In this TED talk, pediatrician Dr. Nadine Burke Harris explains how childhood trauma affects not only the mental well being of a person but their physical health as well. She discusses a fascinating study called "Adverse Childhood Experiences Study", or ACES, that tied high incidences of childhood trauma events to negative health outcomes. I really thought this was an interesting talk because she describes how trauma can literally change a child's developing brain. Dr. Burke Harris brings to light the negative effects of repeated stress activation on children due to excessive stress hormones. At her clinic she screens kids for ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and then "we have a multidisciplinary treatment team that works to reduce the dose of adversity and treat symptoms using best practices, including home visits, care coordination, mental health care, nutrition, holistic interventions, and yes, medication when necessary. But we also educate parents about the impacts of ACEs and toxic stress the same way you would for covering electrical outlets, or lead poisoning". I think this is a really great way to look at childhood trauma; that it is a disease with hope for treatment.
Monday, February 22, 2016
How Childhood Trauma Affects Health Across a Lifetime
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I think this is such an interesting topic. I have been to several Bruce Perry trainings on how trauma effects the brain and it is truly fascinating. I think ACES is necessary for treating so many children and the parent component is certainly a plus. When we understand why a child is behaving a certain way, we can offer them more support.
ReplyDeleteI feel that this type of research is so important. Sadly, many people do not treat mental illness and trauma the same way they would treat medical conditions. This shows that the brain does effect your overall wellness. I hope that this will continue to lead to awareness and a growth in services available for individuals suffering from childhood trauma.
ReplyDeleteI think the results and information from the ACE study is extremely helpful for our work. If the impact of trauma on children is not recognized and understood, then children will not be treated with the best care. One of the most important things from your post is that the clinic educates parents about the impact of trauma and adverse childhood experiences. Many people are not aware of what trauma can consist of and the impact on all of us, especially children. Parents have to be educated on this topic to be able to care for their children outside of treatment.
ReplyDeleteI was fascinated by this study the first time I heard of it and have since done a lot of research around it. It is important for us to recognize the long-term impact and health issues that result from trauma. It just goes to show how much trauma impacts various parts of a person's life and effects the biological and neurological components of individuals.
ReplyDeleteI work in foster care licensing. The pre-service training for foster parents the The Ohio Child Welfare Training Program (OCWTP) has recently undergone many changes and updates, and the inclusion of the ACE study was one of the components added. I have even heard trainers suggest to foster care licensing specialists that the ACE questionnaire can be used by licensing specialists in the home study process as a way to engage prospective foster parents in conversations regarding their own personal history of trauma and explore how their own trauma may effect them or resurface when they are caring for traumatized children.
Exposure to trauma is the essence of this article. It also takes into consideration the effects of these traumatic experiences and the development of the brain.
ReplyDeleteWe found this post to be interesting because it shows the physical impacts on the brain and how it is wired after having several traumatic experiences as children grow up into adulthood.
This is important for child welfare because it can affect placement of children, training parents and staff, as well as providing early intervention on children who we know have experienced several ACE's. This change in brain development can also play into the generational abuse that occurs due to this brain change.
Group (Madison, Tamar, Lamaya, Mercedes, Tara, Nikki, & Aamnda)
ReplyDeleteRisk/Protective:
R: Abuse, Neglect, Parents with MH/AoD, Poor diet
P: Home visits, Care coordination, MH care, Nutrition, Holistic interventions, Medication when necessary
Intriguing:
We really appreciated the wrap-around sservices & multi-disciplinary team that offers holistic care and wellness to families in need.
Underlying Implications:
There is significant cost to implementing this holistic/multi-disciplinary program state wide.
Systems would work together to best serve the children, to ensure they get the best help/support needed and in turn reducing continued/on-going cases of abuse and neglect.