Blog

Emotional neglect, physical abuse, divorce, a household riven by addiction — science shows that traumas like these in childhood cause poorer health later in life, both mentally and physically. The first research was conducted in the late 1990s and recently popularized by San Francisco pediatrician and author Nadine Burke Harris . Doctors behind the first study dubbed these childhood traumas “adverse childhood experiences,” or ACEs, and devised a measurement scale: For each negative...

Prison inmates across the country are amid a two-week strike to protest what they say are exploitative labor practices and unfair treatment by the criminal justice system. In California, more than 2,000 inmates are currently fighting the state’s wildfires, earning a dollar an hour. Forum examines the history, ethics and legality of inmate labor. Guests: Sharon Dolovich, law professor, UCLA School of Law Alex Lichtenstein, professor of labor history, Indiana University [To listen to this...

A study published early this year assesses the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences in America by state, race or ethnicity, and income level. Read the full article here .

Because we are living in an epidemic of childhood trauma, we view each city with the eye of epidemiologist who is seeking to understand just how many children are living in homes with trauma-inducing levels of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). ACEs include many forms of abuse and neglect and act like a virus, often being passed from one generation to another. As we traveled to do a talk on preventing ACEs and trauma in Albuquerque, New Mexico, we knew that it has a population of...

During this podcast, I sat down with ACES Connection member, Stacy Brookman, host of the Real Life Resilience Podcast, to discuss her role as a resilience and life storytelling expert, finding clarity, her upcoming Emotional Abuse Recovery and Resilience Summit, and more.

When I heard of the news about the brutal separation policy that was enacted at the border and approved by Trump's Attorney General, I was finishing a book titled "Babies Need Mothers" by Dr. Clancy D. McKenzie. In his book, Doctor McKenzie outlines a theory that connects schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder and many other mental disorders with a history of the early childhood trauma, specifically with trauma that is caused by separation of an infant from his or her mother.

As a mental health advocate, I find it very difficult to explain to my Russian - speaking family what exactly I am doing. Aside from all the pressure that I am dealing with because I am unable to earn a livable wage with my writing, I also have a difficulty translating some of the themes that I am writing about without stigmatizing myself and other members of the mental health community. This could probably make a good TED talk subject and there will be a day when I will run my mouth on...

Satsuki Ina was not yet born when the Emperor Hirohito ordered a bombing raid on Pearl Harbor and, in response, the U.S. government rounded up residents of Japanese extraction on the West Coast, bussing them to internment camps. She was born in one of those camps, a maximum security facility built at Tanforan Race Track, where her mother and father were living in a horse stable. Ina, now a 74-year-old psychotherapist and respected expert in child trauma, knows that the way she came into the...

In June, a group of Crawford County residents who are active participants in local work to create a trauma-informed community had the opportunity to attend a six-day workshop in Pittsburgh led by Reverend Paul Abernathy. Reverend Abernathy is the Director of FOCUS Pittsburgh and is part of a coalition that is leading the way in trauma-informed community development ( TICD ). We were joined by other groups from across the country including folks from Petersburg , Virginia , Richmond ,...

Hovering above Broad Street in New Orleans, directly across from Criminal District Court, is a billboard depicting Dr. Denese Shervington standing along the Mississippi River. She stares confidently back into the camera next to an oft-repeated quote of hers: "Untreated trauma is the underbelly of violence." "I really wanted to have that there because I want the judges to start thinking a little bit more about what they're doing, especially with young kids that come before them," said...

A crime was planned, then committed. Now, we’re waiting to learn if the U.S. criminal justice system has the capacity to punish the powerful perpetrators. That might sound like news about the Trump gang colluding with Russian agents or paying off a porn star in 2016. But due to the extraordinary nature of the Trump administration, those are not the only chains of events that could fit the description. It also describes the administration’s policy of separating children from their...

When Tenaja Jordan came out to her parents at 17 years old, they kicked her out of their home. As a teenager, she was still considered a child in the eyes of the state, and was immediately placed into New York City's child welfare system. Following the trauma of the situation, one question remained on Jordan's mind: Where was she going to live? Jordan made her needs clear to child welfare workers: She didn't want to live on Staten Island or with a homophobic guardian. But that's exactly...