ACES High : What are Adverse Childhood Experiences?
ACES High : What are adverse childhood experiences?
If you're playing poker, you want an ace in hand. But ACEs in your personal life can leave lasting negative implications. ACES High : What are Adverse Childhood Experiences? Find out more!
I first heard about ACEs in graduate school for social work. In one of my first classes, human development, we learned about how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can affect almost every aspect of a person's life.
Adverse Childhood Experiences are exactly what they sound like, but include more than you might think. For instance, experiencing emotional, physical or sexual abuse are all considered adverse childhood experiences, but so are things like witnessing physical violence and/or having someone in the household who is addicted to drugs or alcohol or mentally ill. Even the divorce or separation of parents is considered an adverse childhood experience!
For most of us who experience trauma, we tend to minimize it and pretend that it doesn't affect us. Yet, a long-term study by the Center for Disease Control and Kaiser Permanente has shown that ACEs have an extraordinary impact on a person's health; in fact, some of the most common adult health issues, like obesity, heart disease, alcoholism and drug abuse, have been directly linked to childhood adversity. On a less severe scale, ACEs can affect anything from how a person relates to others to how they learn, behave, and function in the world.
So, how does this pertain to you? Well first off, it's important to identify whether you've had an adverse childhood experience (or multiple ones). One way to do this would be take this survey
Second, we need to stop and take and take a minute to think about how our past experiences may affect our current state of functioning. We tend to go about our lives, moving from one task to the next and pretend that our childhoods don't have any influence over how we behave. Yet we find ourselves having difficulties that we tend to blame on external factors..."if only my significant other would act a certain way...if only my boss would recognize how hard I work...if only I had enough time to go to the gym...if only my kids would behave." We live in the "if only's" instead of looking at ourselves and the things that we actually have some influence over. And one of those things is looking at our past and how it has shaped the person that we are today.
At Harper Therapy, we are committed to hope, growth and healing. We can help you take a deeper look at how some of your past experiences may shape who you are today and how these experiences can help propel you to become the best version of yourself.
Alina Klein, MSW Intern
Alina Klein, like all of our Harper Therapy Clinicians, can help you heal from your difficult past with cutting-edge treatment like Accelerated Resolution Therapy.
Call our office at 813-434-3639 to schedule your appointment, or use the form below to book a free consultation with Harper Therapy to see how we can help you!
