“An extraordinary, eye-opening book.”—People 2018 National Health Information Awards, Silver Award “A rousing wake-up call . . . this highly engaging, provocative book prove[s] beyond a reasonable doubt that millions of lives depend on us finally coming to terms with the long-term consequences of childhood adversity and toxic stress.”—Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow 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. The stunning news of Burke Harris’s research is 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. For anyone who has faced a difficult childhood, or who cares about the millions of children who do, the fascinating scientific insight and innovative, acclaimed health interventions in The Deepest Well represent vitally important hope for preventing lifelong illness for those we love and for generations to come?. “Nadine Burke Harris . . . offers a new set of tools, based in science, that can help each of us heal ourselves, our children, and our world.”—Paul Tough, author of How Children Succeed “A powerful—even indispensable—frame to both understand and respond more effectively to our most serious social ills.”—New York Times

*Previously published as The Deepest Well* ‘Finally after thirty years, I finally understood . . . this book holds the answers you’ve been searching for.’ Kerry Hudson The Surgeon General of California reveals pioneering research on how childhood stress leads to lifelong health problems and what we can do to break the cycle. Perfect for fans of The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, this eye-opening book includes a free Adverse Childhood Experience test and looks at the widespread crisis of trauma and childhood adversity through the objective lens of science and medicine, providing a roadmap for deeper understanding and change. It is vital now more than ever, as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, that we find a way to address, understand and heal trauma. Two thirds of us have experienced at least one adverse childhood experience, from the likes of bereavement and divorce to abuse and neglect. In Toxic Childhood Stress Dr Burke Harris reveals the science behind childhood adversity and offers a new way of understanding the adverse events that affect us throughout our lifetime. Based on her own groundbreaking clinical work and public leadership, Dr Burke Harris shows us how we can disrupt this cycle through interventions that help retrain the brain and body, foster resilience, and help children, families, and adults live healthier, happier lives. When a young boy walked into Dr Nadine Burke Harris's clinic he looked healthy for a preschooler. But he was seven, and hadn't grown a centimetre since a traumatic event when he was four. At that moment Dr Burke Harris knew that her gut feeling about a connection between childhood stress and future ill health was more than just a hunch – and she began her journey into groundbreaking research with stunning results.

An examination of the link between Adverse Childhood Events (ACE's) and adult illnesses.

In Rome in A.D. 165, two men named Carpus and Papylus stood before the proconsul of Pergamum, charged with the crime of being Christians. Not even torture could make them deny Christ, so they were burned alive. Is my faithfulness as strong? In the fifth century, Melania the Younger and her husband, Pinian, distributed their enormous wealth to the poor and intentionally practiced the discipline of renunciation. Could living more simply deepen my trust in God? In the sixteen hundreds, Philipp Jakob Spener's love for the Word of God and his desire to help people apply the Bible to their life moved him to start "Colleges of Piety," or small groups. In what ways could commitment to community make me more like Christ? The history of the church has shaped what our faith and practice are like today. It's tempting to think that the way we do things now is best, but history also has much to teach us about what we've forgotten. In Water from a Deep Well, Gerald Sittser opens to us the rich history of spirituality, letting us gaze at the practices and stories of believers from the past who had the same thirst for God that we do today. As we see their deep faith through his vibrant narratives, we may discover that old ways can bring new life to our own spirituality.

"In Scared Sick, childhood expert and therapist Robin Karr-Morse and lawyer and strategist Meredith Wiley propose that chronic fear experienced in infancy and early childhood lies at the root of numerous diseases as well as emotional and behavioral pathologies in adults."--Jacket.

Adverse Childhood Experiences: Using Evidence to Advance Research, Practice, Policy, and Prevention defines ACEs, provides a summary of the past 20 years of ACEs research, as well as provides guidance for the future directions for the field. It includes a review of the original ACEs Study, definitions of ACEs, and how ACEs are typically assessed. Other content includes a review of how ACEs are related to mental and physical health outcome, the neurodevelopmental mechanisms linking ACEs to psychopathology, sexual violence and sexual health outcomes, and violence across the lifespan. Important and contemporary issues in the field, like reconsidering how ACEs should be defined and assessed, the appropriateness of routine ACEs screening, thinking about ACEs from a public health and global perspective, strategies for preventing ACEs, understanding ACEs and trauma-informed care and resilience, and the importance of safe stable and nurturing environments for children are discussed. Adverse Childhood Experiences is a useful evidence-based resource for professionals working with children and families, including physicians, nurses, social workers, psychologists, lawyers, judges, as well as public health leaders, policy makers, and government delegates. Reviews the past 20 years of ACEs research Examines ACEs and mental and physical health Discusses the neurodevelopment mechanisms of ACEs and psychopathology Examines ACEs and violence across the lifespan Reconsiders the definition and assessment of ACEs Examines the issue of routine ACEs screening Discusses ACEs from a public health and global perspective Summarizes effective ACEs prevention, trauma-informed care, and resilience Provides recommendations for the future directions of the ACEs field