Portland, ME

United States

04101

Community & Political Organizer

Bernie Sanders 2020 Presidential Campaign, Preble St Resource Center, Democratic Socialists of America 🌹

I believe ACE and the subsequent chronic stress are at the root of most of the problems being faced by humanity at present. I have an ACE score of 4 myself, and was lucky to have found my way into recovery and Adult Children of Alcoholics/Dysfunctional Families (ACA), which offered a great deal of relief and healing for me. I was on a path to early death. There is still much work and research to be done. The methodology for healing ACE is still not well understood or has yet to make its way into the mainstream medical establishment. Reducing stressors is key, as is building resilience. Recognizing that trauma is stored in the body's tissue and not just as abstract memories or feelings is also a starting point that will help the medical and therapeutic communities to address ACEs and chronic stress in adults, and not just preventing it in children. Granted, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and "it is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men" as Frederick Douglass pointed out, so that is indispensable as well. I am particularly interested in making the work of Marty Smith, M. Ed., Relatively unknown to the general public and the clinical community. Mr. Smith is a PTSD researcher who has written a great deal of material for ACA, who also has explored the biochemical underpinnings of chronic stress ("emotional intoxication" as it is often referred), and proposed methods for recovering from that state. Some of his work can be found at www.responsesidetherapy.com I am currently a student in the psychiatric rehabilitation counseling program at University of Southern Maine. I am excited to be participating in this movement, and I believe there is great hope for the future as we progress towards healing and recovery together.