Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in Adolescents
EMDR and Easy Ego States Training Scholarship Opportunity for Local Mental Health Providers
The Coalition for a Healthier Frederick County’s Local Health Improvement Process (LHIP) Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Workgroup is thrilled to announce that they are looking to provide scholarships for Frederick County mental health providers who serve children, youth, and families in Frederick County to access no cost training in the provision of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Easy Ego States Intervention therapies.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy Training
This training is provided by Trauma Specialists of Maryland. EMDR is a psychotherapy technique that uses eye movements or other bilateral stimulation to help people process and alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories and other distressing experiences. This comprehensive EMDR training equips providers with essential tools to better support those affected by adverse experiences and trauma. The training consists of 6 days across 2 virtual 3-day sessions. There are two cohorts of training available:
Cohort 1: January 23-25 and March 27-29, 2025
Cohort 2: February 27-March 1 and April 24-26, 2025
Visit Trauma Specialists of Maryland website here to learn more about the details of the training, including time and participation requirements, continuing education credit information, and more. Be sure to check the FAQ section.
To view application requirements, please review the EMDR Training Scholarship Application.
Applications are due by Friday, December 20, 2024.
Easy Ego States Intervention Therapy Training
This training is provided by EMDR Advanced Training and Distance Learning. Participants in this Easy Ego State Interventions training learn how to see clients through the lens of ego state therapy and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and to distinguish healthy, flexible states from dissociative ones. Through lecture, guided experience, case examples, demonstrations, role-plays, and practice they will be able to utilize their awareness of vagal states, body types, and trauma and attachment histories to make accurate diagnoses, plan treatment, clear trauma, heal attachment issues, and enhance relationships with ego state therapy.
This training is On-Demand, meaning scholarship recipients will receive access to the recorded training for 90 days.
Visit the EMDR Advanced Training and Distance Learning training page here to learn more about the details of the training, including time and participation requirements, continuing education credit information, and more.
To view application requirements, please review the Easy Ego States Intervention Training Scholarship Application.
Applications are due by Friday, December 20, 2024.
Building healthy brains reduces the impact of childhood toxic stress across one’s lifespan.
No one gets to choose their parents, family situation, or major stressors in their early childhood. These early challenges have been shown to cause toxic stress that children carry into the rest of their lives.
These types of stressful events have been named, “Adverse childhood experiences” (ACEs). This toxic stress may weaken brain architecture and often presents an increase in risky behavior as children become teenagers. Our workgroup seeks to understand, educate, and prevent the effects of ACEs within adolescents.
The ACEs Workgroup has successfully completed their Action Plan, therefore the group is no longer active. Congratulations and thank you very much to all of the dedicated volunteers and leaders who worked on this important initiative and made positive impacts in Frederick County.
What is categorized as an “ACE?”
The most recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey (2021) identified these ACE categories:
Witnessing Intimate Partner Violence
Separation from Parent or Guardian due to Incarceration or Detention
Household Mental Illness or Depression
Household Substance Misuse
Emotional Abuse by Parent or Adult in Home
In Frederick County, more than 50% of high school students report at least one ACE.
What’s the good news?
Protective factors reduce risky behavior in teens.
Even teens that have two or more ACEs will benefit from these protective factors, such as food security or a trusted relationship with at least three caring adults.
For more information, visit our YouTube Channel for ACEs.
What can we do about toxic stress from ACEs?
Decrease Risk Factors:
Poverty
Community Violence
Social Isolation
Increase Protective Factors:
Reduce concrete sources of stress
Positive responsive relationships
Core adaptive skills
Subcommittees
Awareness Subcommittee: All sectors of Frederick County (including but not limited to healthcare, government, judicial and law enforcement, education, child care, housing, employment, business, civic and faith-based groups, and parent networks) will recognize the impact of trauma on health from preconception onward, and provide or support services for raising healthy children in safe, stable, nurturing environments
Prevention Subcommittee: All Frederick County residents have access to evidence-based or research-informed programs, resources, information and skills to raise healthy children in safe, stable and nurturing environments.
Treatment and Intervention Subcommittee: An equitable community-wide system of trauma-informed care provides accessible evidence-based treatments from trained, knowledgeable and culturally literate specialists in adequate supply.
Action Plan and Logic Model
Meeting Minutes
Workgroup Leadership
Pilar Olivo
Workgroup Lead and Board President
Principal, Adepta LLC
Erin Gambrill
Awareness Co-Lead
Frederick County Public Libraries, Youth Services Coordinator
Pat Rosensteel
Awareness Co-Lead
Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership, Board President
Kathy Allen
Prevention Co-Lead
Frederick County Public Schools, Coordinator of ECE & Judy Centers
Barb May
Prevention Co-Lead
Frederick County Health Department, Director, Family Partnership
Lynn Davis
Treatment & Intervention Co-Lead
Frederick County Public Schools, Coordinator of Mental Health Services
Jay Hessler
Treatment & Intervention Co-Lead
Frederick County Health Department, Assistant Director of Behavioral Health Services Division
Staff Representative Coordinators
Malcolm Furgol
Executive Director
Coalition for a Healthier Frederick County
ACEs Workgroup Members
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