the difficult behaviors, emotions, and anxieties that both they and their loved one may experience.

So, let's talk about loneliness. Human connection specialist Simone Heng knows a lot about being lonely. She left an enviable career and social life to move back to her family home to care for her mother. All alone in a house filled with memories but devoid of people, she was faced with the realization that human connection is one of our most essential needs. Simone shares her journey to understanding the value of human connection and explains how to distinguish authentic relationships from fake substitutes.

What if the greatest challenge facing America’s community colleges isn’t budget cuts or bureaucratic hurdles, but a fear of success itself? As the Dean of a large community college's School of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics, I’ve seen firsthand how the fear of accountability can stifle progress and innovation. During a pivotal meeting in Spring 2024, a fellow dean's reaction to a proposal for expanding course capacity—"What if we succeed?"—exposed a deeper issue plaguing higher education. This book dives into the heart of that fear, unraveling why community colleges, ...

You are a successful, intelligent person with so much to feel good about. But when you are confronted with the omnipresent clutter in your life, you feel like a failure. No matter how hard you try to get organized, you can’t figure out how to make the clutter go away for good. You can tell that there’s something bigger going on, but you have no idea what it is. You’re stuck. The good news is, you absolutely can learn how to free yourself from clutter.

299 Days: The Community, the third book in the 299 Days series, reunites Grant Matson with his family after his wife, children, and in-laws accept that the only way to survive the Collapse is to flee the comfort of their suburban lives and join him at his isolated cabin in the woods. With riots becoming more violent, power outages more widespread, and the military crumbling, Grant and others throughout Washington State realize they must organize if they want to endure.

Follow the author's true and heart-wrenching story as she writes about her domestic violence experiences from a few years ago to heal from the secondary trauma of not being believed. It's a story about a mother with two babies fighting to protect herself and her children from psychological abuse during COVID on a remote island.

Caring for someone with dementia is challenging, especially when it comes time to think about other living arrangements. What do you need to know about dementia, including its different stages? Gerontologist and dementia care consultant Rachael Wonderlin has written a compassionate book to help friends and family members of those living with dementia answer the tough questions. In practical, down-to-earth language, The Caregiver's Guide to Memory Care and Dementia Communities walks the listener through key points about dementia care.

In this inspiring book, founders of The Holistic Life Foundation Ali Smith, Atman Smith, and Andres Gonzalez describe how they have spent the past twenty years teaching yoga, meditation, and breathwork to thousands of at-risk kids in Baltimore schools helping them to develop deep reserves of patience, empathy, resolve, and—when needed—the righteous anger that fuels deep structural change. Their work has received wide national attention due to their remarkable results.

Raising kids in America is difficult—no federally supported parental leave, a lack of mental health support, a crushing combination of workplace pressure and aspirational parental perfection, and the fresh hell that is the playgroup Facebook page. But what if there was another way? Parenting—and specifically motherhood—looks wildly different across nations. Please Yell at My Kids is an around the world journey and a practical guide to rethinking parenting. What can we learn from Brazilian birth parties, Singaporean grandparents, and Danish babies sleeping soundly outside of coffee shops?

Acclaimed author, process-oriented therapist, and earlier Jungian analyst Arnold Mindell teaches us how to find the power to make our own choices and control our own lives. Drawing on his experiences with "witch-doctors" and shamans in Africa, Japan, Russia, and India, Mindell leads us on a "death walk" through our worst fears and deepest emotional crises to wake our inner shaman - which he calls our "dreamingbody." Methods for tapping the wisdom hidden in crises free our own internal sorcery for use in our daily lives. These methods enable us to become whole from within and to avoid the phantoms of unrealistic hopes and desires that limit our lives.

In 2001, when Jacqueline Novogratz founded Acumen, a global community of socially and environmentally responsible partners dedicated to changing the way the world tackles poverty, few had heard of impact investing - Acumen’s practice of “doing well by doing good”. Nineteen years later, there’s been a seismic shift in how corporate boards and other stakeholders evaluate businesses: Impact investment is not only morally defensible, but now also economically advantageous, even necessary.

Listen to How to Be a Mindful Drinker: a practical support plan to help you take control of your alcohol intake, with tools to track progress, deal with triggers, social stresses, and stay on track for the long term. Fed up with weekend hangovers? Motivated by budgetary or health concerns? Or just want to feel your best every day of the week? Without preaching or waffling, How to Be a Mindful Drinker will help you to understand your drinking behavior and plan your self-moderation goals.

How to Reach Consensus Making decisions in a group is often challenging. All too often the more dominating members tend to impose their ideas, or the discussion bogs down and no decision is made. The practice of consultation provides a solution to this dilemma, by focusing on the decision-making process as a joint search for truth, in which each person’s perceptions and ideas contribute to a fuller understanding of the reality of a given situation, and consequently to better decisions. The practice of consultation is based on certain guidelines that encourage all participants to share ...

Apple Vision Healthcare Pioneers" is an innovative exploration of the intersection between technology and healthcare. Co-authored by Harvey Castro MD, MBA, and Brooks Wood, this book delves into the transformative power of Virtual Reality (VR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in modern healthcare. It serves as a comprehensive guide for professionals within the healthcare industry and patients interested in understanding the future of medical care. Through real-world examples, and in-depth analysis, this book offers insights into how technology can enhance patient care, improve outcomes, and...

Master the art of communication in your relationship in just a few weeks, even if endless quarrels and misunderstandings have formed your everyday reality. Are you seeking concrete strategies to improve your communication and strengthen your relationship? Do you feel unheard or misunderstood by your partner? Have trivial issues snowballed into bitter disagreements because of poor communication? Are you yearning to rebuild trust, navigate life changes together, and maintain intimacy over time but don’t know where to start? If so, then this book is your ultimate guide.