Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES): "That dysfunction can give us the message that I am not okay."
Donna Jackson Nakazawa is an award-winning science journalist and speaker. This audio and video are from her interview for the 2024 Anxiety Super Conference, titled: "Overcoming Adverse Childhood Experiences."
She comments about some early experiences so many of us have:
"Because of that household dysfunction, our brains do a couple of really significant things: they begin to give us the message that we're not okay.
"Our little brains are so active and so busy trying to help us, but instead of saying 'My situation is not okay' - our developing brain doesn't have the wherewithal to do that - instead we go, 'I am not okay in who I am, in my body, in my being - I'm wrong, I'm terribly terribly wrong.'
"And that begins to shift the action of our nervous system, and our self-beliefs and how we see ourselves, and how we respond to ourselves in adversity for the rest of our lives."
Here is a video excerpt from her presentation at the Conference:
⏩ Learn about multiple programs by Donna Jackson Nakazawa on her site, including "Your Healing Narrative: Write-to-Heal With Neural Re-Narrating" and "Breaking Free From Trauma."
Her book: The Adverse Childhood Experiences Guided Journal by Donna Jackson Nakazawa [Amazon] [Bookshop]
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[Photo at top - detail from: Girl holding bear by Annie Spratt on unsplash.]
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Related podcast episodes
Healthy relationships and attachment styles with Aimie Apigian, MD
How attachment styles and trauma impact our relationships - with Dr Diane Poole Heller
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