The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Trauma and Adversity

What does it mean to heal from childhood adversity—to understand how early trauma changes our biological systems and lasts a lifetime, and to discover the interventions that can prevent lifelong illness? Nadine Burke Harris's The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Trauma and Adversity is one of the most groundbreaking works on childhood trauma and health ever written, a book that reveals how ACEs—adverse childhood experiences like abuse, neglect, parental addiction, mental illness, and divorce—imprint our bodies at the deepest biological level. This is not an abstract medical study but a passionate call to action by a pioneering pediatrician who has dedicated her career to vulnerable children. Burke Harris illuminates the stunning science of toxic stress and its impact on brain development, immune function, and lifelong health, and offers innovative, evidence-based interventions that represent vital hope for healing and prevention.

Burke Harris writes from her journey as a crusading physician in San Francisco's Bayview neighborhood, where a patient named Diego—a boy who stopped growing after sexual assault—galvanized her mission to uncover the connections between childhood adversity and disease. The book asks: How do adverse childhood experiences change our biological systems? What is toxic stress, and how does it affect brain development and immune function? How can we screen for ACEs and intervene early to prevent lifelong illness? What tools can help us heal ourselves, our children, and our communities? Burke Harris shows us that childhood adversity is not destiny, offering scientific insight, clinical wisdom, and a framework for addressing one of our most serious public health challenges.

For readers seeking contemplative wisdom and evidence-based approaches to healing, The Deepest Well serves as both a penetrating exploration of how childhood trauma affects lifelong health and a practical guide to intervention and prevention. This National Health Information Awards winner includes scientific research, moving patient stories, and innovative health interventions. This is a book for anyone who has faced childhood adversity, for parents and caregivers seeking to protect children from toxic stress, for anyone interested in the biology of trauma and resilience. It's a reminder that millions of lives depend on understanding ACEs, that early intervention can change trajectories, and that we have the tools to heal ourselves, our children, and future generations.

What You'll Discover

• Nadine Burke Harris's groundbreaking research on ACEs and toxic stress
• How childhood adversity changes biological systems and affects lifelong health
• The science of toxic stress and its impact on brain and immune development
• Evidence-based interventions for healing and preventing stress-related illness
• Moving patient stories and innovative clinical approaches

Nadine Burke Harris, MD, MPH, is a pediatrician, public health advocate, and former Surgeon General of California. She founded the Center for Youth Wellness (now part of UCSF) to address the health impacts of adverse childhood experiences and toxic stress. A leading voice in trauma-informed care and childhood adversity research, Burke Harris has transformed how the medical community understands and treats the long-term effects of childhood trauma. The Deepest Well, published in 2018, has become an essential resource for healthcare providers, parents, educators, and anyone committed to breaking the cycle of childhood adversity and building healthier communities.

Perfect for: Anyone who has experienced childhood adversity or ACEs, parents and caregivers seeking to protect children from toxic stress, pediatricians and healthcare providers working with children, students of public health and childhood development, those interested in the biology of trauma and resilience, readers drawn to trauma-informed care and prevention, educators and social workers supporting vulnerable children, anyone interested in ACEs research and toxic stress, students of humanistic and transpersonal psychology, readers who loved Bessel van der Kolk's The Body Keeps the Score, those seeking evidence-based interventions for childhood trauma, anyone committed to addressing social determinants of health and building resilient communities.

Mariner Books paperback edition. Nadine Burke Harris's award-winning exploration of childhood adversity and health—offering groundbreaking science on ACEs and toxic stress, moving patient stories, and innovative interventions to heal the long-term effects of childhood trauma and prevent lifelong illness for generations to come.