I enjoyed presenting and discussing the HOPE framework with a group at the Medford Public Library last night!
HOPE stands for Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences. While Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) correlate with poor mental health in adulthood, Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) correlate with good mental health in adulthood.1
And PCEs may serve a protective function: even in the presence of ACEs, they correlate with better mental health outcomes.
These are the four building blocks of the HOPE framework, all PCEs we want to promote:
As much as I love presenting this good news, I was even more encouraged to hear how folks in the group were already bringing these building blocks to life in their day-to-day.
You can read more about HOPE here.
The above is cross-posted at Healing Pastors.
- I noted last night and note again now: ACEs are not necessarily determinative of any outcome. Correlation is not causation blah blah blah, but more important, we don’t want to be fatalistic about folks’ future… even while we look with great compassion and trauma-sensitivity on their past. ↩︎
Words on the Word 