Recordings and slides are for delegates only
Lene Lauge Berring
Joanne Hopkins
Helen Minnis
Sophie Bennett
Christopher M. Layne
Marleen Wong
David Trickey
About the conference
Reviews of Twenty-Five Years of ACEs Research and Development – Racine, Bellis an… Child Abuse and Neglect 2025
Over 25 years ago, the landmark study by Felitti and colleagues coined the term ACEs by examining how exposure to abuse and household challenges were associated with increased health and mental health risks among nearly 10,000 adults. It also laid the foundation for exploring the mechanisms through which ACEs exert their influence on individual health, functioning, and wellbeing. At the same time, a growing body of research also highlights the role of protective factors in mitigating the risks posed by ACEs. However, they state despite the exponential ACEs research, progress in developing effective prevention and intervention strategies has been disappointingly limited. For example, in the United States, the prevalence of ACEs over a 14-year period from 2009 to 2022 has increased slightly and evidence-based interventions for preventing exposure to ACEs remain scarce.
The authors state this stagnation serves as a clarion call for action, demanding heightened attention to policy reforms and strategic funding mechanisms designed to systematically reduce ACEs exposure. Without significant investments in prevention at a systems level, the burden of ACEs will continue unabated, and the risk of perpetuating cycles of adversity across generations will sadly persist.
The most relevant development of intervention, and prevention is the introduction of Trauma Informed Care in 2001 which focuses on interventions to target ‘Toxic Stress’ associated with the impact of exposure to adversity. Trauma Informed Care approaches have developed in parallel with the developments of knowledge on the impact of ACEs in the lives of children and young people, and across the life course.
A recent scoping review by Berring and Colleagues (2024) from Denmark on the theme Implementing Trauma-Informed Care-Settings, Definitions, Interventions, Measures, and Implementation across Settings reviewed over 3000 papers published from 2000 to 2020 mainly from the USA, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, focusing on study settings, methodologies, and definitions of TIC, as well as the types of interventions and measures used.
Trauma-informed care (TIC) is defined as a strength- based framework for human services that assumes that individuals are more likely than not to have a history of trauma and acknowledges the role that trauma may play in the lives of service users, care providers, and the public. TIC was first described by Harris and Fallot in 2001. They envisioned how human services, such as hospital settings or schools, should commit themselves to providing services in a manner that welcomes and is appropriate for the needs of trauma survivors. TIC is holistic and integrates six guiding principles: safety; trustworthiness and transparency; peer support; collaboration and mutuality; empowerment, voice, and choice; and cultural, historical, and gender issues. These principles ensure that the human services are trustworthy and person-centred, targeting trauma survivors’ needs.
TIC is described as distinct from trauma-specific treatment (TST) and is an organizational framework that addresses human service organizations’ cultures and practices in the entire organization and across management levels, where the different levels influence one another and vice versa. As such, TIC implies vigilance in preventing and avoiding institutional processes and individual practices that risk re-traumatizing individuals who have previously experienced trauma.
The proposal is that the conference will review the pragmatic steps taken to implement Trauma Informed Care to meet the complex needs of Children and Families across services, and the outcome of that implementation, and the role of Trauma Informed care in prevention. Principles which have emerged will be reviewed, which can help to grow the knowledge base about how best to implement Trauma Informed Care.
The Conference will be delivered online, and has been organised by Arnon Bentovim Chair of the ACEs Special Interest Group of the Association of Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
Speakers will give a 30-45 minute presentation and 15 minutes for discussion with Q&A’s, and there will be opportunities for discussion between speakers.
About the talks
Sophie Bennett – Integrated mental health treatment in children with chronic physical illness: The Mental Health Intervention for Children with Epilepsy (MICE)
Children and young people with chronic physical illnesses, such as epilepsy, often experience mental health difficulties, yet accessing appropriate care for these mental health difficulties remains a challenge. The Mental Health Intervention for Children with Epilepsy (MICE) Programme was developed to address this gap by providing a tailored modular psychological intervention. The results of the trial (n=334) demonstrated that MICE was effective in reducing emotional and behavioural difficulties. As a result of these positive findings, MICE is now part of a funded pilot programme of implementation within the NHS England Children and Young People (CYP) Transformation Programme. A key advantage of MICE was the inclusion of neurodivergent children and young people, in line with the NHSE national CYP Core20Plus5 agenda.
