Tagged With "ACE"
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12 Things I Wish My Doctor Understood About Childhood Trauma
It doesn’t happen that often anymore, but one place where I almost always get triggered with my Childhood PTSD symptoms is when I visit the doctor. I could never even put this into words before. But now that I’m mostly healed from my Childhood PTSD symptoms, I want to express what I wish my doctors – all the doctors of my life – had understood about the effects of Childhood trauma, about me. Note: This is one of my most personal posts ever. Unless you’re someone who really prefers text, I...
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A Call to Children’s Residential Treatment Centers: Please, Please Do Your Own Trauma Work
The challenges of becoming an effective trauma-informed organization are considerable for sure. Taken as an opportunity, and not a burden, they present a unique platform for organizational learning, healing, and growth. Among so many other things, the efforts inure to the benefit of a milieu that becomes a sanctuary for healing and where little boys are not subject to blame for unintended treatment outcomes.
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A Case for Collecting Adverse Childhood Experiences Data
Let me start with a radical statement: I love data. One of my favorite activities in my role as chief strategy officer at Children & Families First , a large non-profit child and family services agency, is turning columns of numbers into sets of colorful graphs. But even more satisfying is watching someone engage with the data as it reveals previously hidden meaning. Since 2014, Children & Families First has been collecting adverse childhood experience (ACE) data from the people we...
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A GOFUNDME Campaign for RESILIENCE is Warming My Heart in New Hampshire
ORIGINAL POST 1/20/18 Right after the New Year, Jocelyn Goldblatt, Cissy White, and I discussed Jocelyn's capstone project for her Master's Thesis. The screening and panel discussion of the documentary Resilience was her brain child and the cornerstone of her project. But it would also doubly duty as the launch event for the new ACES Connection chapter in Keene, NH (Monadnock Thrives). During the discussion, I boldly announced that we would be lucky to get 30 people in the audience. And I...
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ACEs & African Americans Community on ACEs Connection
ACEs Connection envisions a resilient world where ALL people thrive. We are an anti-racist organization committed to the pursuit of social justice. In our work to promote resilience and prevent and mitigate ACEs, we intentionally embrace and uplift people who have historically not had a seat at the table. ACEs Connection celebrates the voices and tells the stories of people who have been barred from decision-making and who have shouldered the burden of systemic and economic oppression as the...
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ACEs Connection's Inclusion Tool makes sure nobody's left out
We developed ACEs Connection's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Tool — called the Inclusion Tool, for short — to ensure that ACEs initiatives across the world focus on being inclusive when forming a steering committee, recruiting leaders, providing education about ACEs science, recruiting members, or providing resources and services within their communities. The more inclusive your ACEs initiative is, the more diverse it will be, giving your initiative a real shot at achieving equity and...
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ACEs - More Than Information; It's An Experience
In my opinion we as ACEs/trauma educators must be very mindful that whether we talk about ACEs in front of a large group of people or one on one, it’s not just information. We are giving people an experience, an experience that may rock them to their core especially if they have never heard the information before.
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Addressing ACEs as a Social Transformation Initiative
It's time for adult children to fully recover from the lies they were programmed to believe about themselves and others when they were developing, and to adjust the norms in our society to ensure the healthy development of our descendants and the recovery of the adult affected.
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Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Toolkit [emergingminds.com.au]
From Emerging Minds, February 2020 This toolkit contains information, advice and practical tools for individuals and professionals who work with, or care for, children who have had adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). ACEs are very stressful events or circumstances that children may experience during their childhood. They can have significant impacts on children’s physical health, mental health and social functioning during childhood, adolescence and later life. The resources in this...
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British Columbia Hosts ACEs Summit with Resounding Postive Feedback
On November 14th and 15th, the Shared Care Committee of British Colombia, Canada (one of the four Joint Collaborative Committees representing a partnership of Doctors of BC and the BC Government) hosted 600 people for the ACEs Summit: BC and beyond. At the link below you can find the Summit report as well as links to supporting materials.
