Aslan Tudor, who first traveled with his mom Kelly Tudor to Standing Rock when he was just eight-years-old, has written a book about his experience in a book titled “Young Water Protectors: A Story about Standing Rock.” “I thought it would be a good book to hear about kids in Standing Rock,” said Aslan, who traveled to Standing Rock when he was eight in August of 2016, and had turned 9 by the time he returned in October. Aslan’s mother Kelly Tudor, who helped Aslan write the book, and who...

"You are absolutely not doomed from having ACEs."

Scared? Since childhood, S. T. has been anxious & scared of dying. He learned helplessness from his mother. He learned self-punishment from his father. From the outside, he lived a successful life; good job, married & kids. Inside he was divided between constant self-doubt & an ongoing secret life of escaping into porn. He spent decades like this. One day he decided to get help. He started by talking to someone he trusted at church. He got referred to me. Not surprisingly, it can...

Everybody benefits from the ACE Study and here is a very recent discussion on TV with Dr. Vincent J. Felitti and Dr. Brian Alman. Past, Present and Future generations are impacted by family members ACE scores and their lack of successful resolutions. Traumas can be healed after they are identified, understood and treated with a variety of proactive strategies. Listen to the fascinating lessons from Dr. Felitti and learn more about yourself, your family, stress, habits and addictions, as well...

Last week I had the pleasure of attending Day 1 of the CAMFT "Advancing the Art and Science of Psychotherapy" conference in Orange County, where I got to hear Gabor Mate and Vincent Felitti weigh in on the impact of ACEs. What a singular experience to hear this dynamic duo on stage together! (My husband remarked that I was "lit up like a Christmas tree" when I got home that night.) While discussing the meaning of "resilience," Dr. Felitti recommended the book Judging Me, by Mary Elizabeth...

How can we heal from the implicit bias of “ Mental Illness ” and “ mentally ill ”? I hear these words and it sounds like fingernails scraping down the chalkboard. “ The stain of dehumanization colors the mind, body and spirit and it is not so easily washed away.” - Michael Skinner Recently I read a blog post at the ACEsConnection website, “Erasing My ACES” by Sirena Wheeler. It was posted on April, 19, 2020. It struck a chord with me, many in fact and it put me on a spiral down memory lane.

To ride a bicycle across the United States—Los Angeles to New Jersey—takes courage, a mission, and stamina. I did it twice. The first trip, during my mid-twenties, was done in hurt and fueled by anger. The second, at age 56, was done in the pursuit of healing self and others by collecting stories of other experiences of trauma and healing, dispensing information about human resilience, and sharing a deep belief in the power all people have to engage with and be enlightened by the process of...

When you first hear about it, it sounds unlikely, fact that something that happened to someone in utero, at the age of two months, or four years, or any time in childhood, is what is killing them as an adult, or making them want to die, or making them want to hurt themselves or others. Yet the connection between childhood trauma and adult disease, mental illness, addiction, suicide, violence – most all of society’s ills – is as irrefutable as the myriad truths revealed about it in the...

Dr. Nadine Burke Harris debuted her book, The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity , at the Philadelphia Free Library this evening in a talk and book signing. This first stop in an ambitious book tour that crisscrosses the country reflects a mission that Burke Harris has pursued for nearly a decade: to spread the knowledge about the science of adverse childhood experiences, and about how people can use this knowledge to help solve our most intractable problems.

I loved Johann Hari's book Chasing The Scream-The First & The Last Days On The War on Drugs so much, that I immediately purchased his newest book: Lost Connections: The Real Causes of Depression and the Unexpected Solutions , and listened to it on Audible. It was so good, I couldn't stop listening to it and finished it within 3 days! All I can say is READ or LISTEN To IT! It is so relevant to ACE's science. He references Dr. Felitti and the ACE's research in it. He also covers childhood...

In my last post, I highlighted a book Vincent Felitti mentioned at the CAMFT conference in Orange County. In the same talk, Dr. Felitti also recommended a form of therapeutic writing developed by James Pennebaker to help individuals uncover painful emotions and heal trauma. Pennebaker's book Opening Up by Writing It Down: How Expressive Writing Improves Health and Eases Emotional Pain details the why and how. The Pennebaker method has been referenced elsewhere on ACEs Connection; I thought...

    FINALLY IT IS HERE!!!!!!   Got mine by Amazon yesterday and on my Nook after midnight on the 25th.  Been reading it straight through!!! This is an awesome book to cut through all the stuff that will likely not work and it tells...

Learning to find my gifts within my chaos has changed everything. Everything.

Kathleen Friend MD is a Child Psychiatrist, children’s author, musician and heart rhythm meditation teacher currently living in Tucson, Arizona. Her mission is to expand the paradigm of Child Psychiatry to embrace a holistic view of mind, body and spirit.

Kathleen Friend MD is a Child Psychiatrist, children’s author, musician and heart rhythm meditation teacher currently living in Tucson, Arizona. Her mission is to expand the paradigm of Child Psychiatry to embrace a holistic view of mind, body and spirit.

Thank you, Dr. Gretchen Schmelzer, for enlightening us even more about the "journey through trauma". Listen in as Gretchen shares her insights on trauma GPS, her work in the field of trauma-recovery and healing on individual and societal levels, Nelson Mandela, her five phase cycle for healing repeated trauma, and more!

I look forward to your book. Meanwhile, in terms of relief from the long-term effects of neglect, you should at least be aware of the therapeutic benefits of medical hypnotherapy and of EMDR. In the hands of capable practitioners, they have the advantage of frequently being significantly helpful and in small numbers of visits, hence being affordable to most people. You can learn about them at the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis web site and by googling EMDR. Best wishes for...

Vincent-Thank you! I am not up to speed on hypnotherapy and EMDR. Can you point me to a beginner resource that might help me understand these more? Thanks! Shen

Jane, thank you for this and for all your efforts on behalf of the ACE Study, introducing it to wide audiences and ultimately into clinical practice. I am ever grateful, and appreciative of your skills and effort. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Vincent

Thank you, Vincent, for your very kind words. I am grateful to have learned about the ACE Study and to have met you. As for so many others, my life changed for the better. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, too! Cheers, Jane

I completely agree with this important point and think it's unfortunate that you didn't have the opportunity to finish the study at that time.

A new guide for healing the hidden wounds from ACEs The Adverse Childhood Experiences Recovery Workbook Glenn R. Schiraldi, Ph.D. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, Inc., 2021, 232 pages Practical, powerful skills for healing the hidden wounds of childhood trauma “ Dr. Glenn Schiraldi is one of the world’s most trusted experts on stress and resilience. His Adverse Childhood Experiences Recovery Wor kbook is the most complete, accessible, and evidence-based healing resource available.

Combining three generations of family experience with ACES research and positive psychology, THE WINNING FAMILY helps prevent dysfunctional behaviors and discipline problems from the inside out.

Former PACEs Connection employees Dana Brown (L) with Vincent Felitti, MD, co-author of the 1998 Adverse Childhood Experiences study, and Carey Sipp (R) in San Diego in January, 2024. The last few months have been quite challenging, but we pushed, persevered, and didn’t give up hope. The “we” is Carey Sipp and Dana Brown. We were long-time staff members of PACEs Connection determined to reinstate the website and the resources and information we provide to communities after the platform went...