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ACA Code of ethics – The standard code of ethics for the counseling profession.  This code of ethics will set the standard for the counseling relationship, privacy and confidentiality, professional responsibility, and relationships with other professions.

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As I reflect on what I learned from this week, I am particularly drawn to the trauma’s impact in so many areas:

Mental Health

Physical Health

Immediate Families

Future Generations

I found the role that epigenetics plays in the predisposed traits for future generations specifically intriguing. Traumatic events can alter noncoding DNA, and those alterations can be passed to children through the reproductive process. The role that epigenetics plays in the reproductive process makes it especially important that counselors seek to understand if trauma impacted the parents of a client.

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I was fascinated by the cause of many of the mental disorders in this assignment. Genetics plays a crucial role in many mental disorders, but there are other causes. For many of the mental disorders listed in this spreadsheet, there seems to be a debate about whether these disorders are caused by “nature” or “nurture.” For sure, trauma can play a role in many of these mental disorders. But there also seems to be a link between bodily diseases and disorders of the brain. Maintaining healthy eating and exercise routines will impact the mind.

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AACC Code of ethics – as a professional counselor who will also be involved pastoral counseling, the AACC code of ethics sets the standard for a Christian context—including servanthood, excellence, integrity, trustworthiness, and dignity.

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The biggest takeaway from this week was the ACE questionnaire.  This questionnaire is an accessible resource I can utilize in counseling.  This resource will provide a quick synopsis of a client’s childhood history concerning trauma.  I have already incorporated this resource into the pre-marital counseling curriculum I have developed over the last five-to-six years.  It is essential to understand what “baggage” an individual may bring into their marriage—often unconsciously.  Further, individuals may project unresolved issues from their parents on a spouse.  Understanding this will help me to coach individuals to recognize their issues and mend relationships with their parents before entering a marital relationship.

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One big takeaway from this week concerns the method of intervention.  For those who are entangled in trauma, the first step is to ensure safety.  Until you can help individuals feel safe, you will not be able to work through the trauma.  Beyond that point, dealing with trauma looks a lot like dealing with other issues—like depression and anxiety.  Therapy is most effective when you gain the trust of the individual before beginning to work with them through the trauma.

I am particularly interested in learning more about trauma-informed counseling techniques and will be examining methods of trauma-informed couple therapy.  Right now, I do a lot of marital and pre-marital therapy.  I enjoy helping couples work through problems in their marriage.  I greatly enjoy helping couples prepare for marriage.  I foresee myself continuing to work with couples in this way.

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I wish my current life circumstances had allowed me to drive more of the direction and content of this assignment.  However, I also know that this was a learning experience for me.  Working with a group of people I do not know is difficult but necessary as I move forward in my second career as a professional counselor.

I had to rely on my group members in this assignment.  If it were left entirely up to me, I would have completed this assignment differently.

Further, I did learn a lot about human trafficking that I had not known previously.  I researched the subject of human trafficking in one of my seminary classes four years ago.  From my additional research for this assignment, the information that stuck with me most concerned human trafficking and foster children. According to Paola Contreras (2019), runaway children or adolescents in foster care are at the highest risk for trafficking in the United States.  This fact is sobering and makes me want to adopt a teenager out of the foster care system.

References

Contreras, P. M. (2019). Psychological treatment: Reflections on psychoanalytic perspective to work with human trafficking. In M. C. Burke (Ed.), Working with the human trafficking survivor: What counselors, psychologists, social workers and medical professionals need to know. (pp. 61-80). Routledge.

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In this assignment, I completed the Psychological First Aid Certificate.  This training was both enlightening and aggravating at the same time.

I was able to learn some critical signs that indicate that individuals are emotionally overwhelmed.  Some meaningful signs of being overwhelmed include:

·      Looking “glassy eyed” or vacant

·      Unresponsive to verbal cues

·      Disoriented or frantic search behavior

·      Uncontrolled crying, hyperventilating, rocking, or trembling

However, some of the material seemed contradictory to me.  At one point in the training, we were implored not to ask questions.  Then, a session later, we were encouraged to ask questions.  I understand the context will dictate whether you should ask questions of the individual or not, but the training material did waffle on this subject.

