My current program of study is Professional Counseling and the current projected date to receive this master’s degree will be the end of the 2026 Summer session.

One personal goal that I would like to achieve is to be invited to the Phi Kappa Phi Honors Society. My professional goal is to become a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) for my current employers to offer mental health services to the residents.

The main desire I have to learn from this course is how to help clients with trauma that has stemmed from domestic violence. When I am completing assessments at work, I have to ask about all forms of domestic violence and if they have experienced any. I want to ensure that I am managing the clients vulnerability in a professional manner but also showing empathy.

My greatest takeaway from this section was learning about all of the resources available, but especially about the Mental Health First Aid. I believe it is important for anyone in the mental health field to be certified in order to learn how to assess warning signs, create an action plan to help someone, and also what professionals are available as a resource. I was also able to learn a lot from my peers and their backgrounds. Recently, I experienced a client who was voicing suicidal thoughts and I believe it would have been very beneficial to have had this certification during this time. The YouTube video titled, Mental Health Statistics (2018) was the most resourceful to me and allowed me to understand the ratio of individuals per mental health professional in America.

During this section, I learned an incredible amount of information about different mental disorders. I would not say that I had just one takeaway, but many. I did happen to enjoy learning more about eating disorders than any of the other disorders. Overall, I believe I have a unique tool to use for my current employment and I am excited to be able to use this assignment in the future. As counselors, we teach cognitive-behavioral classes using the book titled, Criminal Conduct and Substance Abuse Treatment: Strategies for Self-Improvement and Change, Pathways to Responsible Living. The later sessions in Phase II and III of the workbooks are very short and we end up having a lot of time left over in class. My current supervisor and I want to implement videos for discussion or to include them to enhance the lessons. I believe that some of the videos and other resources I have found during this assignment will be a great addition to our ideas for our current and future clients regarding Substance Use. The one in particular that I found most useful is the Ted-Ed video (2024) where Judy Grisel explains the difficulties in treating someone with addiction and how to treat clients who are showing resistant towards treatment. In addition, this video does an exceptional job at describing the impact drugs and alcohol have on the brain which is essential for psychoeducation.

The Developmental Discussion on Trauma brought awareness of the different types of traumas that people experience based on what my other peers discussed. On a personal level, I was very conflicted with the documentary series I chose because I did not feel there was as much trauma explained than I had hoped for. What I felt was the most beneficial out of this assignment was learning about the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE). I have always believed that trauma is mostly initially exposed during childhood and carries into the next generations without proper treatment or interventions. It was critical for me to learn about preventing ACEs in children and especially because I am part of a mentor program now. So, out of everything, the greatest takeaway was learning from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (2019) that research actually suggest using mentor programs to improve the behavior, social, emotional, and academic areas of a child’s life. I have joined the program called Big Brothers, Big Sisters which is beneficial to help promote better relationships and includes the building of trust back in the lives of the children. I was glad to learn that research has proven this to be beneficial because I want to always be apart of something that promotes healing for my community.

In Section 4 I learned a ton of information about what Psychological First Aid is and how to accurately use this certification once it was completed! I honestly thought it was going to be geared more towards domestic violence or mental health issues instead of helping after or during a crisis event like a fire or hurricane. Either way, I am grateful to have had this experience and to earn another certification for my current and future employment! This may seem silly, but my greatest takeaway from the entire learning experience was teaching children a unique way on how to use the breathing technique to calm them down. The training explained a way to engage children is by having them imagine their favorite color as the air that they are breathing in and then the air they breathe out is their least favorite color, including all the other uncomfortable feelings they have. I found this to be incredibly beneficial for counseling in general. I also really enjoyed learning the importance of treating material possessions as an extreme importance for those experiencing a traumatic experience even though they may not seem of importance to myself. Lastly, I found that this training really helped me to understand how crucial training is for a professional to use appropriate words for their responses to those that are suffering from trauma. For example, if a survivor learns that someone they love has died, the professional is not supposed to say, “I know how you feel.” I immediately found myself guilty about doing this in the past and now I have a better understanding of how to approach this situation more effectively. It is important as a professional in the field of counseling to ensure that our focus is always on the client and a simple statement that I thought was not harmful could make a client's feelings feel invalid. As a counselor, I want to continue to enhance my skills in order to prevent situations like this from occurring and I believe this training did just that! Overall, this was one of my favorite parts of learning during this course. I truly recommend this!

Overall, Section 5 of this course was my favorite aside from Section 4 where I earned my Psychological First Aid certificate. I was very eager to learn more about Domestic Violence and I truly have gained the knowledge that is necessary for my current profession and my future as an LPC. The greatest takeaway from this section is learning how many resources are available for those that are affected by domestic abuse and also what steps I need to take as a counselor when I learn that someone is actively experiencing it. I believe that this presentation will help me later on in the future and if necessary, provide it to my current supervisor. I used to be confused on when a professional needs to report abuse and when they do not, but after the amount of research I completed, I am completely aware of my responsibility. I have also learned where to go to make a report and the timeframe that one needs to be completed. I believe I have enough information now to create a really thorough resource list to provide clients for later purposes.

