Category: Blog

Resilience: A Powerful Weapon in the Fight Against ACEs

Kerry Jamieson Fighting ACEs PBC, Latest News August 2, 2018December 4, 2019

Think about a toddler who is just learning to walk. Picture the number of times that toddler stumbles and tumbles. Researchers at New York University, directed by Dr. Karen Adolph, showed that newly-walking infants travel about 2,360 steps each hour. They also fall down an average of 17 times during that same period. Imagine you failed at something you were trying to achieve 17 times every hour. You’d be experiencing a setback once every 3.5 minutes – very disheartening. But do toddlers stop trying to walk successfully? Never. They get up again and again and keep moving. This is a compelling way to describe resilience. As Oliver Goldsmith, an 18th century Irish poet, put it: “Success is simply standing up one more time than you fall down.”

What makes some people so resilient and what does this have to do with ACEs? As we’ve learned, ACEs are Adverse Childhood Experiences that have a dramatically detrimental effect on a person’s lifelong mental and physical health. The statistics for those with high ACE scores seem bleak. They suffer from more diseases, greater levels of depression, alcoholism, and substance abuse. They die, on average, 20 years younger than those with no ACEs. But there is hope and resilience might be the key.

What is resilience?

Resilience is the ability to bounce back from life’s difficulties. It can be described as a varied and dynamic mix of many traits like determination, toughness, optimism, faith, positivity and hope. Resilience isn’t necessarily something a child is born with, although scientists now believe that certain children are genetically predisposed to higher levels of resilience. But the good news for all children is that resilience is like a muscle - the more you exercise it, the stronger it grows, especially in very young children where neural pathways are still forming and thinking patterns are elastic.

ACEs are only one half of any equation to try and predict a child’s future course. While each child is exposed to different degrees of trauma, they also have their own unique set of characteristics that can protect them against that trauma. A high ACE score is not a guarantee of negative outcomes in life. It’s a big warning sign but no child is doomed by their ACE score.

Two crucial factors are at play: 1.) The child’s own biological and developmental characteristics (their “nature”) and 2.) external influences from their family, community, and support systems. When these influences are positive, we call them “protective factors”. Protective factors help explain why some people who have sustained a great deal of adversity as children fare relatively well in adulthood.

Like a balancing scale, resilience is the result of interactions between a person’s ACEs on one side and his or her protective factors on the other.

How does resilience develop?

Researchers continue to refine their understanding of the components and processes involved in resilience. However, there is agreement about a variety of important conditions that support resilience.

• Close relationships with competent caregivers or other caring adults
• Parental resilience
• Caregiver knowledge and the use of positive parenting skills
• Having a sense of purpose (through faith, culture, identity, etc.)
• Individual competencies (problem solving skills, self–regulation, autonomy, etc.)
• Opportunities to connect socially
• Practical and available support services for parents and families
• Communities that value people and support health and personal growth

Protective factors help a child feel safe more quickly after experiencing the toxic stress of ACEs. Protective factors can neutralize the physiological changes that naturally occur during and after trauma. This protects the developing brain, the immune system, and the body as a whole from negative effects.

If the child’s protective factors are firmly in place, development can be sound, even in the face of severe adversity.

If these protective factors are inadequate, either before or after the traumatic experience, then the risk for developmental problems is much greater. This is especially true if the environmental hazards are intense and prolonged.

Resilience can be the antidote to ACEs

The negative consequences of ACEs can be counteracted with support, care, and appropriate intervention. Through positive relationships, children learn to develop crucial coping skills. They know that they are not alone, and they adopt healthy ways to process stress.

When children are taught coping mechanisms at a young age, they start to exercise their resilience muscle. As a child moves into maturity, they need to keep working their resilience muscle. When they do, they continue to grow stronger and are better equipped to manage the ups and downs of life.

Support in Childhood Pays Off in Adulthood

A 2017 “ACEs and Resilience” study conducted by the National Health Service in Wales found that, overall, having supportive friends, opportunities to engage with their community, people to look up to, and other sources of resilience in childhood more than halved the current mental illness in adults with four or more ACEs from 29% to 14%. Adults who acknowledged having childhood protective factors reported a reduced rate of suicidal thoughts and self-harming of 19% versus those without protective factors, who reported 39%.

