I am 24 days away from graduating with my Master's in Public Health. The programs emphasis is Community outreach and  education and my own personal interest is in Maternal and Infant/Child health. I plan on becoming an Lactation Consultant in the near future and will be working very closely with parents. Early parenting intervention and support is very much related to ACEs as well as primary prevention. 

I am majoring in social work and will be starting my practicum in the fall. My placement is at a community action center. Once I graduate though I hope to work with homeless and unaccompanied youth. ACEs are important for this because many youth who are homeless leave their homes because of a traumatic experience and frequently experience further trauma as a homeless minor.

Thanks for adding to the discussion and good luck on your practicum!

Hi Megan,

That sounds like really interesting work! Are you hoping to be a defense lawyer or working some other capacity for juvenile justice? 

Some of the work I do in Social Psychology in looking at risk factors for crime, including poverty, abuse, neglect, etc, so you're work sounds super interesting.

- Joanna

I am getting ready to start law school at the University of South Carolina in the fall, and I am interested in (eventually) working in the juvenile justice system. As an undergraduate, I majored in Psychology and Gender Studies. Together, these majors have peaked my interest in adolescent development, the role of the juvenile justice system, transfer to adult court, as well as intimate partner violence.I am particularly interested in exploring how juvenile courts can establish a good balance between its goals of rehabilitation and justice/retributive action.

Hello Joanna,

Since I'm just now getting started with my education in the legal field, I'm still not absolutely sure how I want to get involved. At this point I definitely see myself becoming a defense lawyer. However, I can also see myself working for the state in child welfare and domestic violence cases as well. At this point I'm really just looking forward to getting involved and learning as much as I can about the juvenile justice system and family courts.

My background in psychology is what inspired me to pursue this area of law, so I'm glad to hear from someone in your field as well!

Hi Joanna!

I am a graduate student at Philadelphia University in the Community & Trauma Counseling Program. I am apart of the inaugural cohort of the university and we currently in our summer semester with one year left :-)  Our foundation is in trauma and on the first weekend of classes we were introduced to the ACEs study and the impact of behavioral/mental health that follows.   The study is discussed almost every weekend we're in class.   I am currently interning in a program in Philadelphia, working directly with youth who experience trauma on a daily basis.  

I am still unsure of which population I'd like to worth with exclusively after graduation but I really found I LOVE working with children.

I am currently interning in CHOPs (Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia) Violence Intervention Program. Its a new program that works directly with kids who have been attacked/assaulted and have been sent to CHOP to be treated medically. We take over after and offer resources such as case management and group therapy. I just start a little over a week ago - looking forward to getting more involved.

Have you been placed in an internship yet?

~ Gina

Hi Gina,

There seem to be a few of you on here from the new program at Philadelphia University. Sounds like a cool program. What's the organization called that you're currently interning with?

- Joanna

I agree, Jasmine!  The ACE Study is so fundamental.   

P.S. early congrats on your upcoming graduation :)

Hi Gina,

I'm a social psychology student, so we don't do that type of internship. But I am an intern for ACEs Connection!

- Joanna