In last week’s email, we talked about “Adverse Childhood Experiences” (ACEs).
You can read it here: https://homelesstraining.com/do-you-work-with-traumatized-teens/
The basic idea is that the more “bad” things happen to you before age 18, the more bad things are likely to happen to you after age 18.
It’s kinda depressing.
But it isn’t the end of the story.
I have a friend who scores a 10 out of 10 on the ACEs test. By all accounts she should be dead, homeless or in prison.
Instead, she’s a successful nurse practitioner who is happily married with two great kids.
She also saved my life once (literally) when a doctor committed malpractice, so I’m a little biased about how great she is.
How is that possible?
The “antidote” to ACEs is PCEs (Positive Childhood Experiences).
The basic idea is that positive aspects of a person’s life before age 18 can serve as “protective factors” against the negative things that happen.
If you took the ACEs test last week, here is the PCEs test for this week.
Before age 18 did you:
- Feel your family stood by you during difficult times?
- Feel safe and protected by an adult in your home?
- Feel supported by friends?
- Have at least 2 non-parent adults who took a genuine interest in you?
- Feel able to talk to your family about feelings?
- Feel a sense of belonging in high school?
- Enjoy participating in community traditions?
You count the number of questions you answered “yes” to to get your score.
The research around PCEs isn’t as well developed as it is around ACEs, but we do know that individuals who score 6 or higher:
- Have significantly less anxiety
- Less depression
- Significantly better mental wellbeing
- Significantly better life satisfaction
It’s almost like PCEs are the antidote to ACEs!!
Our next training is on how to handle behavioral issues from teenagers with trauma. We pay special attention to how you can enforce the rules in a way that doesn’t add trauma (and maybe even helps protect against it!).
Have a great week!
Peace,
Ryan