Partners In Prevention is offering a new, free, educational four-week course for adults curious about the impact of their own Adverse Childhood Experiences and other traumatic events during childhood on their adult lives.

“The Effects of Trauma — How Trauma in Developmental Years Can Impact Adulthood” begins Wednesday and continues each Wednesday through Jan. 29 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the social hall at Alpena First Presbyterian Church, on the corner of U.S.-23 North and Long Rapids Road.

“This is not a therapy group,” said course developer and presenter, Mary Schalk, CPC. “It is a learning series based on the ACE Study and materials from the National Children’s Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN).”

Over the past four years, Schalk said, a number of participants in 13 cohorts attending the NCTSN “Caring for Children Who Have Experienced Trauma” course asked about a course for adults to learn how their own adverse experiences may be affecting them. Funding from a Michigan Health Endowment Fund grant supported development and delivery of the new curriculum.

The course is appropriate for adults over 18 with lived trauma experienced who would like a safe place to: recognize the personal impact trauma of childhood trauma; feel empowered to take positive steps toward healing; understand and manage overwhelming emotions; understand and modify problematic patterns of behavior; develop a strength-based understanding of their life story; learn how to seek trauma-focused assessment and treatment, if needed; and learn ways for self-care.

Registration is required by noon on Tuesday by calling 989-356-2880 or 1-800-354-2880.