Self-care was difficult for me to learn. In my recently released short story, I share how my doctor advised me to make drastic changes or I'd probably be dead in a few months. For the past five days, I've been combining business & pleasure. I'm dog-sitting for friends who live at the beach, the perfect place to recharge.
This past Saturday I attended a Mental Health Summit in Selma, NC, and was privileged to hear an excellent presentation by Dr. Tim Clinton, President of the American Association of Christian Counsellors. Afterward, we spoke and I shared with him my desire to write about sexual abuse. He encouraged me to continue pursuing this, sharing it was a huge problem that was getting worse but was one that many people shy away from. We talked about the Adverse Childhood Experience questionnaire. See Below:
From the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control Division of Violence Prevention.
Published by the CDC. To learn more about preventing adverse childhood experiences, call 1-800-CDC-INFO or visit CDC’s violence prevention pages at www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention. 2019.
Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Questionnaire
Name: __________________________________________ Date: _____________________
This Questionnaire will be asking you some questions about events that happened during your childhood; specifically the first 18 years of your life. The information you provide by answering these questions will allow us to better understand problems that may have occurred early in your life and allow us to explore how those problems may be impacting the challenges you are experiencing today. This can be very helpful in the success of your treatment. 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? 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 touched their body in a sexual way? Or Attempt or actually have oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse 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? 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. Were any of your parents or other adult caregivers: Often pushed, grabbed, slapped, or had something thrown at them? 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 _____
ACE SCORE (Total “Yes” Answers): ______
Traumatic events in childhood can be emotionally painful or distressing and can have effects that persist for years. 2 Factors such as the nature, frequency, and seriousness of the traumatic event, prior history of trauma, and available family and community support can shape a child’s response to trauma.
I learned about this questionnaire early in my mental health career & immediately implemented it with my patients. In a two-year time period with approximately 100 clients, I only had one client who scored -0- (she had no adverse experiences growing up). One client scored 9. Most were in the 5-7 range. Very few had low scores of 1-3. In the next few months, I will share more about this and some of the actual case studies.
Recommended Reading: Healing the Wounded Heart by Dan B. Alllender.
Comentarios