Presented By: Mary Kelly Persyn, PhD, JD, Director Hanna Institute and Nick Dalton, Assistant Director Hanna Institute
The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study is one of the largest studies ever conducted to assess associations between childhood maltreatment and later-life health and well-being. The study is a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente’s Health Appraisal Clinic in San Diego.
The initial phase of the ACE Study was conducted at Kaiser Permanente from 1995 to 1997, and more than 17,000 Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) members under-went a standardized physical examination. Each willing participant completed a confidential survey that contained questions about childhood maltreatment and family dysfunction, as well as items detailing their current health status and behaviors. This information was combined with the results of their physical examination to form the baseline data for the study.
Since its inception, this study has revolutionized care in the mental health field. New research about the epigenetics of ACEs further challenges us to examine how individuals with high ACE scores can raise children with low scores. Trauma-informed care (TIC) aims to provide clinicians with tools to help prevent the damage of intergenerational trauma in part by recognizing and responding to signs of trauma in their clients.
Hanna Institute, provides trauma-informed care training in Sonoma County and Northern California. Hanna Institute’s mission is to support parents and child-serving systems with resources that build resilience and hope. Today's speakers are Mary Kelly Persyn, PhD, JD, and Nick Dalton, the Director and Assistant Director of Hanna Institute, respectively.
Learning Objectives - After completion of the presentation the attendees will:
1. Will learn what the ten ACEs measured in the original Kaiser study are, and how they impact longterm health.
2. Will learn about the prevelence of ACEs in different population groups including Sonoma County.
3. Will learn about epigenetics and intergenerational trauma.
4. Will learn about trauma-informed care (TIC) and how TIC can benefit patients.
About our speakers
Mary Kelly Persyn, PhD, JD: A teacher and lawyer by training, Mary Kelly is a civil rights, social justice, and children’s advocate at heart. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Center for Youth Wellness in San Francisco and the steering committee of the California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity, or 4CA. First a Romantic poetry scholar and teacher, then a criminal defense, civil rights, and appellate lawyer, Mary Kelly strives to embrace human suffering with deep understanding and transform it through hope and joy. Mary Kelly earned her J.D. from Columbia Law School and her Ph.D. from the University of Washington. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and twin daughters..
Nick Dalton: Nick Dalton is the Assistant Director of the Hanna Institute and co-chair of the Sonoma County ACEs Connection. Nick has spent decades facilitating leadership development, community organizing, and using the creative and healing arts to empower the self. Nick was an International Ambassador and Teaching Artist for the non-profit Artists Striving to End Poverty (ASTEP) for almost a decade, where his work focused primarily on refugee, low-income, and oppressed communities. Before launching the education program at Transcendence Theatre Company in Sonoma, he spent two years in India as director of The Maya Project, a Teach For India initiative revolutionizing the literature curriculum nationwide by incorporating social-emotional wellness learning Aboth teachers and students. Nick is also a certified REIKI Master, cofounder of the arts and healing non-profit collective “heART without borders,” and currently pursuing his PhD in Interdisciplinary Arts with a concentration in Indigenous Resurgence & Decolonial Art. He lives in the Springs of Sonoma with his wife and their son.
10:30 - 11:00 Social networking and registration
Disability Accommodation: To request an accommodation for a disability, please email therapy@recamft.org.
CEU Certificate: You must stay for the entire meeting to receive your certificate. If you have signed IN and OUT of the course, you will receive an email with a link to the course evaluation. Once you complete the evaluation, the CE Certificate will open. If you do not immediately see the certificate, check your downloads folder. Fill in your name and license number on the certificate, and right click on it to save it to your own computer. Course meets the qualifications for 1.5 hrs of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and/or LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.
CEUs are free for RECAMFT members, or members of other CAMFT Chapters. Non-members who desire CEUs pay $15.
Grievances: direct grievances to therapy@recamft.org, and/or the chapter president at recamftpresident@gmail.com.
