Tag: Adverse Childhood Experiences
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30 Seconds of Courage
Jessica Woodville’s memoir, “Smoking in Garages: A Survivor’s Story of Trauma and Resilience,” explores the power of sharing one’s truth to combat trauma. She emphasizes how small acts of courage can lead to healing and urges others to confront their pain, highlighting the need for systemic change to support childhood trauma survivors.
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Beyond Sensationalism: Why My Story Is Bigger Than the Troubled Teen Industry
I recently had an article published about my memoir, Smoking in Garages: A Survivor’s Story of Trauma and Resilience. The writer was kind, genuinely enthusiastic about my book, and I’m deeply grateful for the attention it’s receiving. But as I read through the article, I found myself pausing—because somewhere along the way, my story seemed…
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Healing or Snake Oil? A Survivor’s Take on the Trauma Recovery Industry
I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted by the way trauma recovery is being packaged, marketed, and sold like the latest wellness trend. Healing isn’t a product. It’s not a five-step program or a color-coordinated workbook. And yet, every time I scroll through social media, I see another ad promising to “fix” trauma—just $99.99…
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The Book Report That Saved Me: How Drew Barrymore’s Little Girl Lost Helped Me Survive the Troubled Teen Industry
When I was trapped inside the walls of Cross Creek Manor, a so-called “therapeutic” program for “troubled teens,” my world had shrunk to a series of rigid rules, forced confessions, and a constant battle to prove I was worthy of basic human dignity. There was no escape—not physically, and certainly not mentally. Every day felt…
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Healing Out Loud: Why Telling Our Stories Matters
“Healing out loud because I almost died in silence.” Breaking the Silence: The Power of Sharing Our Stories For years, I believed my story was something to be hidden—too heavy, too messy, too much for the world to handle. I convinced myself that silence was safer. That if I didn’t speak about my experiences, they…
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Post-Incarceration Syndrome and the Forgotten Survivors of the Troubled Teen Industry
The troubled teen industry (TTI) is a billion-dollar network of behavior modification programs, including wilderness therapy camps, therapeutic boarding schools, boot camps, and residential treatment centers. Marketed to desperate parents as a last resort for their struggling children, these programs promise transformation and healing. But as a survivor of the TTI myself, I can tell…
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Daring to Dream Again: Finding Hope After Trauma
For a long time, I didn’t let myself dream. Survival was the only goal. Dreaming still feels dangerous—like setting myself up for disappointment or failure. When you’ve spent years just trying to make it through the day, the idea of planning for a future, of imagining a life beyond the next crisis, feels foreign. Maybe…
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Why the ACEs Study Changed Everything: A Breakdown of the Research
Let’s talk about one of the most important yet criminally underrated studies of our time: the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study. If you haven’t heard of it, don’t worry—you’re not alone. Despite its groundbreaking findings, it somehow never got the same PR treatment as, say, the Kardashians. But trust me, this study has shaped everything…
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Why Survivors Deserve More Than Just ‘Resilience’
The word resilience gets thrown around a lot when talking about trauma survivors. Society loves the idea of people who have endured unimaginable hardship and still manage to rise, stronger than before. But there’s a problem with this narrative: it glorifies survival while ignoring what it cost us to get there and honestly, it just…
Jessica Woodville | Memoir & Musings 