In the mid-1990s, a breakthrough study by the CDC and Kaiser Permanente documented the serious and long-term effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on both mental and physical health. That study and the ACEs questionnaire used in the research became the framework for community action around the country to prevent ACEs and/or help children heal and thrive when ACEs could not be prevented. Since that original research, follow-up studies have looked more closely at how ACEs and their consequences might differ across cultures and contexts.

 

In this episode of Mom Enough®, Brandon Jones, Executive Director of the Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health (MACMH), joins Marti & Erin to discuss what we should know about ACEs. Drawing on both professional and personal experience, Brandon offers hope for healing if you realize that you – or a child or adult close to you – has a high ACEs score. Reflection, self-compassion, self-care, positive relationships and fun can all make a difference.

 

REFLECTING ON ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES

Consider your own early childhood history and any ACES you experienced. How did others around you respond and how did those actions help or hinder you from healing? What steps could you take now to continue the healing process?

 

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES?

❉ HEALING LONGTERM EFFECTS OF ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES (ACES): A CONVERSATION WITH PEDIATRICIAN AND AUTHOR NADINE BURKE HARRIS. We’ve known that adversity and trauma in childhood have long-term effects on mental health and well-being. But in recent years, groundbreaking research on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) has demonstrated the long-term consequences for physical health, including heart disease, lung disease and cancer. As a pediatrician, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris confronted the effects of early trauma in a 7-year-old patient and that changed the course of her medical practice and her life. Don’t miss Dr. Burke Harris’s impassioned – and hopeful – conversation with Marti & Erin in this episode of Mom Enough.