Toxic Childhood Stress

Previously published as

A pioneering physician reveals how childhood stress leads to lifelong health problems and what we can do to break the cycle.

When a young boy walked into Dr Nadine Burke Harris’s clinic he looked healthy for a preschooler. But he was seven, and hadn’t grown a centimetre since a traumatic event when he was four. At that moment Dr Burke Harris knew that her gut feeling about a connection between childhood stress and future ill health was more than just a hunch - and she began her journey into groundbreaking research with stunning results.

Two thirds of us have experienced at least one adverse childhood experience, from the likes of bereavement and divorce to abuse and neglect. In Toxic Childhood Stress California’s Surgeon General Dr Burke Harris reveals the science behind childhood adversity and offers a new way of understanding the adverse events that affect us throughout our lifetime. Based on her own groundbreaking clinical work and public leadership, Dr Burke Harris shows us how we can disrupt this cycle through interventions that help retrain the brain and body, foster resilience, and help children, families, and adults live healthier, happier lives.

Perfect for fans of The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, this eye-opening book includes a free ACE test and looks at the widespread crisis of childhood adversity through the objective lens of science and medicine, providing a roadmap for deeper understanding and change.