UNITED STATES
CT Mirror
By: CHRISTOPHER M. ANDERSON | February 9, 2015
Adverse childhood experiences are a public health crisis affecting more Americans than diabetes and heart disease combined.
Many people instinctively understand that compassionate support is important for people who have lived through abuse and trauma, but instinct can make for a poor teacher. Our initial response to a survivor’s disclosure can have a profound impact on his chances for recovery.
Compassionate listening is a skill that can be taught and could potentially have just as powerful an impact on our society’s health as the promotion of CPR has had.
It is significantly more likely than not that a given person has experienced at least one form of childhood trauma or abuse. For many survivors, disclosures of a painful past are often met with doubt, anger, or apathy. These negative reactions can reinforce feelings of shame and fear that make it harder for survivors to engage in the work of healing — which almost always requires survivors to acknowledge and talk about what they have experienced and how it has impacted their lives.
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