Save a Warrior, ACE SCORES and ACA/ACoA:
Save a Warrior is the only Military and First Responder Services Organization tying ACE Scores to ACA orientation/participation as a cost-free, peer-to-peer, community-based-resiliency-model for achieving sustained recovery from “Complex PTS” which includes family of origin Trauma and adult Trauma (including Combat Trauma, First Responder “Life on the Streets”, Moral Injury, Survivor Guilt and Post Traumatic Stress).
There is no single cause of suicide. It is often the result of a complex interaction of risk and protective factors at the individual, interpersonal, community, and societal levels. To prevent suicide, we must maximize protective factors and minimize risk factors at all of these levels.
The CDC’s Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACE Study) uncovered a stunning link between childhood trauma and the chronic diseases people develop as adults, as well as social and emotional problems. This includes heart disease, lung cancer, diabetes and many autoimmune diseases, as well as depression, violence, being a victim of violence, alcoholism, drug addiction, Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) and suicide.
Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families (ACA / ACoA) is a Twelve Step, Twelve Tradition program of men and women who grew up in alcoholic or otherwise dysfunctional homes. The ACA program was founded (1978) on the belief that family dysfunction is a disease that infected us as children and affects us as adults. ACA membership also includes adults from homes where alcohol or drugs were not present; however, abuse, neglect or unhealthy behavior was. Recovering Adult Children meet to share their experience and recovery in an atmosphere of mutual respect. Recovering Adult Children discover how alcoholism and other family dysfunction affected them in the past and how it influences them in the present.
If ACA/ ACoA moms and dads can embrace recovery they are in a brilliant position to be great parents because they know what not to do. They know what felt great, and they know what hurt. Once they process their own pain they can marshal this deep knowledge and awareness that they gained through traumatic experiences and use it towards good. They can become highly motivated to contribute in positive and powerful ways to the lives of their children and subsequent generations. They can make a difference.
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