ACE’s & ACE scores
defined and their relationship to toxic stress and trauma
Sharing the Lived Experience of the Harnish Sisters;
Informed by Science,
Shaped by Community
Remarkably Resilient workshops, presentations and keynotes are anchored by the experiences of three sisters who survived a childhood of incest and abuse. The story of the three Harnish sisters offers participants an opportunity to explore the healing role that individuals and communities can play for people recovering from childhood trauma.
Designed for professionals and lay people alike, Remarkably Resilient workshops are informed by the latest research into how Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s) shape the brain and affect our physical, mental, and spiritual health. The Harnish sisters use this science to shed light on their experiences and to offer specific methods for helping people heal. At the same time, their story is a beacon of hope for those living in the shadows of childhood trauma.
Create Your Own Remarkably Resilient Workshop/Keynote
We pride ourselves in the interactive, reflection-based workshops and presentations we offer.
Please know that we will tailor our presentations and workshops to your individual and organizational goals.
Our topics include:
Remarkably Resilient: Community Matters – The Harnish Sisters
In this 50-minute video, the Harnish sisters share their stories of resilience, informed by what they have learned about the neuroscience of trauma and through their lived experience. Many organizations already use this video as part of their Trauma 101 training when they need a lived-experience speaker.
Contact Kathleen or Karen if you would like one or more of the Harnish sisters to virtually join a training session after showing the video to answer questions – there is no charge for this.
Additional videos from the Remarkably Resilient Together® community awareness program are also available. View the YouTube playlist here.
Remarkably Resilient
Community Matters
The Harnish Sisters’ book includes their stories of hurting from incest and abuse as well as moves to healing and helping by sharing the neuroscience of trauma and resilience, providing reflections on your own resilience and guidance on how Community Matters in the healing process. Order your copy.
The Four R’s: Essential Pieces to the Resilience Puzzle
Remarkably Resilient keynote addresses and workshops offer a clear framework for building a resilient life in the wake of trauma. We call this framework “The Four R’s.” Drawn from the Harnish sisters’ experience and informed by neuroscience, The Four R’s provide you with a collective approach to helping people heal in the wake of trauma. We can present on one or all four of these pieces, depending on your needs.
Touching Notes: with permission to share
RESOURCES
The Harnish sisters share their lived experience of high ACEs combined with insights from the neuroscience of trauma and share the power of regulation, recognizing dysregulation and developing skills to regulate yourself.
These resources are available for download.
The Role of Community on Building Resilience–English
The Role of Community on Building Resilience–Spanish
The Four Building Blocks of HOPE
This document outlines the four categories of Positive Childhood Experiences (PCE’s). Developed by the HOPE National Resource Center, Tufts Medical Center.
The Four Building Blocks of Hope for Caregivers Who Have Been Incarcerated
Understanding Positive Childhood Experiences (PCE’s) for caregivers returning to their communities after incarceration. Developed by the HOPE National Resource Center, with contributions from Kathleen Harnish McKune and Karen Dickson of Remarkably Resilient.
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TeamTech: 30 Years of Trauma-Informed Practices
For more than 30 years, TeamTech has partnered with organizations, primarily nonprofit and governmental, to help grow their capacity and leadership strength.
From the very beginning, we’ve done this through strategic planning and implementation - top to bottom - using all voices. For the past 25 years, we’ve utilized our innovative leadership curriculum, Everyone A Leader®, which teaches how to lead at all levels in a facilitative style grounded in trauma-informed principles.
Kathleen Harnish McKune speaks about her and her sisters book, Remarkably Resilient: Community Matters, at Mental Health KC 2023 during the launch of Remarkably Resilient Together™ campaign with Johnson County Mental Health.
Past Presentations
- Johnson County’s COMVAC (Community Violence Action Council) Conference, Keynote, October 29, 2019
- Association of Community Mental Health Centers of Kansas Conference, Keynote, September 16, 2020
- KS Governor’s Conference for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, November 17, 2020
- Kansas City Mental Health Conference Workshop, May 6, 2021
- Lifefest keynote presentations, Oshkosh, WI, July 8 and 9, 2021
- Metro Council of Community Behavioral Health Centers for Kansas City, Trauma workshop, August 26, 2021
- Together We Rise Community Conference, Keynote presentation, November 12, 2021
- 46th Annual Governor’s Conference for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, Tuesday, October 18, 2022, 12:30pm – 1:30pm (online).
- Remarkably Resilient Together: Raising Community Awareness about Resilience. Presented at the Mental Health KC Conference on May 11, 2023 at 12:45 pm.
- Alive & Thrive WyCo Agency Trauma Workshops, lived experience presenters, monthly starting June 18, 2021, through July 14, 2023.
Upcoming Presentations
- Remarkably Resilient Together class for the Therapeutic Community, a Johnson County Department of Corrections program, on September 26, at 7 p.m., and additional dates as requested. Click here to learn about this innovative program.
- Remarkably Resilient Together: Teaching Regulation and Self-Care to the Community 60-minute presentation at this year’s Kansas Prevention Conference, October 12 and 13, 2023, in Wichita, KS. Learn more here.
- Remarkably Resilient Together: Raising Community Awareness about Resilience. Governor’s Conference on the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect in Wichita, KS on October 19, 2023. Kathleen will be presenting along with Tim DeWeese, Director, Johnson County Mental Health Center.
- Remarkably Resilient Together virtual presentation through the University of Kansas Health System’s Turning Point community resource workshops. Thursday, Sept. 21, from noon to 1:15 p.m. This is an interactive presentation, open to the public at no cost. Click here for more information and to register. This will be offered quarterly through Turning Point.
- Resilient Retreat, present our workshop to adult trauma survivors, quarterly starting June 23, 2021
- Johnson County’s Trauma 101 Training, lived experience presenters, quarterly starting September 9, 2020
How To Get Started
To schedule a workshop or presentation, or for more information, contact Kathleen Harnish McKune at [email protected] or 913-706-8797.
Meet the Harnish Sisters
Karen Dickson, Sharon Borde, and Kathleen Harnish McKune (a co-founder and CEO of TeamTech) grew up in a small town, middle-class family with smart, hard-working parents. But their lives were far from ideal. From an early age, each was the victim of incest and abuse at the hands of their father and paternal grandfather. Each carried with them emotional, psychological and physical scars that they concealed from the rest of the world for all of their childhoods.
How the Harnish sisters have learned to live with and begin talking about those scars creates the foundation of the Remarkably Resilient workshops they lead. As they attest in the workshops and in their book—Remarkably Resilient: Community Matters—they did not embark on their journeys to recovery alone. Rather, they depended on the healthy relationships they created outside of their family. Teachers, adults in their community, even pets, offered them the love and care they needed to find resilience and a measure of hope.
Their recovery, however, has not put them on a straight path from trauma to health. Theirs is a circuitous path, with pitfalls and roadblocks along the way. Certain experiences can trigger crippling anxiety. Physical health challenges that stem from their trauma are ever present. But they have discovered that they can cope with and even grow in the face of the adversity, threats, danger, and the toxic stress they’ve experienced.
The Harnish sisters have studied recent advances in the neuroscience of trauma and resilience and use it to inform their workshops. That science has confirmed for them that recovery is possible, even as it always remains a work in progress. By telling their story, and sharing their knowledge, they aspire to give to others what has been given to them: hope and the strength to thrive.
Click here to read brief bios for Kathleen, Karen and Sharon.