We know that resilience requires that a child can rely on the presence of at least one supportive, caring adult. But who are these people? Are you one of them? Every child is surrounded by adults who can help them: family members, friends, neighbors, teachers, counselors, coaches, medical professionals, etc. These positive adult role models can be a buffer in a child’s life. A buffer is like a shield that helps to block some of the negative effects of ACEs exposure.

We’ll share more about being a buffer in our next blog.

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Early Childhood Trauma Can Lead to Early Death

Five-year-old Maria* saw her mother collapse during a severe asthma attack, then watched as an ambulance whisked her away for what would turn out to be several weeks of recuperation away from home. Maria was too young to understand what was happening. She just knew that suddenly, something was wrong with Mommy and she was taken away. Maria began having nightmares.

Without a buffer or an intervention from a trusted, positive influence to guide her and her family in the right direction, the negative effects of her ACEs could range from disrupting her neurological development to reducing her life expectancy by 20 years.Adverse events can traumatize the whole family. They are difficult to talk about rationally and constructively. But we must face the harsh reality of what happens when we – as a community – don’t discuss ACEs and how to fight them.

Discussing the community’s role in ACEs is just as important as the actual trauma-informed therapy provided to children and families at places like the Center for Child Counseling. The impact of ACEs on the well-being and productivity of a community is enormous.

Long-term community costs

Communities have an obligation to keep children safe, but society has a vested interest in fighting ACEs that goes way beyond the moral imperative. Children who experience ACEs without receiving interventional care can have a dramatic effect on their communities in the form of higher healthcare costs, potentially higher crime rates, mental-health expenditures, and lost productivity.

Scientists have found clear distinctions between brain scans of people exposed to the chronic stress associated with ACEs and those who have not been exposed. Living with chronic stress is toxic, resulting in a smaller hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and amygdala – areas of the brain responsible for self-regulation, decision-making, managing stress, and processing emotions, memory, and fear.

Simply put, the brains of children who experience abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction are structurally altered, threatening their ability to grow up to be productive, contributing members of society.

Of course, the behaviors associated with ACEs vary based on a child’s age and circumstances. From the outside, we see only the symptoms exhibited when something triggers a trauma reminder. These symptoms include but are not limited to:

Withdrawing
Refusing to comply with directions
Jumping from 0-10 on the anger scale
Having difficulty building trust in relationships
Lacking control and/or impulsivity

In reality, most children are resilient. They carry on even after experiencing ACEs. Without early screening and intervention though, they’ll be heading down a dangerous road that involves ever-riskier behavior. When children are deprived of the security, love, and trust that make them feel safe (or good), they often choose to take risks later in life. When they are old enough to have access to things that make them feel safe or good, they may abuse them. This often includes unsafe sex with multiple partners and/or misusing drugs and alcohol.

However, the consequences of ACEs don’t stop there. As with all types of chronic stress, ACEs-induced stress takes its toll on the body as well as the mind.

Body + mind

As Maria grows into an adult who experiences chronic stress for years on end, her body will process adrenaline and cortisol at atypical rates. This will make her more susceptible to serious health issues like:

Our mental health and physical health are intertwined, so it’s not surprising that ACEs can have serious physical consequences – ultimately leading to an early death.

For all these reasons, it’s imperative that communities like ours address ACEs through open and honest dialogue. There is hope. Soon after witnessing her mother’s collapse, Maria underwent three months of play therapy at the Center for Child Counseling. Trained counselors help children like Maria every day to express and work through their confusing, negative feelings rather than keep them inside where they can do lasting damage.

Children like Maria can heal after trauma, but only if the adults around them are willing to fight on their behalf.

The Center for Child Counseling provides healing care to more than 2,500 children each year. Interested in learning how you can help fight childhood adversity in your community? Sign up below to learn more through our ongoing educational blog series.

Sign up now for news, events, and education about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and promoting resilience.

