Adverse Childhood Experiences

Kathleen Brewer-Smyth, PhD, RN, MSN, CRRN, FAAN is an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA. She completed a master's degree, PhD, and postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA, where she studied primarily neuroscience nursing, victimology, and forensic neuroscience. Dr. Brewer-Smyth is a neuroscience nurse specialist and board certified rehabilitation registered nurse (CRRN). She teaches advanced neuroscience and conducts neuroscience research on the life-long bio-behavioral health outcomes of the cycle of trauma, abuse and violence that often begin in childhood. She has published and presented extensively on these topics. She was awarded the Association of Rehabilitation Nurses Doctorate-Prepared Researcher Award for her work that has been referenced by scholars and policy-makers worldwide. She was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN) because of the global impact of her work.

Part I. Overview of Adverse Childhood Experiences.- 1. Introduction, Epidemiology, Measurement and the Cycle of Trauma.- Part II. The Potential Serious Nature of Adverse Childhood Experiences.- 2. Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Neurodevelopment.- 3. Potential Life-long Neurobiological, Bio-Behavioral and other Outcomes of Trauma.- Part III. The Potential Impact of Trauma on the Brain, Body, Behavior and Society.- 4. Childhood Physical Abuse (CPA), Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA), Abusive Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Childhood Emotional Abuse (CEA), Neglect and Other Trauma.- 5. Absence of a Healthy Parent: Mental and Physical Illness, Substance Misuse and Trauma in the life of Parents, Caregivers, and Significant Others.- 6. Racial, Ethnic, Gender and Economic Disparities and Trauma.- 7. COVID-19 Trauma: The New Complex Adverse Childhood Experience.- Part IV. Physiological and Psychological Healing, Trauma-Informed Rehabilitation, Breaking the Cycle of Trauma, and Resilience throughout the Life Course.- 8. Protective, Compensatory and Benevolent Experiences for Building Resilience.- 9. Understanding and Responding to Survivors of Trauma: Emotional Intelligence to Build Healthy Relationships.- 10. Trauma Informed Self-Care: Emotional & Spiritual Resilience and Healing.- 11. Overview of Psychological and Psychiatric Interventions after Trauma: Counseling, Psychotherapy and Medications.- 12. Brain Food: The Impact of Diet, Nutrition and Nutraceuticals on the Brain and the Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis.- 13. Physical Exercise, Sleep and the Brain.- 14. Self-Help for Life-Long Resilience: Cognitive Engagement, Education, Creativity, Sense of Purpose in Life and Humor.- 15. The Healing Power of Nature on the Brain: Healing in Green Spaces and Blue Spaces.- 16. Primary and Secondary Prevention, Health Equity and Trauma-Informed Institutional and Public Policies to Promote Healing and Resilience.