Learning outcomes
1. To describe the prevalence and impact of emotional and behavioural difficulties in children with epilepsy and the need for targeted interventions
2. To understand how evidence-based interventions can be modified for flexible delivery within a chronic illness population
3. To explain the modular structure, delivery, and key components of the MICE intervention
4. To evaluate the evidence supporting the effectiveness of MICE
Lene Lauge Berring – Implementing Trauma-Informed Care-Settings, Definitions, Interventions, Measures, and Implementation across Settings
Their recent review concluded that although Trauma Informed Care is still in its early stages, their review identified 23 previous systematic reviews exploring its usefulness in various contexts, including programs for children and youth in schools and juvenile justice systems mental healthcare settings, and somatic healthcare settings. The review states that TIC is gaining momentum. This is because it resonates with human beings’ expectations of what service systems should be like and because it resonates with a human rights-based approach. The authors advocate for a trauma-informed approach to healthcare as a standard of care due to the sensitive nature of mental health issues, as well as the likelihood that many patients may not disclose their trauma history. However, Berring and colleagues described TIC as a ‘complex and multifaceted framework, with no overarching structure or clear theoretical underpinnings that can guide practical implementations. TIC has been defined and adapted in varied ways across different settings and populations, making it difficult to synthesize knowledge’.
Learning outcomes
1. The Growing Impact of Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) in Mental Health
2. The Challenges of Implementing Trauma-Informed Care
3. How to Empower Mental Health Professionals to Drive Change through TIC
Joanne Hopkins – ‘Passion Led Us Here’ – The story of a trauma-informed Nation in Wales
In 2022, the Trauma-informed Wales Framework was published, setting out for the first time an all age, all of society Framework to support a coherent, consistent approach to developing and implementing trauma-informed practice across Wales, providing the best possible support to those who need it most. Since publication, and under the leadership of ACE Hub Wales and Traumatic Stress Wales, people and organisations have come together to take this work forward, supported by the Welsh government . This talk will highlight some of the incredible projects and programmes going on across Wales, including resources and toolkits supporting organisations and sectors to become Trauma and ACE- informed, (TrACE) including some early examples of evidence into practice. I will highlight how this is creating a real cultural shift in Wales at policy level, and drawing on from the recent independent evaluation of the organisational approach, provide case studies that tell the story of how coproduction and co-delivery in Wales is making a difference to people’s lives. The talk will also discuss the learning (and challenges!) of this approach – the ambition for a social movement, and the plan to ensure that we are true to the principles of our framework and commitment to amplifying the voices of those who continue to be marginalised. Be prepared to hear about some innovative practice which involves a dome, a treasure map, crochet, strawberry plants and lots more!
Learning outcomes
1. To understand the societal approach to trauma-informed practice in Wales
2. To recognise the impact of this work and potential to support organisations and sectors across the UK
3. To gain an insight into the practical challenges of mobilising a social movement
4. To develop knowledge of ‘what works’ to support culture change
Prof. Helen Minnis and Ruchika Gajwani – Developments of Trauma Informed Care in Scotland, research on outcomes now emerging, and lessons learned.
The Scottish ACEs Hub was established by NHS Health Scotland in 2016 as a multidisciplinary initiative to address Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). It emerged as an action point from the report Polishing the Diamonds and aimed to raise awareness, build evidence, and develop policy and practice to prevent and mitigate the impacts of ACEs. The Hub includes members from health, police, social work, academia, and government sectors, fostering collaboration across discipline. The Hub continues to play a central role in integrating ACE awareness into public services and policies across Scotland
Scottish Trauma-Informed Care was formally established with the launch of the National Trauma Training Programme (NTTP) in 2018. This initiative, later rebranded as the National Trauma Transformation Programme, aimed to embed trauma-informed and responsive practices across public services in Scotland
Chris Layne – Using the Core Curriculum on Childhood Trauma to Strengthen Professional Competencies (with examples from Clinical Psychology)
Creating a national mental health workforce involves not only equipping practitioners with manualized interventions and properly-designed and validated assessment tools. It also requires equipping practitioners with key factual knowledge, conceptual reasoning, and critical reasoning and decision-making skills. Procedural autopsies in Medicine reveal that many professional errors resulting in patient deaths arise not from deficiencies in content knowledge, but instead from deficiencies in clinical reasoning. Reflecting these insights, the Core Curriculum on Childhood Trauma uses cutting-edge instructional design methods to strengthen a broad range of professional competencies in learners. These include the ability to gather, integrate, and use both case facts and the empirical evidence base to guide clinical judgment and decision-making. The Core Curriculum is being used widely across the US in many different instructional settings, including as a foundational prerequisite to clinical training in manualized interventions, classroom-based university instruction, and in-service training of practicing professionals. This presentation will describe the primary components of the Core Curriculum on Childhood Trauma, describe how it is being used in a training clinic (specializing in childhood traumatic stress and bereavement), and share work samples completed by graduate student trainees in clinical psychology. It will conclude by discussing the promise of the Core Curriculum for competency-based instruction across the professional lifespan, with the ultimate aim of building a trauma-informed national mental health workforce.
