Hello Jane Stevens & Keith Haas, It appears some folks may be drifting a bit off topic here. While discussing the ACE Study (1998) in the Chadwick Manual, Dr. Felitti and Dr. Anda stated that "Surprisingly, the ten categories turned out to be essentially co-equal in terms of long-term effects".
If this is true, our efforts to respond to ACEs should be pursued co-equally.
We should start the helping process by;
- Clearly identifying any specific court ordered legal rights (PPOs, Custody/Parenting Time) associated with any identified ACE.
- Assess that person's needs to establish, change, or enforce any of these types of legal rights.
- Link them directly to "Court Services" to establish, change, or enforce their legal rights.
- And then, we can move on to 'coping skills' for the rest of the ACEs.
Think about when a child starts any treatment program and then their parents get divorced. How should we address this new "ACE" to prevent additional ACEs and the possible sources of ongoing toxic stress?
I think we should address the Divorce ACE co-equally, as if it were Domestic Violence or Sexual Abuse. Right?
In my opinion, any other interpretation of the ACE Study (1998) should be discouraged and not allowed in this conversation. Its counterproductive and may very well be an attempt by some to justify why they don't want to following-up on [all] of the ACEs identified, especially Divorce.
Divorce = Divorce Court = Legal Rights = System of Care running to Hide.
Some helping professionals seem to be willing to move on so fast, they sometimes overlook the most important thing in the life of the person being served;
- "To participate in the regular, consistent, and nurturing family relationships they already have according to a current court ordered standard of care".
I believe the single most beneficial use for an ACE Questionnaire/Survey is prevention, both for the children and for the parents who may be repeating the 'relational abuse' that their own parents perpetrated against them.
Children cannot defend themselves alone. Some of them will spend their entire lives practicing the negative coping strategies because they now see their own parents thru a lens of 'Parental Betrayal' and 'Social Injustice'.
Rose-colored glasses will not help. We must at some point begin to eliminate/prevent the legal and human rights violations perpetrated against our children in real-time.
Please forward the details and include me in the conference call that you are trying to schedule about "Administering ACE questionnaire in a clinical setting". Thanks!
James Gallant, Marquette County Suicide Prevention Coalition (906) 360-3045 mqtsuicidepreventioncoalition@gmail.com