Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are chronic stresses that occur during childhood, which can have negative, lasting effects on health & wellbeing, not only in childhood, but throughout a person’s life.

Trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being. (SAMHSA)

Potentially traumatic events are common, but there are a range of protective factors and assets that can enable us to cope with traumatic experiences.  Understanding these individual and community factors, often referred to as ‘resilience’, is key to understanding how we can support people to cope and to recover.