Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
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Compliance as a trauma response in children
A child who smiles and causes no trouble at school is easy to overlook. In the session on mentalising with complex trauma in children and families, Dr Emma Morris described how, in some children who have experienced early relational trauma, compliance may be mistaken for a sign that all is well. A mentalising lens offers another reading, in which compliance may be a way of staying safe, and that reading can shape what support comes first.
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Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Latest Research, Child Mental Health Insights & Trauma-Informed Interventions
This issue of the ACAMH ACEs SIG Newsletter highlights the latest research on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), exploring their impact on mental and physical health across the lifespan. It also showcases emerging evidence on resilience, attachment, trauma-informed care, and interventions that can help prevent and mitigate the effects of childhood adversity.
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How Neurobiology Can Inform Our Understanding of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury
Why does non-suicidal self-injury develop and what sustains it? Explore Kaess et al. (2021) on biological, psychological, and social factors, including stress, pain, emotion regulation, and vulnerabilities linked to ongoing self-injury.
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From Evidence to Practice: EMDR for Children and Adolescents with PTSD
How effectively does the research evidence support EMDR for children and adolescents with post-traumatic stress disorder, and how does that evidence translate to everyday therapeutic practice? This presentation will explore the bridge between rigorous research synthesis and front-line clinical expertise. Anthea Sutton (pic) and Dr. Russell Hurn present this session which is JUST £5 for non-paying members and FREE to paying members.
- Event type
- ACEs SIG Monthly seminars
- Location
- Online
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Trauma, Risk and Clinical Complexity in Young People: Using Formulation to Guide Intervention
Dr. Kate Ward practical workshop exploring how formulation can support work with young people who have experienced trauma and adversity and who also present with significant risk and complexity. The workshop will consider how clinicians can make sense of complex presentations, sequence interventions, and identify what may need to happen before or alongside trauma-focused therapy.
- Event type
- Workshop
- Location
- Online
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Self-Harm in Young People: Turning Contact with Services into Opportunities for Care
New research explores self-harm, service contact, and suicide among young people, highlighting the need for comprehensive assessment and coordinated support.
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Mentalising and Emotion Regulation in Children and Families
Midgley et al. (2023) describe the Emotion Regulation in Children (ERiC trial), the first large randomised clinical trial designed to evaluate a brief form of Mentalization-Based Treatment for children aged 6–12 with co-occurring internalising and externalising difficulties. The intervention aims to strengthen children’s and parents’ ability to understand behaviour in relation to thoughts, feelings and intentions, seeking to improve emotion regulation within the child and across the parent–child relationship.
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Annual Review of ACEs research
It is now over 20 years since the publication of the seminal research by Fellitti and colleagues (Fellitti et al 1998) ‘The Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study.’
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Keeping Families in the Room during a Crisis
In crisis care for a young person, the parent or carer might be hard to place. The carer carries the risk around the clock, yet often stands outside the formal care the young person receives, and is sometimes treated as part of the problem. Professor Pooja Saini, speaking at a conference on brief interventions for young people and families, described crisis care from two sides at once: families on the edge, and the staff meeting them while close to breaking point. One question stayed afterward: what it would take to keep the carer inside the room instead of at its edge.
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Meet the expert on mentalising – Dr. Emma Morris
Discover how mentalising therapy supports children and families facing complex trauma. Join Emma Morris at the ACAMH workshop on 14 October 2026.
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