March 5 is DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) Awareness Day. Given the correlation between ACEs and Dissociative Disorders, I want to bring this day and some resources to your attention. Even the most trauma-informed and competent practitioners often have difficulty diagnosing and treating the spectrum of dissociative disorders (DDs), especially DID. But we are learning that this elegant way of coping with chronic, severe childhood trauma is more prevalent than previously thought. Current...

A remarkable coping mechanism helped me survive the ACE parts of my childhood, and I find I need to give a heads-up about it to anyone who treats me in a medical setting. While chatting at last year’s ACEs Conference in San Francisco, Dr. Vince Felitti asked me to write an article for The Permanente Journal about my experiences with the medical community, as a person with a childhood-trauma-related, but mostly invisible, mental health disorder. And, of course, who can say “No” to Dr.

New Report: Today’s shifting political sands have put kids at risk, and it’s urgent that policymakers put kids’ needs front and center. We all have the power to hold policymakers accountable for prioritizing the needs of children, and our friends at the child advocacy group Kids Impact have charted a course on how. In their new report, “Accelerating Policymaker Accountability for U.S. Kids’ Well-Being: Charting the Course & A Call to Action,” they help define a collective “True North”...

Hi ACEs Connection -- This is the first time I have posted a blog here, and I'm not sure of the process, but I thought you might like to hear about this conference....so here goes.... By definition, a person with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) – or any of the Dissociative Disorders – is likely to have a high ACEs score, but I seldom see discussion of ACEs science in the DID literature. On the other hand, dissociation is such a brilliant and creative coping mechanism that it often...