HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) – The Harrisonburg-Rockingham Community Services Board has been partnering with the community to offer Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) interface training.
Behavioral Health Wellness Coordinator Mo Bowler said this training is designed to help make parents aware of possible ways to help their children facing trauma.
“It is not realistic to stop all bad things from happening to stop all potentially traumatic events from occurring, but there are things we can do at the individual and relational and community level to maybe soften the impact,” Bowler said. “It’s really critical for parents and guardians to understand this information, not only for how they then parent, but also for their own self reflection, their own growth, their own healing journey as well.”
Bowler said the program is built in three stages, starting by explaining the brain science of trauma, then the data ACEs has found for the connection with childhood trauma. Finishing the training by talking about the options to make the community more resilient to the impact of ACEs.
“We believe this training of understanding adverse childhood experiences kind of incorporates all the best foundational components of what is … potentially a lifetime of learning in this topic,” Bowler said, “so this is kind of like the starter pack of learning about trauma and trauma education and trauma-informed care.”
Bowler said these sessions are free for all to come and participants must be over the age of 18. The session lasts for two hours and will take place again in September at Massanutten Regional Library’s Central Library in downtown Harrisonburg.
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