If you’re reading this then you’ve probably taken the ACE Survey but if you haven’t then you can download it here. If you even just scored a 1 on the ACE Survey then this article is definitely for you. The higher your ACE score the more likely you are to have health problems as an adult due to what you went through as a child. Additionally, if you feel like you’ve been doing everything right with your diet, exercise, sleep, managing stress levels etc. but you just can’t get well, then you probably haven’t addressed your ACE’s.  This article will give you the tools you need and cover how to heal adverse childhood experiences.

In a previous article I discussed the connection between ACE’s and autoimmune disease, more specifically Hashimoto’s disease where I cover some of the best research on ACE’s. This article will focus on all the things you can do to overcome your ACE’s and start feeling the best you’ve ever felt. Let’s jump right in and cover all the different therapies you can do.

A large portion of the recommendations and quotes below come from the book, “Childhood Disrupted: How Your Biography Becomes Your Biology, and How You Can Heal” by Donna Jackson Nakazawa. I highly recommend you read this book if you have an ACE score of 1 or more.
Somatic Experiencing
Somatic Experiencing was started by Dr. Peter Levine to help people overcome trauma. According to Dr. Levine, humans have difficulty recovering from trauma compared to animals because our traumas are stored in the brain and nervous system. Animals can easily shake off their trauma but humans get stuck in a trauma loop and dissociated for their bodies.

Somatic Experiencing helps you slowly reintegrate with your body without having to relive your trauma. Specific exercises are recommended by skilled therapists to get in touch with your body again which eventually lets the trauma go.

I have personally done Somatic Experiencing for my own trauma and it has been extremely useful in my healing journey. I’m more in touch now with my feelings and my body and things that used to bother me don’t get to me anymore. Somatic Experiencing is one of the most common therapies I recommend to my patients who are trying to get well.

You can find a practitioner on Dr. Levine’s website the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute at https://traumahealing.org/.
EMDR
EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing helps you overcome trauma by thinking about negative memories while rapidly moving your eyes back and forth similar to REM sleep. This is done staring at a device with lights that rapidly move back and forth while holding a device in each hand that vibrates.

Research has found that doing this will result in the dissipation of emotions and stress reactions that are associated with these memories. I have done EMDR before and I found it very useful and helpful for overcoming trauma. As with any therapy, the key is finding a skilled therapist in EMDR.

Just like meditation, EMDR has been shown to decrease the firing of the amygdala and increase the size of the hippocampus. EMDR is one of my top choices for healing childhood trauma.
Psychotherapy
Traditional psychotherapy is always a great place to start when you’re trying to heal. There is nothing better than a third-party objective view of your life and your feelings. Many people make the mistake of using a priest, friend or family member as the person they talk to. There is no substitute for a mental health professional trained in psychotherapy who can give you the best treatment.

Unfortunately, our society still views seeing a therapist as a weakness and it certainly isn’t given the funding or attention it deserves. I hope that in the future, everyone works with a mental health professional even when they are feeling well.