In 1998 the ACE (Adverse Childhood Experience) study, linking childhood trauma
to many leading causes of death in adults was published by the CDC (Center for Disease Control and
Prevention), and largely ignored by the medical profession. A similar, updated report was
published in 2019.
Does your doctor take a childhood trauma history as well as a standard medical history?
Can you identify any physical or emotional issues in your own life that might be linked to early childhood trauma? If so, what have you done to heal the trauma?
Have you ever known anyone who was abusing a child, either emotionally or
physically? If so, did you intervene?
If you intervened, how did you do so and what was the effect?
If you chose not to intervene, why did you make that choice?
Have you ever seen a parent abusing a child in a public setting? If so do you
usually intervene and how?
If not why do you decide not to?
If you know of a situation in which a child is being abused by someone you know can you think of
a way to intervene that would feel compassionate to both the child and the adult?
What do you know about the circumstances of your conception, gestation, and birth?
How do you think these may have affected how you were treated and how you responded as a child?
With our current knowledge about the intergenerational nature of trauma how do you think parents could be awakened to ways in which they are traumatizing their children?
If a child acts out in school in ways that indicate there are traumatic conditions at home what action
do you think teachers should take?
What kind of support could parents of young children be given to reduce their stress and
minimize the chance of their traumatizing their children?
What kinds of preschool programs could be established to give young children
support outside of the home?