Learning outcomes
1. Describe the pressing need across health disciplines to ensure that clinical training encompasses not only content knowledge, but also clinical reasoning skills and professional judgment.
2. Describe the constituent elements that make up the Core Curriculum on Childhood Trauma.
3. Explain the role that each element plays in strengthening clinical reasoning skills and professional judgment.
4. Demonstrate examples of Core Curriculum instructional tools as completed by doctoral students in Clinical Psychology.
5. Briefly review evidence regarding the effectiveness of the Core Curriculum in strengthening trauma-related competencies in mental health students and practitioners.
Marleen Wong – The Importance of Trauma Informed Skills for Educators in Response to Crises and Disasters
This presentation emphasizes a multi-tiered system of student support in the aftermath of disasters and crises including Psychological First Aid/TEACH. Schools have been shown to provide the most effective access to mental health services after large scale disasters and crises. Assessment of pre-existing/knowledge and skills is a vital step to determine the needs of faculty, staff, parents and students. Selected studies will be reviewed to inform the issues of the disaster/crisis preparation stage as well as access vs. effectiveness to treatment in schools vs. community clinic.
Learning outcomes
1. Participants will be able to identify at least 2 components of a Multi-tiered System of Support in Schools
2. Participants will be able to name 2 Steps in Psychological First Aid for Students/TEACH
3. Participants will be able to describe 2 negative factors preventing access to child mental health services after a disaster
Professor Dr. Shanta R. Dube – Integrating ACEs Science and Trauma-Informed Care in Health Professions Curriculum
The Diffusion of Innovation Theory suggests that diffusion is a process that is socially constructed and occurs among people in response to learning about an innovation, such as a new evidence-based approach for extending or improving health care. Yet, surprisingly, the ACEs science and trauma-informed care (TIC) practices have experienced rapid adoption by U.S. sectors such as education, child welfare, and justice systems. In comparison, the U.S. healthcare sector has experienced slower adoption in part due to a curriculum that is heavily focused on disease progression from a pathophysiological paradigm, often leaving little room for the Biopsychosocial approach to healthcare. This perpetuates a lack of knowledge about ACEs science among future health professionals, thereby reducing the ability to apply trauma-informed practices. This presentation will provide summary findings on pre- and post-evaluations of ACEs and TIC training among health science students, including self-reflections that will help the audience to understand lessons learned, challenges, and motivations on integrating ACEs and TIC in healthcare. Discussions about approaches to integrating ACEs science into health professions programs will be included.
Learning outcomes
1. Explain core concepts of how ACEs and TIC inform healthcare practice.
2. Describe a curriculum geared toward increasing explicit and implicit knowledge about ACEs and TIC.
3. Discuss how training programs can be enhanced for better acceptance and adoption of ACEs and TIC in healthcare.
David Trickey – Future developments of Trauma Informed Care – Where Next
Despite growing interest in Trauma-Informed Care, significant barriers remain to its effective implementation. The previous speakers have shared inspiring examples of overcoming these challenges, but critical questions still need addressing. A fundamental issue is the lack of a universally agreed definition—how can we move forward if we are unclear on the destination? Similarly, measuring progress remains a challenge—without robust ways to assess impact, how do we know if we are truly making a difference? This talk will explore these and other key challenges, considering practical ways forward to strengthen and advance Trauma-Informed Care.
Learning outcomes
1. To understand the challenges of progressing Trauma-Informed Care
2. To be aware of future developments
3. To consider some possible ways forward
About the speakers
Arnon Bentovim is a Child and Family Psychiatrist, and Director of Child and Family Training. He trained as a Psychoanalyst and Family Therapist and worked at the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital and the Tavistock Clinic. He is a Visiting Professor at the Royal Holloway University of London. At Great Ormond Street he shared responsibility for Child Protection at the Hospital and helped to initiate a number of services including the first Sexual Abuse Assessment and Treatment Service in the UK, and a Child Care Consultation Service. Research on Family Assessment formed the basis of the tools commissioned by the Department of Health to support the Assessment Framework. Child and Family Training was established to provide training and further developments.
