This is a view from the coastal trail near Muir Beach in California. It's a steep climb to this vantage point, but well worth the hard work.
As mentioned in the weekly newsletter, we'll be doing mini-profiles of ACEsConnection members. Here's my Q-and-A.
Q: When did you learn about ACEs, and how did that change your work?
A: As a reporter you’re constantly learning about new things, and you never know where even the smallest piece of information will lead you. In 2009, I participated in a fellowship for health journalists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One of the presenters talked about “inoculating” young people from suicide risk—basically enhancing known protective factors in order to prevent suicide. I thought that idea was interesting, and luckily for me, so did my editor at the time. While I was reporting this story for Forbes, I went to a symposium at the New York State Psychiatric Institute at which researchers presented findings on the impact of early life maltreatment and neglect on suicide risk, and they could see differences in the brains of those who had been exposed to such adversity. From then on I became endlessly curious about that dynamic, and it has informed so much of my subsequent reporting on trauma and resilience.
Q: What does resilience to early childhood adversity mean to you?
A: When I interview people who have endured a traumatic experience, I always try to understand not only their suffering, but also their resilience—and their post-trauma growth. Through these conversations I have learned that resilience can look different depending on who is experiencing it. To me, though, it essentially means that a person is able to thrive despite past, current or future struggles. If there’s a common refrain from the survivors I’ve interviewed, it’s that cultivating resilience often involves finding meaning in trauma.
Q: How would you like to see trauma-informed practices shape your field?
A: There are organizations that do terrific work on educating journalists about how to write about mental health and trauma (see the Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma and the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships For Mental Health Journalism). Yet, there are plenty of reporters on many different beats – education, crime, law enforcement, public health, science – who never receive training in how to conduct sensitive interviews, how to write appropriately about mental health, and how early childhood experiences can shape a person’s interaction with the criminal justice system, education system, health care system and so on. I would like to see more regular trauma-informed training afforded to reporters that don’t necessarily express an interest in mental health, but do cover the many institutions that directly intersect with trauma and wellness.
Q: If you encounter or deal with trauma often in your work, what coping skills do you rely on to stay happy and healthy?
A: Part of a reporter’s job is to talk to people and intimately understand their experiences. When you’re covering mental health and trauma, this can often mean opening yourself up to harrowing experiences, and it can come at an emotional and mental cost. To cope with that, I try to focus not just on the harmful things that happened to a person, but also on how he or she survived. I learn so much about the potential for healing and resilience this way. But sometimes this isn’t enough, and I need to talk to someone—often another journalist—who understands secondary trauma. I always find exercise, yoga, meditation and coastal hikes to be helpful as well.
Q: How do you hope to contribute to and gain from ACEs Connection?
A: I hope that I can share my perspective as a reporter who has learned about ACEs and mental health from different disciplines like neuroscience, public policy and interventions. I’d like to act, when possible, as a resource for the community and help facilitate discussions about the issues that are important to you. In terms of what I’d like to gain, I hope that learning about community members’ work will better inform my reporting and lead me to new, unexpected places.
Comments (0)