Early Support Matters: The Shift to Positive Childhood Experiences
For this week's Mental Health Awareness Month theme, "Early Support Matters: Recognizing Signs in Children and Youth", we’re looking at the role of childhood experiences in ongoing mental health. In our field, we typically focus on identifying specific traumatic experiences, known as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and determining the best ways to overcome their impact. While necessary, this "deficit-based" approach focuses on what is missing or broken. By contrast, focusing on Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) is a "strengths-based" shift that is rapidly gaining momentum in the field.
Instead of just treating the impact of negative experiences, this approach focuses on proactively building protective factors that foster resilience. These factors include things like belonging, safety, and emotional connection. Research shows that PCEs are protective and preventive, helping buffer people from negative, and even traumatic, experiences.
PCEs have become so widely recognized that they are now being measured in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), an essential public health survey. This marks the first time population-level data is being gathered on the experiences that "protect and heal—not just the ones that harm". These points were discussed in a recent blog post on the website pacesconnection.com, that also included this terrific graphic on PCEs that was sourced from mezzosolutions.com.
The focus on creating protective factors through early support aligns perfectly with the important work being done by some of our clients. These programs embrace the "Early Support Matters" theme by prioritizing prevention, resilience, and positive intervention:
4SOSW (Mental Health and Recovery Services Board of Seneca, Ottawa, Sandusky, and Wyandot Counties): Strengthens the "System of Care" by using Parent Peer Supporters to guide families navigating complicated systems and helping them find the right services.
Western Michigan University's Family Assessment, Specialized Treatment Advancing Resiliency in Families (FASTER) Program: Provides Family Trauma Assessments and interventions like Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) to families who've experienced trauma and/or significant adversity. TBRI is an evidence-based method that helps parents create safe, protective environments and strengthens the parent-child bond.
Zepf Center: Trains staff and community members in Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) so more children have a "trusted adult" to turn to. MHFA is an evidence-based public education initiative that teaches participants a five-step action plan to help individuals in crisis or developing mental health challenges.
The shift to focusing on Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) is fundamentally changing the conversation around children's mental health. This strengths-based approach moves beyond simply treating adversity (ACEs) to intentionally building protective factors—creating "nests" of relational health that foster resilience. We’re proud to work alongside our amazing clients who are leading the way to improved childhood mental health through the fostering of PCEs.
