Ñý¼§Ö±²¥

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)
Traumatic life experiences such as abuse or neglect, witnessing or experiencing violence, or losing a parent due to incarceration or death occur before 18 years old. These events have been found to have a lasting life-long negative impact on these individuals' health and well-being. (Source: )

Burnout
The physical, emotional, or mental exhaustion is accompanied by decreased motivation, lowered performance, and negative attitudes toward oneself and others. Burnout is often created by performing duties at an elevated level until stress and tension, especially from extreme and prolonged physical or mental exertion or an overburdening workload that leads to debilitating exhaustion. (Source: ) 

Compassion fatigue
Symptoms of burnout (such as physical exhaustion, negative thinking, decreased motivation, and satisfaction) due to exposure to continuous experience to people experienced trauma, often experienced by family members, caregivers, first responders, and helping professions. (Source: )

Compassion satisfaction
The pleasure and satisfying feeling that is often associated with helping others or doing your work well. People in these roles often leave the workplace feeling good about the work completed by providing healing, encouragement, positivity, and support. (Source: )

Historical trauma
Historical trauma is the cumulative emotional and psychological wounding across generations, including the lifespan, emanating from massive group trauma. Historical trauma is inherently linked to ethnocide and genocide directed at people of color, including black and indigenous individuals and communities.

Historical trauma may cause alterations to an individual's biology and makeup, leading to genetic risk and behavioral adaptations in future generations.

The effects of historical trauma may include involuntary recollections, nightmares, psychological distress, anger, low self-esteem, suicidal ideation, and numbing. Even individuals who do not present with obvious signs of historical trauma may be triggered under present-day circumstances. (Source:  with support from the  and the work of Dr. Maria Yellow Horse Braveheart.)

Intergenerational trauma 
Trauma impacts experienced by the descendants of an individual who has experienced a traumatic event, such as the genocide of Native American and Jewish peoples or concentration camps of Asian Americans. Descendants often show symptoms of trauma such as "… shame, increased anxiety and guilt, a heightened sense of vulnerability and helplessness, low self-esteem, depression, suicidality, substance abuse, dissociation, hypervigilance, intrusive thoughts, difficulty with relationships and attachment to others, difficulty in regulating aggression, and extreme reactivity to stress." (Source: )

Resilience - also known as psychological resilience, coping behaviors/skills
The process of adapting well in the face of trauma, adversity, or significant stress. This is done by utilizing an optimistic worldview and coping skills and the quality and quantity of social resources. (Source: )

Toxic stress
Intense, frequent, and/or prolonged adversity — such as physical or emotional abuse, chronic neglect, caregiver substance abuse or mental illness, exposure to violence, and/or the accumulated burdens of family economic hardship—without adequate adult support. This kind of prolonged activation of the stress response systems can disrupt the development of brain architecture and other organ systems and increase the risk for stress-related disease and cognitive impairment well into the adult years. (Source: )

Trauma 
Any disturbing experience that results in significant fear, helplessness, dissociation, confusion, or other disruptive feelings is intense enough to have a long-lasting negative effect on a person's attitudes, behavior, and other aspects of functioning. (Source: )

Trauma-informed
An organizational framework that recognizes and responds to the impacts of trauma. The framework is built on the principles of creating a safe environment that has trust and transparency, support, collaboration, and empowerment of those most impacted. These cannot occur without a commitment to a deeper understanding of historical and systemic mistreatment and oppression. (Source: )

Vicarious resilience
A restorative process that family members, caregivers, first responders, and helping professionals undergo when they can witness trauma survivors heal, recover, and reconcile with their trauma. (Source: )

Vicarious trauma(tization) - also known as secondary trauma(tization)
Occupational impact of continuous contact with trauma survivors. The impact on the service provider is a change in their worldview, feelings of safety, and a decrease in hope. (Source: )

Find your ACE Score on the .

Adverse childhood experiences or adversity in adulthood are only one part of the equation for overall well-being. ACEs can have lasting impacts on brain development and function. However, brains can develop new pathways, and some effects can be reversed. One way to prevent the ongoing implications of ACEs is to build resilience, or an ability to respond to adversity. Increasing resilience is often low-cost and has a lasting impact.

While the resilience research is still new, also consider reflecting on your positive childhood experiences and the resiliency factors you developed as a result.

During your childhood, did you feel...?

