When I first learned about the ACEs I thought my ACE score was zero even though I'd been researching the effects of adversity on risk for chronic illness for a few years by then. In addition, none of the illnesses in that first study seemed to apply to me. I was experiencing increasingly disabling fatigue that would eventually be diagnosed as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). This illness, still often thought to be psychological, had already contributed to my leaving my career as a family doctor and would lead me to have to stop my practice as a trauma therapist as well.
It would take me a few years to realize that my ACE score was actually 2. A score of 2 has been linked to a 70% chance of ever being hospitalized for an autoimmune illness in a later study (Dube, 2009).
If you've been living with a chronic condition, understanding the role of adversity can help make better sense of your symptoms, flare-ups and why it started when it did.
This new lens explains why having a chronic illness is not your fault, not in your head, and not because of what you did or didn't do. The science recognizes that chronic illness is about what happened to you. It also means there is a whole new set of tools you can use for working with, stabilizing and even improving symptoms.
In Tuesday's live webinar I'll be sharing the science through 3 stories:
- Wren's type 2 diabetes story (she works with her T2D from a trauma lens) and which is also relevant if you have symptoms such as a bigger body, heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, depression, anxiety and insulin resistance
- Chrissy's asthma story, which is one of the most exciting examples I have yet to come across for how much we can heal by working with effects of trauma. Her story is about the unexpected impacts of adversity during pregnancy and birth (and what can be done to repair these effects)
- My own story with disabling chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and some of the clues that led me to research the role of trauma and that have been helping me heal
While the focus of my talk is on how adversity shapes health, I'll also share 3 gentle tools to start working with the effects of adversity on your own, and why such seemingly simple things can make a difference. It's a powerful new way for finding a slew of new options for working with your health. It also helps recognize old tools you might have thought weren't important (like I once did).
This webinar is about the science I wish I'd learned in medical school. I'll share what I've discovered over the past 20 years of pulling together the research showing how all kinds of adversity, from ACEs to ACEs "plus" to adversity in babyhood and beyond, affect long-term health - from chronic illness to chronic pain to mental health, addictions and beyond.
I'll share some of my favorite books and resources to give you a place to go for next steps, whether this is new to you or if you've been working this way for a while.
Join me for this live webinar
Tuesday 6pm -7:30 Pacific Time
9pm Eastern Time in the USA
11am Wednesday, Sydney time in Australia
We'll have a live Q&A
Join for free <<
You'll also get to meet Dr. Wayne Dysinger, a family doctor and friend who invited me to talk about the trauma and chronic illness link because he sees how adversity underlies risk for so many chronic conditions, chronic illnesses and other kinds of symptoms in his community of patients.
Wayne and I became friends 25 years ago when we shared an office, working and teaching together at the New Hampshire-Dartmouth family practice residency training program. We've had a shared connection and a belief in working with the whole person.
Wayne has since founded a clinic in Whole Health and Lifestyle Medicine, which will be hosting this webinar. He teaches at Loma Linda University in the Las Angeles area, where he was Chair of Preventive Medicine at one time. Wayne believes the body is always trying to heal itself, and works to support that process as naturally as possible.
PS If you can't make it to the live event there will be recording made available on the website and you'll get a link in your email about 24 hours later
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