Some case studies, especially for core actions 7 and 8, seemed out of place in the training context.  I assumed these case studies were oriented towards issues that occurred weeks or months after a disaster, not immediately post-disaster.  It was harder for me to connect with those case studies because they seemed out of place and confusing.

Overall, though, I learned material that will help me in my future role as a professional counselor.

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I was somewhat perplexed by the ABC model assignment.  I still do not fully understand the requirements or objectives for the assignment.  Working through the ABC model template, I used this assignment to reflect on my limited but growing knowledge of therapeutic modalities.  I do not know if that was the objective for this assignment, but that is where I chose to focus my time.

One of the things I learned in this assignment is that effective therapy is more about the therapeutic alliance than the modality.  If you can build an atmosphere of trust with the client, you will be well on your way to helping them work through whatever issues brought them to counseling.  That gives me hope as I move forward in this second career that I won’t stink at being a counselor.

One of the things I often tell my pre-marital counseling clients (I even said this a couple of days ago in a session) is if I could summarize effective communication within a marriage (or any other relationship) into two points, the two points would be: trusting assertiveness and empathetic listening.  I tell my pre-martial clients that learning to listen empathetically will go a long way toward building a trusting relationship.  If their partner feels safe, they can trust and communicate assertively.  They will not fear holding back their inner feelings, thoughts, and desires.

I did not fully realize the connection to the therapeutic relationship until I came to the part of the session where I usually teach effective communication techniques—including how to communicate assertively and listen with empathy.  When I came to that place in my curriculum with that summary statement, I suddenly realized the connection.  I think it probably impacted me more than it did my young clients!

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A Cultural Competent Approach to Pastoral Counseling

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A Cultural Competent Approach to Pastoral Counseling

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Cultural competency is a fundamental necessity for any counselor.  This statement is true of secular counseling and counseling within a pastoral context.  My long-term goal is to open a counseling service that is theologically informed and therapeutically relevant because theology and psychology offer valuable insights into human nature and diversity.  I could reflect on both contexts (i.e., theology and psychology).  However, for brevity, I will reflect on the importance of diversity within a theological realm.  We will find considerable overlap between these two realms; the lessons we can learn in one realm can apply to the other.

A theologically informed approach to therapy understands some essential truths concerning human nature. First, God uniquely created each person in his image (Gen 1:26-27, 1 Cor 11:7, 2 Cor 3:18, Eph 4:24, Col 1:5, Col 3:10).  Second, we know that the afterlife will be characterized by people from every nation, tribe, and language (Rev 7:9) who are gathered around the throne of God in worship.  If that is the end of the story, our churches today should reflect every nation, tribe, and language.  Admittedly, the Western church is not at that point today, but there is a growing awareness within the Western church that we need to work toward that end.

For instance, within the last century, missionaries have begun recognizing unique people groups within nations and regions.  Two different people groups may speak the same language but may have unique dialects. Further, other people groups have unique cultural identities, and missionaries have realized that each unique culture connects with God in a culturally diverse fashion.  Whether the culture realizes it or not, God has imprinted his existence within their culture in a beautifully diverse manner.  Missionaries have come to call these unique imprints redemptive analogies.  Rather than building churches to reflect a Western reality, missionaries have started building churches employing a culturally sensitive approach consistent with the culture’s redemptive analogy.  Over the last century, missiological techniques have begun to adjust to this reality.

Likewise, a theologically informed approach to pastoral counseling must acknowledge the reality of the image of God and each culture’s unique redemptive analogy.  This approach to pastoral counseling must recognize the unique values, beliefs, and practices of different people groups.  Pastoral counselors must tailor their approach to counseling to meet the needs of these unique communities.  If one of the primary goals of effective therapy is building a therapeutic alliance, you must adjust your approach to counseling in a way that builds trust.  Otherwise, you risk hindering the effectiveness of your pastoral counseling services.  A proactive, culturally sensitive approach to pastoral counseling promotes inclusion, equality, and effective communication across diverse cultures.

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Compilation of References Used in this Course

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Compilation of References Used in this Course