Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, are used to describe various traumatic experiences that many people endure during their childhood. Recent studies have shown a substantial link between ACEs and the health and social difficulties one experiences later in life.

I don’t really have the words to describe how I feel at this moment. I remember watching these graduations from a classroom wearing my blue oxford and thinking, “I can’t imagine doing that. I feel like I’ll never get there.”

I like it because I have pretty good leadership skills, and it’s a really good way to help the community and have a say here. It provides a little bit of light and fun because it’s hard work here.

Erikson’s fourth stage of identity typically occurs between the ages of 7-13 and involves industry vs. inferiority. When a child successfully navigates this stage, they develop competency.

I am genuinely happy in life. I made it just fine after missing half of high school even though it felt like the end of the world for a good amount of time.

We’ve Googled ourselves, and it ain’t pretty. We acknowledge that and how scary that can be to a current and potential families.

Hey guys! Alright, so I guess we can just get right into it; I have been here for a very short amount of time—as many of you know—only 10 months. I will say that the last 10 months of my life have been the most challenging and tiring months of my life so far.

Years after attending Spring Ridge Academy, the profound memories are still fresh in Eliza Epifano’s mind.  So are the lessons. “I had to learn who I was.  And that was a really challenging thing and I think that is something I still carry with me today.  It’s an evolutionary process,” she said.

Spring Ridge Academy therapists Carrie Kray, LMSW, and Doug DiStefano, LAC, have developed a new therapy group for students in substance use recovery. This group uses a combination of evidence-based practices, including Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT), Seven Challenges, and the Matrix Model.

Erikson’s 3rd stage deals with initiative vs. guilt, and the virtue is purpose.  Stage 3 builds on the autonomy stage and is strengthened by both independence and limit setting.  Like most stages, this is a balancing act of learning to initiate activities and play and trying out leadership.