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Building A Trauma Informed System of Care Toolkit
We are delighted to make available the Building Strong Brains of Tennessee funded, Building A Trauma Informed System of Care toolkit. This toolkit is based upon the work of the Northeast Tennessee ACEs Connection group and it's many partners since 2015. In time, Building Strong Brains of Tennessee will also have printed copies available. In preparing this toolkit, Dr. Andi Clements and I tried to share in a very transparent fashion the steps we've taken, mistakes we've made and inspiring...
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Building Bridges to Resilience in Santa Barbara County
The full moon was setting and the sun was rising as organizers from KIDS Network, Children & Family Resource Services, Casa Pacifica, and the Department of Behavioral Wellness began setting up the 2019 BRIDGES TO RESILIENCE Conference on October 14 th at the beautiful Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort. The stately halls and ballrooms were a flurry of activity as staff prepared to receive over 350 community members who work with children, youth and families in Santa Barbara County.
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Building Trauma-Informed Connections via Telehealth During COVID-19 [acesaware.org]
From ACEs Aware, April 21, 2020 The physician speakers will share opportunities and guidance for providing trauma-informed care via telehealth as well as resources providers can offer to patients to help mitigate the impact of COVID-19 related stress on physical and mental health. This is particularly critical for patients who have experienced, or who are currently experiencing, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) or other adversities. Futures Without Violence will share resources providers...
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Community Resiliency Model: An Innovative Approach to Addressing Burnout
Join the Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative for our next free webinar in our continuing series on best practices to prevent and mitigate the effects of provider burnout this Thursday, March 12th, at 10:00 am CDT. The second session of the IL ACEs Response Collaborative's series on burnout will discuss the Community Resiliency Model, developed by Elaine Miller-Karas of the Trauma Resource Institute, and explain how it prevents burnout in the workplace. The Community Resiliency Model creates...
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Covenant Pastors Collaborate to address Mental Health, ACEs
I couldn't be prouder of my home church, Headwaters Covenant Church in Helena, MT. Throughout the fall, we have been purposefully and carefully addressing subjects that the church often avoids. Among these topics are the family dysfunction that results from generational trauma, the prevalence of adversity in childhood within families in Montana, training in suicide awareness and prevention, and moral injury (especially among our veterans and service men and women). Just this last Sunday we...
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Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools Conference - Early Bird Pricing Ends Friday!
Don't miss the most economical way to attend the National Conference for Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools in Washington DC, Feb 18-20, 2018. Early bird registration is only $395 through Fri, Dec 15. After that, full registration will cost $450. Here's the link to register. "Registration has been brisk," explains Melissa Sadin, Director of ATN's Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools Program, "and the program we're offering is an incredible array of experts in the trauma-informed education field.
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CYW's Provider Training Courses now available online
In response to an overwhelming demand for information about ACEs science, screening tools, and guidance on how to implement ACEs screening, CYW has developed a suite of online courses in order to make our training more accessible to a broader audience. Developed by a team of pediatricians, research scientists, public health experts, and clinical quality improvement experts, these courses are the first of four online courses that will aid medical providers/practitioners in understanding and...
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Erasing My ACES
Why I hid ACES from my medical records in order to receive equal treatment.
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Harvard Infographic on ACEs and Toxic Stress
This was just posted by Harvard. I thought all of us could use access to it, for use in our schools and the settings we work in. The full image is on the attached PDF.
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Inside the Adverse Childhood Experience Score: Strengths, Limitations, and Misapplications [ajpmonline.org]
By Robert F. Anda, Laura E. Porter, David W. Brown, et al., American Journal of Preventive Medicine, March 25, 2020 INTRODUCTION Despite its usefulness in research and surveillance studies, the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) score is a relatively crude measure of cumulative childhood stress exposure that can vary widely from person to person. Unlike recognized public health screening measures, such as blood pressure or lipid levels that use measurement reference standards and cut points...
