by Rona | Feb 29, 2016 | Announcements, KPFA, Podcasts, Radio Shows
The Girl Behind the Door, A Father’s Quest to Understand His Daughter’s Suicide, by John Brooks, provides a profound look into adoption, teenage suicide, and attachment issues.
“When John and Erika’s daughter Casey jumped off of the Golden Gate Bridge in 2008, John began to unravel a heartbreaking truth—Casey had been in pain since birth, living in an Orphanage in Poland until she was adopted at 14 months.”
John spent many years after Casey’s suicide trying to understand what lead to her taking her life. He learned so much—the things he didn’t know, the mistakes he made, and the help he didn’t get from the professional community. He asks, “What did everyone miss? What could have been done differently?”
When you tune in to hear John’s story, you’ll understand more about the struggles children who are adopted face, and the heartache any parent feels when a child’s behavior is out of control, and challenging to understand.
Guests:
John Brooks, a former senior financial executive in the broadcast and media industry, has turned to writing, mental health activism, and volunteer work with teenagers in Marin County. He maintains a blog: parentingandattachment.com to share his experience and educate other adoptive families about parenting and therapy techniques unique to children with attachment disorders.
Nancy Newton Verrier, M.A., is a psychotherapist in private practice in Lafayette, CA, specializing in adoption issues. She is an internationally acclaimed lextureer on the effects of early childhood trauma and deprivation caused by the premature separation of mother and child. She is the author of, Coming Home to Self and The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child. http://nancyverrier.com/
by Rona | Feb 7, 2016 | Announcements, KPFA, Podcasts, Radio Shows
Every year, there are approximately 50,000 new cases of leukemia in the U.S. When someone has Leukemia or Lymphoma—or other diseases for which a bone marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant from a donor may be their best hope of a cure—one question is “Will there be a match?”
It can be difficult finding donors, and within some ethnic groups, the search is even harder.
While Caucasians can expect a 93 percent chance of a match, the odds fall off steeply for others: 73 percent for Asian-Americans; 72 percent for Latinos and 66 percent for African-Americans, according to the national Be the Match registry.
Listen To The 2/15/16 Show Now:
Tune in to “About Health” on KPFA.org, 94.1 FM, 2-3 pm on Mondays. Call us with your questions at: 510-848-4425 or toll free 1-800-958-9008.
My guests were:
Carol Gillespie, has been the Executive Director of the Asian American Donor Program (AADP) http://www.aadp.org, since 2002. She is one of the original members of the Board of Directors for the AADP when it was founded in 1989. She volunteered for AADP for 3 years before accepting the position as Project Administrator in 1992. In 2002, she was selected as AADP’s Executive Director.
Dr Willis Navarro is a Board-certified hematologist and oncologist specializing in adult bone marrow transplants and hematologic malignancies including the treatment of leukemias, multiple myeloma, lymphoma, and myelodysplastic syndrome. He is an Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at UCSF. He has published numerous papers in the field of marrow transplant and hematologic malignancies.
Dr. Navarro earned an undergraduate degree in chemistry at Brown University and earned a medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco. He completed an internal medicine residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital as well as a Hematology-Oncology fellowship at UCSF Medical Center.
by Rona | Jan 28, 2016 | Announcements, Appearances, KPFA, Podcasts, Radio Shows
Andrea Garber, PhD, RD was on “About Health,” with me on KPFA.org. We addressed many of the issues related to eating challenges and disorders in children and teens.
There are extreme attitudes in the US surrounding weight and eating issues. 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from a clinically significant eating disorder at some time in their life. Disorders — such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder –are serious emotional and physical problems, that can have life-threatening consequences.
Thank you for calling in with your questions. Let me know what topics you would like to hear about.
Andrea Garber, PhD, RD is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Adolescent Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Chief Nutritionist for the Adolescent and Young Adult Eating Disorders Program at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital.
She teaches and trains medical and graduate students, pediatric residents, and fellows in adolescent medicine and child psychiatry through her role in the Leadership Education in Adolescent Health program at UCSF and a Maternal Child Health-Nutrition training program in collaboration with the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley. She also teaches in the classroom, as the Nutrition Theme Director for the UCSF School of Medicine.
Her research focuses on eating disorders. She is the Principal Investigator on two NIH-funded studies of refeeding in adolescents with anorexia nervosa. In the community, Dr. Garber has been a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Childhood Obesity Task Force, co-Chair of the Mayor’s Shape Up initiative, and an invited participant to Governor Schwarzenegger’s Obesity Summit.
by Rona | Jan 7, 2016 | Announcements, Appearances, KPFA, Podcasts, Radio Shows
Every day we’re exposed to toxic chemicals in the air, water, food, and in the products we use. The more we know, the better chance we have of making good choices for our health and the health of our children.
