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Have the Conversation

Past traumas inform individuals’ physical and mental wellbeing. For anyone who is suffering from past or current trauma, help is available. In support of healing, and in light of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Month held each June, the NNLM Reading Club encourages you to learn more about Adverse Childhood Experiences and PTSD. Read one of the NNLM Reading Club featured books, discuss, and share trustworthy health information.

Agencies & Organizations

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Study is one of the largest investigations of childhood abuse and neglect and household challenges and later-life health and well-being. The original ACE study was conducted from 1995 to 1997 with two waves of data collection. 

The original CDC-Kaiser dataset is not available to the public. Kaiser owns the data and data collection is ongoing (e.g., prescription drug use, medical status of original participants). However, The Family Health History and Health Appraisal questionnaires used to collect information for the original CDC-Kaiser ACE Study are not copyrighted and there are no fees for their use.

• Family Health History Questionnaire
  • Male Version [PDF]
  • Female Version [PDF]
• Health Appraisal Questionnaire
  • Male Version [PDF]
  • Female Version [PDF]
• Vital Signs: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) [PDF]
• Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Leveraging the Best Available Evidence [PDF]

The Maternal and Child Health Agency of the The Health Resources & Services Administration funds and directs the National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH), which is a household survey conducted annually by the U.S. Census Bureau. Read their latest report revealing the recent trends in children’s health-related measures, including significant changes between 2019 and 2020 that might be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA): Recognizing and Treating Child Traumatic Stress Recognize the signs of child traumatic stress with the informative infographics and videos developed by SAMHSA’s National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative (NCSTI).

American Academy of Childhood and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) The mission of AACAP is the promotion of the healthy development of children, adolescents, and families through advocacy, education, and research, and to meet the professional needs of child and adolescent psychiatrists.

Invisible Scars: America’s Childhood Trauma Crisis" | Cat Wise | PBS News | December 14, 2020  Childhood trauma impacts millions of Americans, and its consequences can be devastating. Those experiencing high levels of trauma can see dramatically lower life expectancies, and the CDC estimates it accounts for billions of dollars in healthcare costs and lost productivity.

For the Library Bookshelf

A Trauma Informed Approach to Library Services | Rebecca Tolley | American Library Association | NonFiction | 2020 | ISBN: 978-0838919811192

A Trauma Informed Framework for Supporting Patrons: the PLA Workbook of Best Practices | The Public Library Association Social Worker Task Force | NonFiction | 2022 | ALA Editions | ISBN: 978-0-8389-4956-6112

Book

Dr. Nadine Burke Harris was already known as a crusading physician delivering targeted care to vulnerable children. But it was Diego—a boy who had stopped growing after a sexual assault—who galvanized her journey to uncover the connections between toxic stress and lifelong illnesses. Burke Harris’s resulting research revealed just how deeply our bodies can be imprinted by ACEs—adverse childhood experiences like abuse, neglect, parental addiction, mental illness, and divorce. Childhood adversity changes our biological systems and lasts a lifetime.The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Trauma and Adversity aids our understanding of how ACEs are encoded in our body and offers hope by sharing important interventions for preventing lifelong illness for both those we love and for future generations. 

2018 National Health Information Awards, Silver Award

The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Trauma and Adversity | Nadine Burke Harris | 2021 reprint | Mariner Books | 272 pages | ISBN: 978-1328502667

Author

Nadine Burke Harris, M.D., founder of the Center for Youth Wellness in San Francisco’s Bayview Hunters Point, was recently named Surgeon General of California. She is the recipient of the prestigious Heinz Award in 2016 and lives in San Francisco with her husband and their four boys.

About Nadine Burke Harris, M.D., Office of the California Surgeon General

Book

Throughout her career, Oprah has teamed up with Dr Bruce Perry, one of the world’s leading experts on childhood trauma. He has treated thousands of children, youth, and adults and has been called on for decades to support individuals and communities following high-profile traumatic events. A survivor of multiple childhood challenges herself, Oprah Winfrey shares portions of her own harrowing experiences because she understands the vulnerability that comes from facing trauma at a young age. Now, Oprah joins forces with Dr Perry to marry the power of storytelling with the science and clinical experience to better understand and overcome the effects of trauma. 

What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing | Bruce D Perry, MD, PhD & Oprah Winfrey | 2021 | Pan Macmillan | 272 pages | ISBN: 978-1529068481

Authors

Dr Bruce Perry is the Senior Fellow of The ChildTrauma Academy a Community of Practice based in Houston, TX and Professor (Adjunct) in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago and the College of Science, Health and Engineering, La Trobe University, Australia. He is the author, with Maia Szalavitz, of The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog, Born For Love: Why Empathy is Essential and Endangered and BRIEF: Reflections on Childhood, Trauma and Society. Over the last thirty years, Dr Perry has been an active teacher, clinician and researcher in children’s mental health and the neurosciences holding a variety of academic positions.

Over the course of her career, Oprah Winfrey has created a connection with people around the world. As host and supervising producer of the top-rated, award-winning The Oprah Winfrey Show, she entertained, enlightened and uplifted millions of viewers for twenty-five years. Her accomplishments as a global media leader and philanthropist have established her as one of the most influential and admired public figures in the world today. Some of her previously published works include O's Little Guide to Starting Over, Food, Health and Happiness, What I Know for Sure, The Wisdom of Sundays and The Path Made Clear.

Book

In her searing memoir of reckoning and healing by acclaimed journalist Stephanie Foo, What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma, searches for and reveals the little-understood science behind Complex PTSD or C-PTSD. In learning about how it has shaped her life, she shares her journey about how she has learned to live with her past. In her opening Author’s Notes, Foo addresses other readers who may suffer from PTSD and then shares these hopeful words, “this book has a happy ending.”  

An Amazon Best Book of February 2022

What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma | Stephanie Foo | 2022 | Ballantine Books | 352 pages | ISBN: 978-0593238103

Author

Stephanie Foo is a Malaysia-born American, radio journalist, producer, and author. She has worked for Snap Judgment and This American Life. She attended the University of California, Santa Cruz, graduating from Stevenson College in 2008. A noted speaker and instructor, she has taught at Columbia University and has spoken at venues from Sundance Film Festival to the Missouri Department of Mental Health. She lives in New York City.

Official Website of Stephanie Foo