Associate Professor Lene Lauge Berring is Head of the Psychiatric Research Unit at Region Zealand in Denmark, docent at the University College Absalon and professor at the University of Southern Denmark. Her work focuses on complex interventions in health, such as reducing coercion and violence in mental health care through de-escalation practices, trauma-informed care (TIC), and organizational change. She emphasizes creating supportive environments for patients and staff, integrating public health perspectives, and promoting patient recovery. She is an expert in qualitative research methods, including participatory research. Her projects include developing TIC models and implementing strategies to improve mental health care environments across Europe.
Dr. Joanne Hopkins is the Programme Director for Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), Criminal Justice and Violence Prevention at Public Health Wales (PHW). A former UK government Senior Civil Servant, Jo worked for the Home Office for twenty years with responsibilities in Violent Crime, Violence Against Women, Immigration and seven years as head of Wales and Devolution, before joining Public Health Wales. Her current role brings all these responsibilities together to develop an ACE aware, trauma-informed approach across public services, communities and society through the implementation of the Wales Trauma-informed Practice Framework. She also has responsibility for the implementation of the Wales Without Violence Framework, a primary prevention model for violence amongst young people in Wales through her team in the Wales Violence Prevention Unit. Jo is also the co-lead for the Early Intervention and Prevention Priority for the Criminal Justice in Wales Board, and co-chair of the gender-based harassment in public spaces priority workstream in the Wales Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Blueprint. Jo completed a PhD at Aberystwyth University in 2023 on coercive control in conflict and the experience of displaced Syrians. Jo is a Visiting Professor at Wrexham University, single mother to a 13 year old son, two grown up stepdaughters and a French Bulldog.
Prof. Helen Minnis is Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Glasgow, and the Institute of Wellbeing. Her research focuses on the mental health impacts of child maltreatment, neurodevelopmental disorders, and attachment issues, including reactive attachment disorder. She has conducted significant studies on foster care interventions, childhood trauma, and systemic improvements in child welfare, research in Guatemala and Bucharest, and she has pioneered innovative approaches to mental health care for vulnerable children.
Dr. Ruchika Gajwani is a Senior Research Fellow in Clinical Psychology at the Centre of Developmental Adversity and Resilience (CeDAR) at the University of Glasgow. She is an honorary Clinical Psychologist within Specialist Children’s services, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, with a special interest in Cognitive Analytic Therapy. Engaging substantially in the model of early intervention and prevention, she is leading complex clinical trials in adolescent mental health for some of the most vulnerable and excluded children and young people. With the prestigious MQ fellowship, her current work is focussing on testing community trials for young people with Borderline Personality Disorder features (BRIDGE project). Through partnership working and collaborations, the team is building a research portfolio on innovative solutions, scaling up proven treatments, and ensuring they reach those who need them most. Her research focus for the last twenty years has been on developing pathways for understanding risk and resilience within marginalised, clinical high-risk children and young people. She has conducted genetic, longitudinal and qualitative research on the role of developmental adversities and neurodevelopmental conditions on health outcomes. Recent and current projects have been funded by the Medical Research Council, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Ayrshire & Arran, CSO – Scotland, UNHCR, MQ, Rosetrees Trust and Why Not Trust.
Associate Professor Christopher M. Layne is based at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) and is Director of the Child and Adolescent Traumatic Stress Program (CATSP). He specialises in the assessment and treatment of trauma, PTSD, grief, and bereavement in youth. Dr. Layne has led major initiatives such as the National Child Traumatic Stress Network’s (NCTSN) Core Curriculum on Childhood Trauma and contributed to the DSM-5-TR criteria for Prolonged Grief Disorder. His research focuses on developmental psychopathology, resilience, evidence-based practices, and grief theory.