My guests were: Caroline Cox, Research Director at Center for Environmental Health (CEH) where she leads research on toxic exposures, identifying, analyzing and substantiating the scientific bases for the work to eliminate threats to children and others exposed to dangerous chemicals in consumer products. Caroline has testified to Congress and to state and federal regulatory agencies on consumer products safety and health risks from pesticides. She has also co-authored several science articles on hidden ingredients in pesticides, air quality around fracking cites, and on the successes of CEH’s work in eliminating lead from jewelry. Previously, she worked as staff scientist at the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP) in Oregon. She was also editor of NCAP’s Journal of Pesticide Reform and has co-authored numerous papers in scientific journals. Caroline is on the Steering Committee of Californians for Pesticide Reform. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Beyond Pesticides.
Dr. Ann López is the Executive Director of The Center for Farmworker Families, www.farmworkerfamily.org She has taught courses in biology, environmental science, ecology, and botany in the biology department at San José City College. She is an independent researcher whose research addresses the human side of the binational migration circuit from the small producer farms of west central Mexico to employment in California’s corporate agribusiness. She is the author of The Farmworkers’ Journey, published in 2007. In 2008 she was chosen as one of Silicon Valley’s 100 most influential Latinos in the category of Technology, Health, and Science by the Mexican American Community Services Agency (MACSA). In 2012, Dr. Lopez and her organization won the Social Justice Award at the 32nd Annual Western Regional EcoFarm Conference in Asilomar. She was chosen as a Woman of the Year for 2013 and 2014 by the National Association of Professional Women, and has been chosen as the Sustainability Honoree by San Jose’s Human Agenda Organization this year.
Dr. Lopez’ research findings while interviewing central California farmworker families and their family members in Mexico were fundamentally disturbing and life transforming. As a result, she is actively attempting to create awareness about the Human Rights abuses that are endemic to every juncture of the migrant circuit.
by Rona | Dec 17, 2015 | Announcements, KPFA, Podcasts, Radio Shows
At this time of year many people who suffer from addictions find the holidays to be particularly stressful. Isolation, illness, poverty, neglect, and abuse, are some of the things that can influence a person to use drugs as an escape from what they are feeling and thinking.
My guests were Jennifer Golick, LMFT and Jorge Partida, PsyD.
94.1FM in the S.F. Bay Area or KPFA.org online
Dr. Jorge Partida is a clinical and research psychologist, specializing in addiction and trauma. He is an author, consultant and national speaker integrating Native Ancestral Teachings with traditional Western psychotherapy. Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, Dr. Partida immigrated to Chicago at nine years of age.
He has been a consultant on many national and international projects designing and implementing clinical programs to address addiction, education, health, community building, diversity and spirituality. He has worked with local and national governments to coordinate services for those most impacted by poverty, war and displacement. He has worked in Liberia, Africa in the repatriation of boy soldiers and has worked to form “intentional communities” in poverty-impacted countries of Latin America, including Colombia, Peru, and Mexico. Dr. Jorge is the author of “The Promise of The Fifth Sun” and “A Week of Awakening.”
Jennifer Golick, LMFT, is the Clinical Director at Muir Wood Adolescent & Family Services, a gender-specific, residential treatment program designed specifically for boys age 12-17 suffering from substance abuse and co-occurring issues. For many years Jennifer worked as a therapist in a non-profit mental health agency, working with underinsured and uninsured children and families. Jennifer also created and implemented the first agency-based Animal Assisted Therapy program. Previously Jennifer was Clinical Director of a residential substance abuse treatment center in the Napa Valley. Her specialties include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Motivational Interviewing focusing on helping individuals and families identify problematic patterns of thinking in order to affect systemic change.
by Rona | Nov 15, 2015 | Announcements, Appearances, KPFA, Podcasts, Radio Shows
I interviewed the author of, Childhood Disrupted: How Your Biography Becomes Your Biology. You can listen to the entire interview here on KPFA’s weekly show About Health:
“This groundbreaking book connects the dots between early life trauma and the physical and mental suffering so many live with as adults. Nakazawa fully engages us with fascinating, clearly written science and moving stories from her own and others’ struggles with life-changing illness. Childhood Disrupted offers a blend of fresh insight into the impact of trauma and invaluable guidance in turning toward healing!” —Tara Brach, PhD, author of Radical Acceptance and True Refuge.
Donna Jackson Nakazawa has written a groundbreaking book showing the link between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and adult illnesses such as heart disease, autoimmune disease, and cancer. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study is one of the largest investigations ever conducted to assess associations between childhood maltreatment and later-life health and well-being. In the interview we discuss how to cope with these emotional traumas and heal from them.
Donna Ja
ckson Nakazawa is an award-winning science journalist interested in exploring the intersection between neuroscience, immunology, and the deepest inner workings of the human heart. Donna’s other works include, The Autoimmune Epidemic, which investigates the causes of a growing environmental health crisis, and The Last Best Cure, which chronicles a year-long journey to test a variety of mind-body therapies in order to unlock the restorative powers of the brain. She is also the author of Does Anybody Else Look Like Me?: A Parent’s Guide to Raising Multicultural Children.
ListeNow! https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=223313 
