ACES: Adverse Childhood Experiences
By: Eleana Ramirez | Published in 2021.
In another blog post, I included a video that explained how learning about my life path number helped me on my road to healing 15+ years of unhealed trauma that was appearing in certain behavioral responses later in adulthood. Another aspect of healing that I talk about in the audio clip linked below is called an ACE. Discovering this concept really helped me understand the complexity of my trauma was actually learning about the science of the brain and what parts are affected by particular series of trauma. By correlating my unpleasant behaviors with logical and scientific explanations, I was able to feel more at peace and sane with the parts of me that society would label “crazy”.
I reference a Ted Talk by Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris as a huge influence on my journey regarding the personal breakdown of ACES and analyzing the complexity. In her Ted Talk, she touches on the topic of how society perceives emotional issues and continues to undermine the intensity and legitimacy of these aspects. Whether a child endures abuse that is physical or emotional, there will be long-term effects shown in adulthood physically and psychologically no matter what. People fail to understand how unhealed trauma will appear in later adulthood. I enjoy Dr. Nadine Burke Harris's approach to the situation because it was communicated in a way that essentially validates the idea of abuse and how it affects a significant portion of all humans on earth.
By presenting real-life statistics and scientific research, the concepts can be perceived with more credibility to those who only think in terms of numbers and science. I used to be an individual who only believed in concepts proven by science. This minimized and restrictive perspective led me to have less empathy and a lack of understanding. With the rise of awareness of Adverse Childhood Experiences through media such as this Ted Talk, I hope people can begin to advance in terms of progressing the approach to mental health and how to interact with people and ourselves.