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(Unit 1) Topic 7: Adverse Childhood Experiences

Pre-Discussion: ACEs

Topic 7 Page 2

Childhood experiences, both positive and negative, have a tremendous impact on future violence victimization and perpetration, and lifelong health and opportunity.

Before embarking on the journey of learning about ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) it is critical to know several key points about the concept and have an opportunity to discuss with colleagues and peers. I would like to share some important things to keep in mind as we go through this training topic:

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are a challenging topic to learn about.
Please know that it is important to remain open-minded and aware of your personal needs as you move through the training. If you need to take a break and come back to the topic, that is completely normal and even expected. I have been involved in many ACEs training seminars, webinars, and classes and have always needed a break myself. Please be ready to clue in to your feelings and comfort level and walk away for a break if you need it. To assist with this, the training has been divided into chapters with a suggested stopping point in between each one. These breaks are completely optional.

You are going to be tempted to diagnose yourself and the people that you know and love.
There will undoubtedly be components of this training that resonate with you because of a child you’ve taught, a colleague you’ve known, or a person that you admire. Try to refrain from diagnosing these people or attributing their behaviors or health issues to any traumatic experiences. These may be attributed to ACEs but it is unfair to make this assumption.

This short course about of ACEs will not give you every bit of information about ACEs that you need.
This course is intended to give an overview and moderate understanding of the concept of ACEs. What’s important to take away from this is how you can apply it to your life and hopefully the greater good of your community. At the very least, share what you know with others so that we can begin making strides to avoid ACEs in society in general.

Try to switch your thinking from “what is wrong?” to “what has happened?”
While a diagnosis of others is inappropriate, it is important to remain aware that many behavioral and health issues may be a result of ACEs and be completely out of a person’s control. An occurrence of ACEs doesn't mean that someone is "broken" or altered in some way. Instead they have just had different experiences. Change your thinking to realize this possibility and stop blaming the person as if they have control. Even better is to invite them to heal from the trauma that they may have experienced.