Childhood Trauma is Linked to Long-Term Health Issues

Kerry Jamieson Fighting ACEs PBC, Latest News May 30, 2018December 4, 2019

Many of us experienced some type of highly stressful or traumatic event in our childhood. We may have had effective “buffers”: people like a trusted teacher, coach, therapist, or supportive family and friends. Or, depending on our age at the time, we may have decided we could handle our reactions on our own.

But, are you aware of the lifelong physical health issues scientists have found to be associated with Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs? Take our quick questionnaire to find out your ACEs score, then come back here to learn what it might mean for your physical health.

ACEs are the single greatest unaddressed public health threat facing our nation today.
- Dr. Robert Block, former president of the American Academy of Pediatrics

ACEs threaten public health

Research by Kaiser Permanente and the Centers for Disease Control showed that ACEs scores are correlated with health outcomes. Children and adults with high scores (4 or more) are:

“Children are especially sensitive to repeated stress activation because their brains and bodies are just developing,” said Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, pediatrician, in a 2014 TEDMED talk. “High doses of adversity not only affect brain structure and function, it also affects the developing immune system, developing hormonal systems, and even the way our DNA is read and transcribed.”

The need for routine screening and early intervention through play therapy, mental health services, child-parent psychotherapy, trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, and positive parenting programs is evident. “ACEs are the single greatest unaddressed public health threat facing our nation today,” said Dr. Robert Block, former president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

How can we intervene?

Abuse and neglect don’t discriminate. Neither do behavior issues or family dysfunction. But by helping children heal, each of us can stop the ongoing, repeated cycle of abuse and adversity.

Public awareness and education expands the ability and capacity for the entire community, including schools, organizations and businesses, to respond to the needs of children exposed to early adversity. In Palm Beach County, anyone who knows and cares about a child who has experienced ACEs can turn to the Center for Child Counseling.

Our mission is to foster healthy, resilient children and families through support, counseling, and awareness. In the next year, we will train 3,000 pediatricians, nurses, teachers, caregivers, police officers, and mental-health professionals to recognize the signs of ACEs.

Children deserve to live their lives free of abuse. We owe them a sense of security whether they’re at home or out in the world.

The Center for Child Counseling provides healing care to more than 2,400 children each year. Interested in learning how you can help fight childhood adversity in your community? Sign up to receive newsletter updates.

Sign up now for news, events, and education about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and promoting resilience.

How Play Therapy Can Help Heal Childhood Trauma

Kerry Jamieson Fighting ACEs PBC, Latest News May 16, 2018December 4, 2019

At his first appointment at the Center for Child Counseling for childhood trauma, 8-year-old Thomas* asked his trauma therapist if she “liked to hurt kids, too.”

Thomas had been bullied and physically abused by a much-older stepbrother. Often, young children cannot explain or even understand what’s bothering them and they may struggle to verbally express themselves. Their language is play. Stressful or traumatic events – referred to as Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs – can become evident through the way a child chooses to play.

What are Adverse Childhood Experiences?

ACEs are situations where a child faces some sort of trauma or stress. They typically fall into three categories:

Abuse – physical, emotional, sexual
Neglect – physical or emotional
Household dysfunction – parents facing incarceration, separation, divorce, mental illness, domestic abuse, substance abuse.

Nationally, the most common ACEs children face arise from:

Economic hardship
Issues associated with divorce
Witnessing or being a victim of violence (including domestic violence)
Living with someone who suffers from mental illness
Living with someone with drug or alcohol addiction
Issues associated with the incarceration of a parent or caregiver

The result of these situations? Insecurity from the constant threat of the unknown and anxiety associated with feelings that a caregiver may not be reliable.

The prevalence of these situations for our children is alarming: It’s estimated that nearly half of U.S. children (45%) have experienced at least one ACE, while one in 10 (10%) have experienced at least three of these traumatic events.

The potential damage to a child may seem obvious, but in reality, ACEs are incredibly complex and may not manifest the same way in every child. This makes diagnosing and fighting ACEs a challenge; two children who suffer the same sort of emotional abuse may act out quite differently.

How do we help a child with ACEs?

Because every child is unique, only an individualized treatment strategy can give them the best chance of working through their ACEs. The strategy begins with a questionnaire that helps therapists score and assess their mental and physical health.

