This presentation will include a review of how adversity gets embedded in neurodevelopment and affects the way our genome may be used and affected.
The public health and communitywide implications of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study will be reviewed and specific examples of how this science has shown how ACEs affect the goals and practices in human service systems (education, justice, health care) in community will be provided.
Self-Healing Communities use this science—and the understanding and compassion that flows from it– as a platform to engage the creativity, minds and hearts of all people in community—that can lead healing at the individual level and to a culture of change.  This change brings people who have been affected by ACEs and the systems that serve them together to bring hope, new meaning, and understanding that is necessary for moving beyond old ways of thinking about trauma, ACEs, and their related outcomes.  These changes unlock the latent potential and creativity in communities that lead to new ways to interrupt the intergenerational cycle of ACEs and reduce exposure to ACEs for the generations to come.