Thanks to an explosion in scientific research now possible with imaging technologies, such as fMRI and SPECT, experts can actually see how the brain develops. This helps explain why exposure to adverse childhood experiences can so deeply influence and change a child's brain and thus their physical and emotional health and quality of life across their lifetime. The above time-lapse study was conducted over 10 years. The darker colors represent brain maturity (brain development). I have added...

April 5th began in the usual way at the Southeastern Provision meat-processing plant, in Bean Station, Tennessee—some workers were breaking down carcasses on the production line, while others cleaned the floors—until, around 9 a.m., a helicopter began circling above the plant. Moments later, a fleet of cars pulled up outside. Agents from the I.R.S., Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ice), and the Tennessee Highway Patrol emerged, and proceeded to arrest ninety-seven people, most of them...

Jennifer Donahue, Delaware Office of the Child Advocate, testifies before the HELP Committee (Jennifer Perry to her right) ____________________________________________________________ Some seasoned advocates say legislators are influenced by stories while their staffs are swayed by data. There was some of both at the April 11 hearing on the draft Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018 of the U.S. Senate HELP (Health, Education, Labor & Pensions) Committee but it was the personal stories that...

Dr. Suzanne Frank has known about the impact of childhood adversity on young lives for decades. She’s seen the fallout in the faces of young people huddled in beds at a children’s shelter where she worked years ago. She’s seen it as the regional child abuse services and champion for the Permanente Medical Group. And she’s seen it in hospital examination rooms where, as a member of the Santa Clara County’s Sexual Assault Response Team, she’s been called in to examine shell-shocked children...

The shooting in Florida isn’t only a gun regulation issue. It’s a systems change issue. All of our systems have to change their approach to changing behavior — whether it’s criminal, unhealthy or unwanted behavior — from a blame, shame and punishment approach, to one that is based in understanding, nurturing and healing….in other words, ACEs science.

Dr. Altha Stewart is the president-elect of the American Psychiatric Association. Photo by Allen Gillespie/UTHSC __________________________________ At a July 18 forum “The State of Mental Health Care: Challenges and Solutions” in Washington, DC, Dr. Altha Stewart, president-elect of the American Psychiatric Association, was the first speaker to raise the opioid crisis and quickly identified trauma as a root cause of the epidemic. Stewart assumes the presidency of the APA in May, becoming the...

The circle of patients gathered for group therapy at a doctor’s family practice in McKenzie, Tenn., could well represent the face of the state’s opioid epidemic. They were in a small city in a rural county, fertile ground for prescription drug addiction, though they traveled from as far as Nashville and Missouri. They were young or middle-aged and ranged from blue-collar workers to businesspeople. They said painkillers prescribed after accidents or injuries paved the way to their dependence...

About 18 months ago, Anita Vaughn of Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women and Marlon Foster of Knowledge Quest wrote a column on behalf of the ACE Awareness Foundation—and made a promise. They pledged that Shelby County would become a statewide and national example of how a communitywide alliance of families, educators, faith leaders, business leaders, nonprofit managers, elected officials, law enforcement and healthcare providers can transform a community by preventing adverse childhood...

The Tennessee Department of Health is observing National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month in communities across the state this May to raise awareness about the impact of teen pregnancy as well as education and prevention efforts. On Wednesday, TDH will join partners from across the country in celebrating the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. This observance helps teens understand the consequences of unplanned pregnancy and think about how to best prepare for success in achieving their...

Many of the state’s top officials spent Thursday morning playing a brain game — fitting together pipe cleaners and straws to create brain networks that would withstand weights that represent the effects of toxic stress on a child’s developing brain. First lady Crissy Haslam worked with Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Sharon Lee. At a nearby table TennCare Director Darin Gordon and Department of Human Services Commissioner Raquel Hatter puzzled...

  My thinking about the nature vs. nurture debate was jolted Monday during a meeting at The Family Center on Thompson Lane, where I received a thorough primer on adverse childhood experiences, which have received steadily increasing...

  Armed with potent new evidence that many of Memphis’ greatest problems are traceable to fractured childhoods, local leaders on Thursday unveiled details of two soon-to-open centers where families will get help in shielding kids from the...