The two biggest myths about ACEs science are: MYTH #1 — That it’s just about the 10 ACEs in the ACE Study — the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study . It’s about sooooo much more than that. MYTH #2 — And that it’s just about ACEs…adverse childhood experiences. These two myths are intertwined. The ACE Study issued the first of its 70+ publications in 1998, and for many people it was the lightning bolt, the grand “aha” moment, the unexpected doorway into a blazing new...

Please join me in Overland Park, Kansas for two powerful days of discovery, April 25-26, 2018 and learn what is means to build bridges to resilience. I am excited to be a keynote speaker for the Bridging to Resilience National Conference put on by ESSDACK. Attendees will learn powerful strategies for resilience that go beyond just being trauma informed. ESSDACK does good work to solve the problems of poverty and trauma. In all my years of research and travel, I believe that ESSDACK has what...

Friday, April 12, 2019 marked an exciting, auspicious, and perhaps pivotal day in the history of Monroe County, Indiana. That’s a lot of adjectives—and pressure—to pile onto just another glorious spring day in Bloomington. But I think many folks who virtually congregate on a site that supports communities implementing trauma-informed and resilience-building practices grounded in ACEs science would agree that a county’s first-ever ACEs conference deserves a little ballyhoo. But this ACEs...

This was just posted by Harvard. I thought all of us could use access to it, for use in our schools and the settings we work in. The full image is on the attached PDF.

Attached find a downloadable "Helpful Tips" sheet for information about how to do some common tasks on ACEs Connection. You can download and print this document for reference and share with friends and colleagues! You can also find our complete list of "How Tos" as well HERE. If you think anything else you need assistance with on ACEs Connection, feel free to add a comment below. Thank you, Gail

#WARonSlavery

Last month, I had the pleasure of attending the annual National Council for Behavioral Health Conference. I have been to my fair share of conferences but #NatCon19 was one of the best. First, I'm biased. It took place in my city, Nashville, TN . And the venue was the world renowned Opryland Hotel's Gaylord Convention Center . And, I love, love, love the Opryland Hotel ! As any seasoned conference goer, I had a strategy when it came to which sessions and events I wanted to attend. My game...

I'm excited to announce the newest ACEs Connection geographic community for my region, the Midwest & TN: Ardmore OK Behavioral Health Collaborative . This community is a partnership of local organizations taking a trauma-informed stance on behavioral health in Carter County, OK. Their goal is to build a healthy, connected and resilient community. The community manager is Ashley Godwin . Ashley Godwin joined Ardmore Behavioral Health Collaborative in March 2017 as the Director where she...

Tufts University medical professor Dr. Robert Sege directs the Center for Community-Engaged Medicine and is nationally known for his research on effective health systems approaches that address social determinants of health. He is also the principal investigator for the HOPE framework (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences).The HOPE framework is based on research that shows how positive childhood experiences can mitigate the effects of adverse childhood experiences. Sege and colleagues...

Tufts University medical professor Dr. Robert Sege directs the Center for Community-Engaged Medicine and is nationally known for his research on effective health systems approaches that address social determinants of health. He is also the principal investigator for the HOPE framework (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences).The HOPE framework is based on research that shows how positive childhood experiences can mitigate the effects of adverse childhood experiences. Sege and colleagues...

Kained (verb)- to have Lara Kain come to your community and create a roadmap to implement trauma practices. On October 10th, 2018, Lara Kain and graphic artist Stephanie Steigerwaldt traveled to Hutchinson (KS) to assist Resilience Reno County in developing a longer range vision. It was an outstanding day attended by more than 50 people over 2 sessions. Lara and Stephanie were able to facilitate deep thinking as those in attendance all participated in related activities. As the graphic...

In October, I attended the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Conference in San Francisco. It was really inspiring. Below please find share some of the books, videos, and resources that I learned about. All the best, Natalie BOOKS 1) The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity by Nadine Burke Harris, MD https://centerforyouthwellness.org/the-deepest-well/ 2) The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk, MD...

In our travels across this beautiful state, we often talk to folks who say they've heard of "ACEs" or "Trauma-Informed Care" but don't know where to begin to learn more or to initiate change in their organizations and communities. Here at the WSU Community Engagement Institute, we have a team of professionals from a variety of backgrounds who can provide education, facilitation, and technical support to organizations, coalitions, or communities who are interested in starting a conversation...

Frederick Douglass said, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” This idea is underscored by a groundbreaking study completed more than 20 years ago to examine the impact of adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, on an individual’s lifetime health and well-being. The ACEs Study, undertaken in 1995 by Kaiser Permanente and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sought to determine why some of their patients weren’t improving despite their best treatment...

Karen Clemmer, the Northwest community facilitator with ACEs Connection, was already deeply interested in the CDC/Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study when she and a colleague from the Child Parent Institute were invited to lunch by ACEs Connection founder and publisher Jane Stevens in 2012. But that lunch meeting changed everything. Karen Clemmer “Jane helped us see a bigger world,” says Clemmer. “She came with a much wider lens. She didn’t look only at Sonoma County, she...

A Kansas-licensed social worker, Vanessa Lohf was born and raised in Wichita, Kansas, where she still lives and works in public health by facilitating the Trauma-Informed Systems of Care Initiatives (TISC) team at the Wichita State University Community Engagement Institute. She also manages the Kansas ACEsConnection network , where she regularly posts about news and resources for communities and organizations throughout the state. Lohf says that Wichita is known as the “Aircraft Capital of...

ACEs Connection has updated our 3 Realms of ACEs Graphic to represent recent and pressing events. The 3 Realms of ACEs are Community, Household, and Environment. ACEs in these realms intertwine throughout people’s lives, and affect the viability of families, communities, organizations, and systems. Environment has been updated to include "Pandemic", as the entire world continues to survive through the COVID-19 crisis. The Community Realm has been updated to include "Discrimination" and "Food...

To all of you, who, like me, love this website and want to see it and its communities flourish as we work to prevent and heal trauma; build resiliency: please know there is a move afoot by a small group of strategic partners to find a suitable host for PACEs Connection. More will be announced in the coming days. In the meantime, friends, we are figuring out email addresses and other communications logistics and opportunities. PEACE! Carey Sipp, former director of strategic partnerships ...

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...