Questions include:

Did a parent or other adult in your house often push, grab, slap or throw something at you? Did a parent or other adult in your house ever hit you so hard that you had marks or were hurt?
Was someone in your house depressed or mentally ill? Or did someone attempt suicide?
Did you often feel that you didn’t have enough to eat, had to wear dirty clothes, or had no one to protect you?

With these answers, qualified counselors like those at the Center for Child Counseling can start children on a healing journey that will improve their mental and physical health throughout their lives.

After six months of trauma therapy, Thomas is now able to express his feelings about the violence and abuse he experienced in his home through play therapy.

He is learning that most adults can be trusted and don’t hurt children.

You can learn more about the lifelong physical health issues associated with ACEs in our next blog. For now, equip yourself with knowledge by taking the quick ACEs questionnaire to learn what impact ACEs may have had on your life.

The Center for Child Counseling provides healing care to more than 2,400 children each year.
Interested in learning how you can help fight childhood adversity in your community? Sign up below to receive ACEs updates.

Sign up now for news, events, and education about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and promoting resilience.

Leading the Fight Against Childhood Adversity and Trauma

Kerry Jamieson Fighting ACEs PBC, Latest News May 16, 2018May 17, 2018

Dr. Blakely, Dr. Baganz, Eddie Stephens, and Randy Scheid, VP at Quantum Foundation.

“The single most pressing problem affecting societal wellness” — that was how speakers described ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) at the 2nd Annual “Lead the Fight” event hosted by the Center for Child Counseling at FPL’s Manatee Lagoon Discovery Center in Riviera Beach in April. The event brought together dozens of local business and community leaders, including the mayors of West Palm Beach, Boynton Beach, Wellington and Jupiter, and the Vice Mayor of Royal Palm Beach, as well as Palm Beach County School District 4 Board Member Erica Whitfield, and the senior management of local health funders and law firms.

The Center for Child Counseling, a nonprofit based in Palm Beach County, offers mental health services to children from birth to 18, specializing in helping to heal young children exposed to trauma. The organization has emerged as the local leader in the fight against ACEs and is driving an awareness campaign focused on training teachers, healthcare providers, and community leaders to view their interactions with people, especially children, through a trauma-informed lens.

The Center’s CEO, Renée Layman, describes the effect of ACEs. “Children interpret experiences differently and we know that unless they’re able to process those experience - especially adverse ones - in a constructive way, the result can be a lifetime of mental and physical health issues.” In recent years, scientific research has shown that adverse experiences and trauma affect not only mental health but the physiological development of a young child’s brain.

The event’s keynote speakers from the FAU Brain Institute, Dr. Randy Blakey and Dr. Nicole Baganz, spoke about these early changes to a crowd of more than 125 guests. We tend to think that issues affecting the brain may have obvious consequences for mental health but, in fact, many diseases like diabetes, obesity, and substance abuse are linked to higher ACEs scores. Dr. Blakely talks about the impact of ACEs “Increasingly we recognize the powerful, enduring effects of early life experience, whether constituting risk for, or resiliency against, brain disorders and mental illness. The deeper we understand the biology surrounding these effects, the more we appreciate the influence of friends, family, and community.”

Members of the Board of the Center for Child Counseling, Bill Lynch and Eddie Stephens, spoke of their personal experiences and ACEs expert, Amber Payne, asked attendees to consider the economic impact ACEs have on the community. They contribute dramatically to depression, substance abuse, and other issues that result in lower productivity. Ms. Payne explains: “We know that without help and positive buffers, the changes in a child’s growing brain will have a profound effect on the rest of their lives. In fact, people with an ACEs score of 4 or higher live, on average, 20 years less than those without ACEs.”

Renée Layman encouraged the room to take advantage of the Center’s training opportunities. “We want people to know their ACE score and understand the implications of that score. Knowledge is power,” she said. “At the Center for Child Counseling, we’re partnering with numerous local agencies including Quantum Foundation and Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County to spearhead this crucial awareness effort in Palm Beach County”.

To learn more about ACEs, the Center’s work, or to take the quick 10-question ACEs test, visit: