Welcome back to Consider Yourself Hugged! Click here to listen to Episode 133. OR click YouTube below to watch! (***Disclaimer: We provide these notes as a skeleton for the show - nothing fancy 😄) Be sure to read/watch/listen to Part I before this episode.
The Importance of Healing from Wounds of the Past
Adverse Childhood Experiences can impact both physical and mental health throughout the entirety of life without intervention.
Today Tami, Gracey and Michelle will take an inventory of the ACE’s (Adverse Childhood Experiences) in their own lives and the lives of their parents to investigate how those things may be affecting them today.
We will then talk about the path to healing and the ways in which we as a community of women can support one another.
Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Questionnaire- ACEs Study Kaiser Permanente.
Finding your ACE Score While you were growing up, during your first 18 years of life:
1. Did a parent or other adult in the household often … Swear at you, insult you, put you down, or humiliate you? or Act in a way that made you afraid that you might be physically hurt?
Yes No If yes enter 1 ________
2. Did a parent or other adult in the household often … Push, grab, slap, or throw something at you? or Ever hit you so hard that you had marks or were injured? Yes No If yes enter 1 ________
3. Did an adult or person at least 5 years older than you ever… Touch or fondle you or have you touch their body in a sexual way? or Try to or actually have oral, anal, or vaginal sex with you? Yes No If yes enter 1 ________
4. Did you often feel that … No one in your family loved you or thought you were important or special? or Your family didn’t look out for each other, feel close to each other, or support each other? Yes No If yes enter 1 ________
5. Did you often feel that … You didn’t have enough to eat, had to wear dirty clothes, and had no one to protect you? or Your parents were too drunk or high to take care of you or take you to the doctor if you needed it? Yes No If yes enter 1 ________
6. Were your parents ever separated or divorced? Yes No If yes enter 1 ________
7. Was your mother or stepmother: Often pushed, grabbed, slapped, or had something thrown at her? or Sometimes or often kicked, bitten, hit with a fist, or hit with something hard? or Ever repeatedly hit over at least a few minutes or threatened with a gun or knife? Yes No If yes enter 1 ________
8. Did you live with anyone who was a problem drinker or alcoholic or who used street drugs? Yes No If yes enter 1 ________
9. Was a household member depressed or mentally ill or did a household member attempt suicide? Yes No If yes enter 1 ________
10. Did a household member go to prison? Yes No If yes enter 1 ________
Now add up your “Yes” answers: _______ This is your ACE Score
ACEs Statistics
10 fold increase in addiction with 4 or more aces.
Parental substance use have 81% chance of having another Ace and 58 % will have 4 or more.
20 fold increase in risk of attempting suicide
60 % of women with 4 or more aces suffer from Lifelong Depression
Per the CDC: By preventing ACEs, up to 1.9 million heart disease cases and 21 million depression cases could have been potentially avoided.
YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN YOUR STRUGGLE
Resources:
Nona Jones: Killing Comparison
Psych Central: Healing from Unworthiness and Shame
Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families
CDC Aces Link
National Alliance of Mental Illness
Mental Health America
Additional Resources: National Alliance of Mental Illness
Thanks for joining today! As we’ve always asked in the past, please pass the show link along to your friends and subscribe, download, and review wherever you are listening. If you’re a woman and you haven’t joined our private FB group A Place for Women, please do that now! It’ll be your source of encouragement.
And until next time, Consider Yourself Hugged 😘🤗
Michelle Kixmiller, MSN, MAE, RN, APN, PMHNP-BC Michelle Kixmiller is a Board Certified
Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and Licensed Educator. She works with children and adults with mental health needs including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, ADHD, autism, schizophrenia, and obsessive compulsive disorder. Michelle served as a public school teacher and science department chair for over a decade when a family tragedy pulled her in a different direction. The death of her younger brother after a multiple year battle with depression and alcoholism led her to pursue a career in the mental health field. She went back to school to become a registered nurse graduating and gaining experience as a critical care nurse at a level 1 regional burn center prior to completing a graduate degree to become a mental health nurse practitioner. Her vision is holistic care through teamwork to create a more peaceful school environment for students and staff alike. No one should have to struggle alone. Michelle currently works full time for a non-profit community mental health center at an outpatient clinic and works PRN for an inpatient crisis stabilization unit. When not at work she loves spending time with family, traveling, watching movies (not scary ones), running (slowly), and Crossfit. Contact Michelle at Silver Lining Psychiatric Solutions, 615-378-7713 or mkixmill@gmail.com.
Grace Lichtenstein, MS is award-winning international speaker/trainer, coach, and a huge fan of all things nap-related. For the last 20 years, I have been working with individuals and corporate teams to improve their health, become more productive, and reduce their stress. Through my training in both Western and Eastern wellness philosophies (including an MS in Counseling Psychology), I truly has a comprehensive view of "what works". In addition, my diverse experience working with thousands of people in 49 states and in 2 foreign countries (ranging from native New Yorkers to Native Alaskans and from the FBI to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops), has allowed my to pinpoint some of the universal characteristics of successful individuals and teams. Contact Gracey at grace@graceandsuccess.com.
Through my signature online programs or with one of my live training topics, I have the tools to help almost every individual and team reach their true potential. In addition, I am skilled at providing an exceptional learning experience based on client needs whether it be live onsite, webinar, a customized learning management system, email tutorials, or individualized life or executive coaching.
Tami West, PhD Stress and Mental Health Expert Dr. Tami West uses her entertaining and
compelling style to shine a new light on how to transform your life and discover solutions to life’s challenges. Her passion stems from a lifelong battle with an anxiety disorder which has uniquely equipped her to teach, encourage, and motivate others.
Tami has worked in a variety of industries including healthcare, school nutrition, corporate sales, and 10 years as a public-school teacher. In 2013 she received her PhD in Human Development, studying the connections among stress, emotions, and identity. She is so passionate about removing the mental health stigma that she recently became a certified Mental Health First Aid instructor.
Dr. West has spoken in 48 states across the US, as well as the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. In any given year, Tami speaks to groups with audiences consisting of anywhere from 100 to 3,000 people.
Her audiences are diverse and include Danbury Federal Prison inmates, teachers, administrative assistants, food service, and senior executives at Social Security Administration.
Dr. West is the author of several successful publications including two books: The Stress Club, Life Without the Monsters and Thrive. She is a mother of eight in a blended family and enjoys reading historical fiction, traveling with her husband Tim and family, and watching The Big Bang Theory.
Contact Tami at tamiwest@tamiwest.com or follow her at Tami West Seminars.
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