This Is What You Need To Know as a Health Professional with ACEs

Health Professionals with ACEs Are Influenced by Their Personal History

A health professional's personal experiences profoundly shape the way they understand and approach their work and interact with people receiving treatment. For people who have endured adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), healthcare careers can be both challenging and deeply enriching. In this article, we'll explore what it means to be a health professional with ACEs, look at the hurdles and benefits, and offer insights into navigating the journey successfully.

While I couldn't find specific data on the percentage of health professionals with ACEs, I'm willing to bet and research suggests that it's a significant portion. Their experiences can be motivation for why they chose to do what they do. One study said:

​"ACEs among health and social care workers were frequently reported and occurred more often than in the general population. They were also associated with several personal and professional outcomes, including poor physical and mental health, and workplace stress. Understanding staff ACE characteristics can help organizations to consider ways to support staff, which may be individual or systemic."

Studies like the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Kaiser Permanente determined that ACEs are widespread among the general population. So, it's logical to posit that ACEs are prevalent among individuals in healthcare as well. For health professionals, having lived through ACEs can bring a unique source of empathy, insight, and understanding to their work. However, it can also bring some potential obstacles.Some concerns health professionals with ACEs need to be aware of include:

Triggering of Personal Trauma:Interactions with patients who have had similar experiences or hearing about traumatic events may trigger unresolved trauma. This can lead to emotional distress, re-traumatization also known as vicarious trauma.

Countertransference:They may experience countertransference, where their own unresolved issues unintentionally influence their perceptions, feelings, and reactions towards people receiving treatment. This can potentially hinder their ability to provide objective, successful services.

Boundary Issues: ACEs can impact a person's ability to establish and maintain appropriate boundaries. This can show up as either overinvolvement or detachment in professional relationships.

Self-care Challenges: Coping mechanisms developed in response to childhood trauma, such as dissociation or avoidance, can interfere with a health professional's necessary self-care practices. Without them, a person is at risk of burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma.

Impaired Judgment: In some instances, ACEs can affect a health professional's decision-making abilities and impair judgment. This could impact clinical assessments, treatment planning, and ethical considerations.

Interpersonal Relationships: ACEs may influence interpersonal dynamics, causing difficulties in forming healthy relationships with colleagues, supervisors, or patients.

Resilience: Conversely, having experienced adversity may also provide a health practitioner with unique empathy for and insights into people receiving treatment. This perspective could allow them to connect more deeply and facilitate healing.

Self-Care Is an Essential Ingredient

​While being a health professional with ACEs presents unique challenges, there are strategies you can employ to navigate the role effectively and take care of yourself.The answer is self-care.When you think of self-care, bubble baths, massages, your favorite foods, and binge-watching Netflix all day might come to mind. While those things can be occasional ingredients of self-care, it's really about much more than just finding ways to pamper yourself and relax.Self-care also entails much less glamorous but no less important items, like setting boundaries, learning to say “no,” feeding your body nutritious food, exercising, getting enough sleep, practicing gratitude, utilizing stress relief techniques, and more. Self-care means taking the time to do things that are going to help ensure your quality of life and ability to perform your healthcare job to the best of your ability.Prioritizing self-care empowers healthcare professionals to better integrate trauma-informed solutions by preventing compassion fatigue. Regular activities that promote relaxation and personal well-being are key.

Other Strategies for a Health Professional with ACEs

Here's some practical strategies to do that will also help:

Self-awareness and Reflection: Prioritize self-awareness by regularly reflecting on your personal triggers, emotional responses, and biases that may arise during patient interactions. It can help to cultivate mindfulness practices to recognize when countertransference reactions, triggers, or boundary issues emerge.

Personal Therapy and Support:

It is advisable for any healthcare professional, especially one with ACEs, to engage in ongoing personal therapy or counseling. Seeking support from trusted colleagues, friends, or support groups to process any challenging emotions and experiences that come up.

Supervision and Consultation:

Participate in regular supervision or consultation with an experienced supervisor or colleague who can provide you objective guidance, feedback, and perspective on managing countertransference, triggers, and boundary issues. Use supervision sessions to explore personal reactions and ensure therapeutic effectiveness.

Continuing Education and Training:

Stay up-to-date through continuous education and training about trauma-informed care, boundary setting, and ethical guidelines. Enhance your knowledge and skills in trauma therapy approaches and therapeutic techniques that promote safety and empowerment.

Establish Clear Boundaries:

Maintain clear and consistent boundaries to prevent overinvolvement, boundary violations, or enmeshment. Communicate boundaries clearly and respectfully, while remaining empathetic and supportive in therapeutic interactions.

Consultation with Colleagues:

Collaborate with colleagues or seek consultation from experts in trauma therapy when encountering complex cases or challenges related to countertransference, triggers, or boundary issues. Share experiences, seek advice, and brainstorm strategies for managing difficult situations effectively.

Regular Self-assessment:

Conduct regular self-assessment to evaluate your own emotional readiness, capacity, and professional competence to provide therapy effectively. Recognize when personal factors may impact therapeutic effectiveness and take appropriate steps to address them.By integrating these strategies into their practice, health professionals with ACEs can navigate providing the highest standard of care while minimizing the risk of countertransference, triggers, boundary issues, and impaired judgment. This approach promotes therapeutic effectiveness, ethical practice, and personal well-being.

Volunteering

Can Help Health Professionals with ACEs HealFor health professionals with ACEs, it's worth incorporating known ways to heal beyond the clinical setting. Studies show that volunteering or participating in advocacy work can help people overcome ACEs by providing fulfillment, fostering connection, enhancing resilience, and contributing to overall well being.  Whether it's volunteering at local community centers, participating in mentorship programs, or supporting policies that address ACEs and their impact, health professionals with ACEs can play a vital role in creating positive change in the lives of others and in their communities while reaping mental health benefits themselves. 

Conclusion

Being a health professional with past trauma is a journey that requires extra vigilance, self-awareness, resilience, and willingness for ongoing growth. By acknowledging the challenges faced and implementing strategies to address them, a health professional with ACEs can fulfill their role effectively, better meet the needs of people receiving treatment and honor their own healing in the process. In fact, having your own ACEs can empower you to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others

Guest Author

Debbie Hampton recovered from an attempt to end her life, and the resulting brain injury to become an inspirational and educational writer. She has written for The Huffington Post, Posit Science, MindBodyGreen, and other well-known clients. On her website, "The Best Brain Possible," she shares information and inspiration on how you can better your brain and life.​Debbie is the author of three books. Her latest, How to Use Mindfulness as a Mental Health Tool to Beat Depression and Anxiety and Change Your Brain tells you in plain English, backed by the most current science, exactly what mindfulness is, how it physically changes your brain, and the simple steps you can take to put it to good use in your own life to improve your brain and mental health.