Drawing on her own lived experience, Haley showed us how relational experiences build brains before going on to compare the life trajectory of rabbits and elephants and how it applies to our learning from the Adverse Childhood Experiences study to show us how we can strike a balance between both compassion for trauma and a commitment to accountability.
Dr Haley Peckham’s background includes philosophy, mental health nursing, psychotherapy and neuroscience and is grounded in her own lived experience of recovering from complex trauma. While studying philosophy, Haley worked with children and adolescents in ‘care’ and later trained as a Mental Health Nurse at Kings College London. Struck by the enduring impact of early trauma and neglect, Haley studied Molecular Neuroscience at Bristol and gained her PhD from the University of Melbourne. Since realising that evolutionary biology and neuroscience are critically important for delivering coherent ACE aware and Trauma-Informed approaches, Haley has shared her learning with professionals across statutory services in Australia and the UK. Having sat through some dreadful training she is committed to providing inspiring, engaging relevant workshops. Her favourite piece of feedback was “I didn’t want to go to the toilet in case I missed anything”. Haley continues to deliver her training alongside her ongoing work in frontline crisis mental health services which supports her personal and professional development.