1. Able to talk to your family about feelings

2. Your family stood by you during difficult times

3. Enjoyment participating in community traditions

4. A sense of belonging in high school

5. Supported by friends

6. At least two non-parent adults who took a genuine interest in you

7. Safe and protected by an adult in your home

• “The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity." Dr. Nadine Burke Harris 

• “I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t).” Dr. Brené Brown

• “The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma.” Dr. Bessel van der Kolk

• "Be Child Wise Workbook." ChildWise Institute 

All about ACEs Fact Sheet - This fact sheet defines Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and answers questions such as: What are ACEs?, Who is affected?, and How do ACEs impacts health outcomes? It includes Montana data on key child and adult outcomes for those affected by ACEs and offers strategies to help prevent ACEs or respond to those affected.

Montana State University (MSU) Extension has created a wealth of Montana-based resources on a variety of topics. Check out some ACEs-related below:

Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., Koss, M. P., & Marks, J. S. (1998). American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245–258.

Montana Health Care Foundation: Loveland Consulting. (2018).

Sege, R., Bethell, C., Linkenbach, J., Jones, J.A., Klika, B., and Pecora, P.J. (2017).

. A movement developed to give voice to the stories and experiences of mothers. Whether listening to an episode of the podcast, attending a live (or virtual) event, or simply being with a mama friend on a tough day, Mother Love hopes to connect mothers in as many meaningful ways as possible. 

. Conversations about the challenges and the joys of being in a parenting role in Montana and ways to raise kids to be confident, respectful, and make healthy choices.

. Podcasts on issues affecting Montana’s children and families.

. This fun and empowering series educates children about the human body, common health issues, and simple ways to stay healthy.

 A podcast designed to help people learn more about the fight against mental illness in Montana and beyond.

 Harvard University: Center on the Developing Child 

 Dr. Allison Sampson Jackson

 PBS series

 Alberta Family Wellness

- Request an in-person training. 

 - Free online courses on how to create a trauma-informed system of care for children. 

• - free online courses entitled "Trauma-Informed Practices," "Overcoming ACEs in MT Schools: Childhood Trauma and Its Impact on Learning," and "Resilience: Strategies to Increase Optimism". To access courses, you must register for a free account.

• - free online calendar and portal for ongoing professional development.

• - Resources for and by local schools, families, and service agencies for school wellness.

UM's Center for Children, Families and Workforce Development

• - a free eLearning course that overviews trauma, the ACEs study, tips for supporting children, treatment options, and steps for moving towards becoming a trauma-informed agency.

• Let's Grow Montana - in partnership with  the Center created an eLearning portal with skills for parents and providers working with children. To access courses, you must register for a free account.

MSU's Center for Health & Safety Culture -   video training.

•  - Seminar presentation on health outcomes for American Indian populations due to trauma by  Donald Warne, MD, MPH, a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe from Pine Ridge, South Dakota. 
• - Seminar presentation on protective factors, resilience, and risks influencing mental well-being of Indigenous communities by Melissa Walls, Ph.D., an Anishinaabe social scientist.

is a tabletop game experience that builds an understanding of the powerful role of experiences on early brain development– what promotes it, what derails it, with what consequences for society.

- Resources on positive and adverse childhood experiences. Create a free log-in to access resources.

 – Mayo Clinic Health System.

• - A project of Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies to link families to events, resources, and support across Montana.
• - Montana organization offering training, resources, and advocacy to improve outcomes for mothers and infants (ages 0-3).
• – An easy-to-use tool that supports a child’s success from birth through adolescence. The site provides age-specific tools for anyone parenting a child, including actions and sample phrases to support children experiencing tantrums, routine challenges, and stress.  In addition to age-specific tools, the website features a helpful podcast and how-to videos.
•  - A free local magazine that highlights activities, summer camps, family-friendly events, and parenting content from babies to college-age youth. 

• – Montana-based organization that offers technical assistance to implement culturally appropriate trauma-informed services when working with American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) children.
• - Call line (dial 211) for where a trained specialist will help you find resources in your area or visit the mobile-friendly website to search a city's non-profit and government services. 
•  - Web-based system for sending and receiving referrals.
• – Providing training and support to improve the well-being of children across Montana counties.

•  - A free confidential online cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) program for Montanans. The program helps people who want to take charge of their emotional well-being to lead happier, more satisfying lives by teaching them to deal with stress, depression, and anxiety. 
• Experiences and Expressions Screener - A screening tool created by Linking Systems of Care in Montana to detect trauma and victimization in young people for youth-serving organizations. Two versions exist, one for children up to 8 and the other for youth ages 9-17.