Children of Alcoholics Awareness Week | February 2017

One in four children live in families with a parent addicted to alcohol, according to the National Association of Children of Alcoholics. Unless you have been a child in a home with untreated, unhealthily discussed alcohol misuse, it’s difficult to image what it’s like to be a child in such a home. Devastating. Scary. Shame-filled.…

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When Mommy or Daddy Is the Problem – Alcohol Misuse | Secondhand Drinking

secondhand drinking IS childhood trauma

When mommy or daddy is the problem, a child can experience childhood trauma, aka Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). And the problem I’m talking about is a parent’s alcohol misuse or the other parent’s coping with their drinking behaviors. In other words, a parent whose drinking (alcohol misuse) changes their behaviors and/or a parent experiencing secondhand drinking — the…

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Childhood Trauma – Substance Misuse Connection

The childhood trauma – substance misuse connection is one of the most important interactions society as a whole must understand. It is profoundly life changing because it changes a child or teen’s brain circuitry – meaning how their brain wires, thus how it works, thus what that child or teen thinks, feels, says and does,…

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Secondhand Drinking – a Breeding Ground for ACEs

Secondhand Drinking can be a breeding ground for ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences). Why? ACEs – Adverse Childhood Experiences – Explained The concept of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) was first introduced in the findings of the ACEs Study — a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente’s Health Appraisal Clinic in San Diego.…

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Childhood Trauma – Breaking The Cycles

Childhood trauma has a profound impact on the neural circuitry of a child’s brain (meaning how or if brain cells “talk” to one another). It includes verbal, physical and emotional abuse; ongoing exposure to secondhand drinking or secondhand drugging, such as that which occurs in a family with untreated or unhealthily discussed addiction or substance misuse;…

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Mental Health – the Impacts of Childhood Trauma

May is Mental Health Awareness Month in the United States, and I want to zero in on one this year’s celebration objectives – to raise awareness of trauma and its impacts. Specifically, I want to zero in on childhood trauma. As Paolo del Vecchio wrote in his article, “AWARENESS: Understanding the Link Between Life Experiences and…

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The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study

Astounding findings about the role of adverse childhood experiences (ACE) on brain development are now available. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) – Childhood Trauma If you’ve been following my blog or my books, you will have repeatedly read that one of the key risk factors for developing a substance abuse problem and/or addiction is childhood trauma.…

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