Today's guest blogger is the incomparable Janai Mestrovich. Her story is powerful and speaks to how adversity can be used to create post-traumatic growth. Our ACEs can be our superpowers – the fight or flight response is designed to give us an adaptive advantage. Here is the lived expertise of an incredible pioneer in the work of overcoming adversity to create sustainable change in the lives of our most vulnerable population, our children. Janai 'Grandma Boom' Mestrovich Birth Trauma...

I thoroughly enjoyed this enlightening interview with ACEs Connection member, Cortney Edmondson - advocate, speaker, survivor, activist. Please join us as we discuss Cortney's healing journey from trauma to triumph, her mission to provide others with a space to share their stories, her speaking joys, and much more!

I am sharing the notes I took during the ACEs Conference as a snapshot of the collective wisdom of this event. Feel free to add to the list. Let’s create a shared document that archives the notes that each of us took. What messages resonated with you so strongly that you took a moment to write it down? I would love to read what others found to be helpful, hopeful and memorable. ACEs is a social justice issue We do this work because it is personal We are building the ship as we are sailing it...

"Change moves at the speed of trust, and trust moves at the speed of relationships." - Dr.William Dietz It is ALWAYS about relationships, always and forever. That has never been clearer to me than this moment, as I sit at the San Francisco International Airport waiting for my flight to depart back home to Philly. I really don't want to go home and break out of the incredibly loving, supportive and trauma-responsive bubble that I have been in the last 48 hours at the 2018 ACEs Conference. I...

Most people have dealt with some form of trauma in their lifetime. Some have sought professional help while other people relied on their support system of family and friends to assist them through healing. Others may have never dealt with their trauma at all. They may have found a way to numb out their reactions to their trauma (e.g. substance use, intimacy disorders, overworking, eating disorders, etc.). Or they may have forgotten memories of the traumatic event. Dr. Tian Dayton recently...