Marleen Wong Ph.D. is CEO and Co-Founder of the National Center for Safe and Resilient Schools and Workplaces. Formerly the Director of Mental Health, Crisis Intervention, Threat Assessment Teams and Suicide Prevention Programs in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), she and her staff conducted thousands of crisis and behavioral threat assessments over a 30 year period. She is the Goldberg Sachs Professor of Mental Health and Senior Vice Dean Emerita at the USC Suzanne Dworak Peck School of Social Work. Dr. Wong has been honored as a NASW Social Work Pioneer® in the United States based on her contributions to research, trauma treatment interventions and mental health issues in school safety. She was elected a Fellow, American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare and inductee in the Hall of Distinction, California Social Welfare Archives. She serves as Senior Advisor for the North American Centre for Threat Assessment and an Advisory Board Member of the National Center for School Mental Health at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine. Identified as one of the “pre-eminent experts in school crisis and disaster recovery “by the White House and the “architect of school-safety programs” by the Wall Street Journal”, Dr. Wong is one of the developers of Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS) and Psychological First Aid for Schools: Listen Protect Connect Model and TEACH. Dr. Wong is a subject matter expert and K-12 program developer for school violence prevention and disaster recovery for private foundations, FEMA, UNICEF, international teachers’ unions and education ministries, the US Department of Education and the World Health Organization after hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Iniki, after wildfires in Oregon, Maui, Pasadena and Altadena; typhoons in the Republic of the Philippines and earthquakes in the US, Kobe Japan, Peoples Republic of China, and Taiwan
Dr Sophie Bennett is a clinical academic psychologist specialising in child and adolescent mental health. Her work focuses on developing and evaluating methods to ensure that children and young people who have emotional or behavioural difficulties in the context of a chronic physical illness are able to have both their mental and physical healthcare needs met in an integrated way. She has a particular interest in increasing access to psychological treatments through ‘low intensity’ interventions, including peer support.
Christopher Layne, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist and Associate Professor of Psychology at Nova Southeastern University where he directs a training clinic specializing in childhood traumatic stress and grief. He has co-authored over 110 articles and chapters and five manualized interventions including the modularized, assessment-driven Trauma and Grief Component Therapy for Adolescents and Multidimensional Grief Therapy. Dr. Layne is a primary developer of the Core Curriculum on Childhood Trauma and is Principal Investigator of the National Child Trauma Workforce Institute, which adapts and disseminates the Core Curriculum to promote competency-based education in Psychology and Child Psychiatry. His professional interests include intervention, evidence-based practice, evidence-based assessment, professional education, research methods, theory-building, and developmental psychopathology, and applying these general approaches to traumatic stress, bereavement, traumatic bereavement, and resilience.
Dr. Shanta R. Dube is a Professor and Interim Director of the Department of Public Health at Wingate University in North Carolina, U.S.A. Shanta received an MPH in epidemiology from The George Washington University in Washington, DC, and PhD in Behavioral Health from the University of Georgia’s College of Public Health. In 1999, she was awarded the Preventive Medicine Fellowship and served as one of the early investigators on the landmark CDC-Kaiser ACE Study. Her research from the ACE Study led to CDC awards for scientific excellence and international recognition. Since 2011, she has engaged in various global initiatives related to increasing awareness, acceptance, and adoption of ACEs science and trauma-informed care utilizing a 2-generational, 3-level prevention model. The model is currently being utilized with her work in Union County, North Carolina, where she is the lead evaluator for the opioid settlement project. She has over 130 publications. She serves as an advisory board member with Child Advocacy Centers of North Carolina and is an associate editor for Child Abuse & Neglect, The International Journal. Shanta enjoys cooking and traveling with her husband and daughter.
David Trickey is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Co-Director of the UK Trauma Council. He has specialized in working with traumatized children, young people, and their families since 2000. Trickey is affiliated with the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families in London and serves as an Honorary Lecturer at University College London. His work focuses on clinical practice, training, and supervision of professionals addressing trauma in children. He has contributed research on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bereavement, and trauma-informed care.
The UK Trauma Council (UKTC) is a UK-wide expert body dedicated to addressing childhood trauma. Hosted by the Anna Freud Centre, it brings together specialists in research, practice, policy, and lived experience from across the UK. The UKTC creates free, evidence-based resources to help professionals and carers understand and respond to trauma, such as guidance on traumatic bereavement, PTSD, and the effects of abuse on brain development. It offers training courses on trauma-informed practices and interventions like trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for PTSD. The council influences public policy to improve support for children and young people affected by trauma, and shares insights from neuroscience and psychology to inform best practices in supporting children exposed to traumatic events. The UKTC aims to reduce the negative impact of trauma through timely interventions, improved understanding, and community capacity-building.