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Investing In Community Resilience: Deploying Trauma-Informed Practice for Funders & Capacity Builders (Webinar Series)
Register Here As a philanthropist, your passion for building just, healthy, resilient communities is evident. Until recently, we have been missing critical information that can help us develop best practices to achieve such a goal. Today, the science is clear – adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and trauma can impact the brain and body, contributing to a host of negative outcomes in all aspects of life. Some effects can even be passed from generation to generation. In the last two decades,...
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It Makes Sense
I felt inadequate and ill-prepared to speak to licensed mental health professionals about ACEs. But when I was asked to attend the 40th Annual Training Institute on Behavioral Health & Addictive Disorders in Clearwater, Florida to represent ACEs Connection, I was honored and eager. My background is in health planning, not mental or behavioral health. I review health data and look for gaps and inequities. My time is spent looking for and addressing the health needs of a community. So,...
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(Learning Circle) Investing in Community Resilience: Using ACEs and Trauma Science for More Effective Practice
The spread of COVID-19 has created a myriad of challenges for communities around the globe. The science of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), trauma, toxic stress as well as healing and resilience, can provide helpful tools for supporting communities through this time of crisis. Please join us on Wednesday, May 13th from 3-4pm ET for the first Learning Circle of the Investing in Community Resilience web series. Connect with others from around the country who are integrating ACEs and...
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Life Expectancy by Zip Code: Where You Live Affects How Long You Live
Life expectancy is highly correlated with ACE scores and complex childhood trauma. Enter your address or zip code to know what the health outcomes are in your neighborhoods and communities. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Life Expectancy Calculator
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Parenting as a Survivor Keynote to Follow Free Resilience Screening
I share my story of having an ACE score of 9 and how that has effected me as a mother, because I can make sense of it now.
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Sheltering in Place: ACEs-Informed Tips for Self-Care During a Pandemic
Millions of lives have been affected in unprecedented ways by the Coronavirus (COVID-19). We are all grappling with uncertainty—our daily routines interrupted, not knowing what is to come. For those of us who have Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), these times can be particularly distressing. At the Center for Youth Wellness (CYW), we know that childhood trauma can have a significant impact on an individual’s health and well-being – both physiologically and psychologically. Since the...
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Starting & Growing Resilient Communities: Launching an ACEs Initiative GRC 2.0 Educate [VIDEO]
The third session of the Starting & Growing Resilient Communities: Online & IRL (In Real Life) was a success. Thank you to all who attended the live webinar. And, thank you to our guests, Linda Manaugh of Raising Resilient Oklahomans! and Kate Reed of Kankakee Iroquois Cares . We were also joined by ACEs Connection's Northeast Community Facilitator, Cissy White . I have embedded the video in this post. I invite every ACEs Connection member to also follow our YouTube Channel to view...
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Starting & Growing Resilient Communities: Series Overview [Video]
The first session of the Starting & Growing Resilient Communities: Online & IRL (In Real Life) was a success. Over 100 ACEs Connection members tuned in despite some issues with registration. I have embedded the video in this post. You have also find the video on the ACEs Connection site here . If you have any questions about the series, please contact Ingrid Cockhren , TN & Midwest Community Facilitator.
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The Absence of Punishment in Our Schools
Where to begin... My heart is full of hope and joy as I watch the trauma-informed schools movement swell across our nation and planet. The science of ACEs is mind-bending to say the least and we are now able to open up a much deeper dialogue about human behavior and health. Ultimately this work is about healing… All. Of. Us. A new consciousness is taking root around ending the “us vs them” construct. The idea is growing that we’re all on this journey together and that no matter where our...
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The implicit bias of, “Mental Illness” and “mentally ill”, a lexicon of hurt.
