RESILIENCE: THE BIOLOGY OF STRESS & THE SCIENCE OF HOPE

About the film:

“This is the biggest public health discovery we’ve ever seen.” – Laura Porter, Co-Founder, ACE Interface

When it was controversial to even think of asking patients about taboo subjects, the ACE Study dared to ask questions like, Were you sexually abused as a child? Did you have a parent who was an alcoholic? The answers produced a public health revelation. For the first time, the loss of a parent through death, divorce or incarceration and other traumatic childhood experiences such as living with an alcoholic parent or being sexually abused was conclusively linked to both physical and mental health problems later in life. ACE, or Acute Childhood Experiences score, are now understood to lead to early onset heart disease diabetes, addiction and depression. Understanding that a broken-hearted child is more likely to suffer from mental and physical illnesses as an adult has professionals of all kinds asking, How can we help children before their physical and mental health problems emerge as adults?

RESILIENCE: THE BIOLOGY OF STRESS AND THE SCIENCE OF HOPE uses beautiful animation and compelling characters to explore the science and the solutions. The film follows pioneering individuals who looked at the ACEs research and the emerging science of Toxic Stress and asked, Why are we waiting? Each took this new information and used it in new ways. Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, a pediatrician in San Francisco, intervenes early with her young patients who are greater risk for diabetes and asthma as well as learning and behavior problems now. In New Haven, Connecticut, we meet Alice Forrester and Laura Lawrence of The Clifford Beers Clinic, which provides mental health services for children by including the entire family in their programs. In an elementary school across town, kindergarteners recite “Miss Kendra’s List”—a bill of rights for children—and learn ways of expressing and coping with their stress. In the great Northwest, communities across the state of Washington brought together teachers, police officers, social service workers and government officials to learn about the brain science of adversity. Since implementing “trauma-informed” policies and practices, these communities have seen drastic reductions in rates of everything from dropping out of high school to teen pregnancy, and youth suicide domestic violence.

RESILIENCE: THE BIOLOGY OF STRESS AND THE SCIENCE OF HOPE chronicles the promising beginnings of a national movement to prevent childhood trauma, treat Toxic Stress, and greatly improve the health of future generations.