The Truth About ACEs: Breaking Generational Cycles with Dr. Nzinga Harrison
Adult Child
Andrea
4.9 • 1.8K Ratings
🗓️ 23 April 2025
⏱️ 84 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
BREATHE TO HEAL: A 6-Week Journey of Somatic Release - Get your spot here LIMITED CAPACITY --> adultchildpodcast.com/breathetoheal
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You’ve probably heard of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), but do you know how they shape your life—and how to break free from the cycles they create? In this week’s powerful episode, I’m joined by Dr. Nzinga Harrison—psychiatrist, addiction expert, co-founder of Eleanor Health, and all-around badass—as we unpack how childhood trauma, addiction, activism, and healing intersect.
Nzinga’s story is one of resilience and radical love:
- Growing up in a family touched by both substance use disorder and activism
- Navigating her father’s PTSD and leadership in the Black Panther Militia
- Turning adversity into action through her work in trauma-informed addiction care
This conversation will hit home for anyone navigating the long shadows of childhood trauma, and especially for those of us committed to breaking the cycle for ourselves and future generations.
💡 In this episode, we discuss:
- ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and PIECES (Positive Childhood Experiences)—and how both shape your healing journey
- The impact of family dynamics, addiction, and racism on mental health
- Nzinga’s personal story of injustice: her brother’s wrongful incarceration and her family’s fight for justice
- Trauma-informed care and why timing is everything when it comes to addressing trauma
- How Nzinga’s work at Eleanor Health is transforming addiction treatment with compassion, equity, and science
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | A truly strong person does not need the approval of others any more than a lion needs the approval of sheep. |
| 0:07.7 | My name is Andrea, and this is an old child. |
| 0:22.0 | What's your you slow now? |
| 0:25.2 | Let it all go |
| 0:26.5 | Welcome back to an adult child |
| 0:28.2 | Where we take a deep dive into the impact of growing up in a dysfunctional family |
| 0:33.1 | Ahoy, my dear shit shows |
| 0:35.9 | For any listeners, my name is Andrea. |
| 0:38.4 | I'm a total and complete shit show. |
| 0:40.1 | I just want to say before I forget, so whenever I have, I use a software that transcribes |
| 0:46.4 | all of my episodes and it always transcribes that first part of welcome back to adult |
| 0:52.2 | child is welcome back to old child. I guess that applies as well. |
| 1:01.2 | I'm also an adult child slash old child. I grew up in an alcoholic family. I was the scapegoat |
| 1:07.7 | identified patient. I became an alcoholic and addict myself at the age of 12. |
| 1:12.5 | Like I said, that's when I started drinking and using drugs. |
| 1:14.6 | I don't think I really crossed the line into addiction until a few more years later. |
| 1:18.6 | And got sober at 19. |
| 1:20.6 | And then at nine years sober, realized that the reason I turned into a psychopath |
| 1:24.8 | whenever I was in a relationship was because I was suffering from complex |
| 1:28.7 | PTSD and that my not so bad childhood, not so great, but not so bad childhood, was wreaking |
| 1:37.4 | havoc on my life as an adult. And this is the podcast where we talk about what the hell |
| 1:43.1 | to do about that. |
... |
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