How can we heal from the implicit bias of “ Mental Illness ” and “ mentally ill ”? I hear these words and it sounds like fingernails scraping down the chalkboard. “ The stain of dehumanization colors the mind, body and spirit and it is not so easily washed away.” - Michael Skinner Recently I read a blog post at the ACEsConnection website, “Erasing My ACES” by Sirena Wheeler. It was posted on April, 19, 2020. It struck a chord with me, many in fact and it put me on a spiral down memory lane.
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The Rise of the Trauma-Informed Mothers
The next generation is less likely to wear predisposed shackles of trauma because as trauma-informed parents we are re-wiring the traumatically stressed DNA that was passed down to us.
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This Survivor is Helping Doctor's Patients Not Die 20 Years Too Young
Earlier this year I shared one piece of my trauma history with my family doctor... it’s finally out in the open, but I really wish I didn’t have to be the one to start that conversation every time.
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TIC: News and Notes for March 2020
ACEs, Adversity's Impact Lessons learned integrating ACEs science into health clinics: Staff first, THEN patients Launching a revolution Stress is a key to understanding many social determinants of health Is trauma driving some eating disorders? Adverse childhood experiences: What we know, what we don't know, and what should happen next Childhood maltreatment initiates a developmental cascade that leads to relationship dysfunction in emerging adulthood Report reveals link between poverty,...
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TIC: News and Notes for November 2019
ACEs, Adversity's Impact Podcast: Dr. Nadine Burke Harris Vital Signs: Estimated proportion of adult health problems attributable to adverse childhood experiences and implications for prevention - 25 states, 2015-2017 Animal study shows how stress and mother's abuse affects infant brain LGBTQ, traumatized homeless youth more vulnerable to being trafficked: Report How do these pediatricians do ACEs screening?Early adopters tell all When family relationships become toxic: The trauma of...
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Transforming Trauma Podcast: The Blind Spots of Privilege and Complex Trauma in Marginalized Communities
Transforming Trauma Podcast: The Blind Spots of Privilege and Complex Trauma in Marginalized Communities Claude Cayemitte, a clinical social worker and NARM Therapist, joins the Transforming Trauma podcast to examine how complex trauma impacts individuals from marginalized communities and how unrecognized cultural trauma can lead to misattunement in the therapeutic relationship. Using the NeuroAffective Relational Model as a foundation, and his own background as a Haitian-American male...
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Trauma Informed Care in Hospital Settings - is it missing?
Sometimes life throws a curve ball and the best you can do is bunt. It's been almost two weeks since my nearly 80 yo mother fell at home and dragged herself towards the phone, using her walking stick to knock the handset onto the floor to call 911. Not wanting to alarm her neighbor's she asked that the ambulance drive up without their siren. I received a call from my mom's cell phone and I was surprised to hear a mans voice - the EMT - my mom was being transported by ambulance..... at the...
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Trauma-informed Healthcare Approaches: A Guide for Primary Care
Our recently published book, Trauma-informed Healthcare Approaches was written to share basic principles of trauma-informed care and ACEs science with general medical practitioners and administrators. As the recent #METOO movement has demonstrated, interpersonal trauma is widespread. A growing literature has demonstrated the impact of traumatic experiences on mental, physical health and wellbeing. Trauma survivors commonly access healthcare but their histories and needs are commonly...
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Updated scoring guide for the Whole Child Assessment
Calculating a Child-ACE score is not necessary for using the Whole Child Assessment to screen and counsel families. However, because we know some providers for different reasons may want to calculate a score, we have simplified and updated the scoring guide at the bottom of the WCA forms and provided scoring instructions. No changes to any questions were made. https://lluch.org/health-professionals/whole-child-assessment-wca
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We Need a Healing Movement
What if you had developed a cure for the most painful and costly public health problem in America, you had proven that it worked, and you were offering it for free, but could not reach those who need it most because no one wants to talk about the problem? Tragically, this is my reality and the truth about human nature. It is easier to suffer in silence than acknowledge the painful things that happen to us. Over 20 years ago, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Kaiser...
