The common stressful and traumatic exposures affect t a constellation of experiences including: abuse (emotional, physical, sexual), neglect (emotional, physical), witnessing domestic violence, growing up with substance abuse (alcohol or other drug abuse) or mental illness in the household, parental discord, or crime in the home. This document is a presentation made by Dr. Robert Anda, co-Principal Investigator for the ACE studies of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at the 2007 Guest House Institute Summer Leadership Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.