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We Want YOU to be Part of The League of Extraordinary People
You are extraordinary. Writing this post feels like I have come full circle. In April of 2019, Alfred White reached out to me on ACEs Connection. Shortly after, we spoke at length about the plans he had to create a place of healing and hope in Federal Way and King County, Washington, specifically for individuals with a history of trauma and who were now impacted with symptoms such as addiction and homelessness. I recall sharing with Alfred that there was such a need for this in that...
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What If I Told You?
What if I told you that I was a victim of child sex abuse? As a survivor of child sexual abuse , I have a clear understanding of the importance of addressing stigma and shame as it pertains to sexual abuse, sexual assault and rape. Victims, especially young children, often do not disclose sexual abuse. Those who are witnesses of child sexual abuse, or who are trusted by survivors enough that they confide in them, are often ill-equipped to handle the responsibility. And, many times, parents...
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Why Employees Who Have Experienced ACEs Can Be Bad for Business
Workplace impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) is an important concept for businesses to understand. Why? Experiencing ACEs impairs worker performance according to findings reported in “ Childhood Abuse, Household Dysfunction, and Indicators of Impaired Adult Worker Performance ,” Anda, R.F., et al., The Permanent Journal, 8(1), 30-38, showed: To be clear – the above is not a direct connection to ACEs-related toxic stress, however many of the above are manifestations of...
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Why Mandating Mental Health Education in Schools is a Band-Aid on a Gaping Wound
Don’t get me wrong: of course I care deeply about the mental and physical health of children, including my own son’s. I don’t want students to suffer in silence and shame. But I am very concerned about just how this topic will be taught in schools.
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Wrestling Ghosts is Building a Trauma-Informed Resource List!
Hi ACEs community! The Wrestling Ghosts team is building a list of trauma-informed resources for those looking for anything from therapy, to parenting classes, to groups with like-minded people. If you are a therapist or counselor, or you know of an organization or other resource that may fit the bill, please fill out this form on the Wrestling Ghosts website. We are looking to create an extensive document that can be of help to anyone who doesn’t know where to start! This list will be...
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Re: A Call to Children’s Residential Treatment Centers: Please, Please Do Your Own Trauma Work
This article speaks so eloquently to the energy operating underneath the surface of unhealed trauma in organizations, and how it tragically plays out undermining the true goal of the organization healing trauma. Thanks for sharing.
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Re: The Rise of the Trauma-Informed Mothers
Beautifully written and expressed. I so resonated with this. Thank you. Have shared it with my community.
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Re: This Survivor is Helping Doctor's Patients Not Die 20 Years Too Young
THANK YOU for posting this Dawn! And THANK Joyelle for writing it! SO right on! And I LOVE the patient form and am going to use it with my care providers the next time i see them. I have shared ACEs info with my care providers in the past without being explicit about MY ACEs with them and they seemed interested in the topic but didnt connect ACEs back to me (one said oh that would be useful for the patients at the community clinic and i said yes but it is also useful here with her patients...
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Re: This Survivor is Helping Doctor's Patients Not Die 20 Years Too Young
@Dawn Daum Thank you for posting this here and sharing with the wider community. I do let mental health practitioners know my ACE score though I don't share the particular answers. And I've sat around while they go on the CDC site to learn about ACEs but this is more direct and time-saving. Also, I love the title. I have my own personal "Don't die early" plan and find it's VERY motivating. The fact is survivors do lose years of life far too often and quality of life as well. It doesn't have...
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Re: Is ACEs Advocacy Worth Risking Professional Backlash?
Thank you for sharing this Dawn. As a public health professional with an ACE score of 4, I have begun trying to bridge the personal and the professional in my work. And that is one reason I appreciate ACEs - I can tell folks I have an ACE score of 4; I don't necessarily need to go into my story depending on the audience and yet it breaks down the barriers of "us vs. them". When talking about ACEs - they affect all of us; there is no "us and them" and the more we can talk freely and openly...