The greatest takeaway from Section 6 was learning how to breakdown a situation and identify the areas of needs and issues for a client. Prior to this assignment, I was always looking for the cognitive or mental issues that a client was experiencing and not other needs such as physical or social/relational. I found it very critical to write out the steps that a client would need to take in order to put myself in their situation rather than from an outsider perspective. Once I was able to identify what steps a client would need to take, it was much easier to identify the steps the counselor would need to take. In addition to this, I definitely appreciated having the sources provided again for counseling skills that I had in a previous course. It will always be beneficial to review the skills and identify how to use them in counseling sessions. I believe this assignment helped recognize trauma concerns and how to really apply the skills we have learned throughout the course. In addition to this assignment, I read quite a majority of information from the book titled, Crisis Intervention Handbook: Assessment, Treatment, and Research. One thing that I found that is important to understand when providing treatment for someone who has experienced domestic violence is that effective treatment for those that are in a "crisis requires an understanding of crisis theory and the techniques of crisis intervention" (Yeager & Roberts, 2015, p. 465). Also, “The emphasis in crisis assessment is on identifying the nature of the precipitating event and the woman’s cognitive and affective reaction to it” (Yeager & Roberts, 2015, p. 466). I would highly recommend this read for anyone who is a professional and currently has a client that is needing a crisis intervention.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas. (2022, September 29). Big things are happening - big brothers big sisters of south texas. Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas. https://www.bigmentor.org/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2019). Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences: Leveraging the Best Available Evidence. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Giordano, S., & Edwards, J. (2023). Enhancing cultural responsiveness in social service agencies what’s inside? https://acf.gov/system/files/documents/opre/OPRE-enhancing-cultural-responsiv-april2024.pdf

Jones, H. (2022, March 25). What is the ABC model for cognitive therapy? Verywell Health. https://www.verywellhealth.com/abc-therapy-5217670

Kenneth Yeager, & Albert Roberts. (2015). Crisis Intervention Handbook : Assessment, Treatment, and Research. Oxford University Press.

Mental health statistics in America (US) (statistics, facts, and data). (2018). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCyd_3zqkhY

Ted-Ed. (2024). What causes addiction, and why is it so hard to treat? - Judy Grisel. Youtube. https://youtu.be/hBC7i-vHWsU?feature=shared

Texas Council on Family Violence. (2023). Domestic violence awareness. Texas Council on Family Violence. https://tcfv.org/awareness/

Wanberg, K. W., & Milkman, H. B. (2006). Criminal conduct and substance abuse treatment : Strategies for self-improvement and change : Pathways to responsible living : The participant’s workbook. Sage Publications.

1. Autonomy

2. Justice

3. Beneficence

4. Nonmaleficence

5. Fidelity

1. Identifying the need for a referral: If a counselor does not have the skills that are needed to help provide the client with the upmost care, a referral will be necessary.

2. Discussing the referral with a client: A counselor should help the client understand the reason for the referral.

3. Finding an appropriate professional or provider for the referral: In the ACA Code of Ethics (2014), it is essential that the professional counselor is choosing the most appropriate professional for the referral process. They are to also make sure that the process is completed and maintain an open communication when doing so.

4. Provide referral information to the client: A counselor should always provide the contact information for the referral to their client, but if it is in the best interest of the client, the counselor may help assist with scheduling the first appointment for them.

5. Helping with the coordination of care: Sometimes a counselor may need to communicate with the referral provider to ensure that they client is receiving the upmost care.

6. Documenting the referral: The referral process needs to always have documentation for the client's records.

A counselor will also need to consider the following Ethical Codes from the American Counseling Association (2014) when referring any client:

"A.2. Informed Consent in the Counseling Relationship

A.11. Termination and Referral

A.11.a. Competence Within Termination and Referral

If counselors lack the competence to be of professional assistance to clients, they avoid entering or continuing counseling relationships. Counselors are knowledgeable about culturally and clinically appropriate referral resources and suggest these alternatives. If clients decline the suggested referrals, counselors discontinue the relationship.

A.11.b. Values Within Termination and Referral

Counselors refrain from referring prospective and current clients based solely on the counselor’s personally held values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Counselors respect the diversity of clients and seek training in areas in which they are at risk of imposing their values onto clients, especially when the counselor’s values are inconsistent with the client’s goals or are discriminatory in nature.

A.11.c. Appropriate Termination

Counselors terminate a counseling relationship when it becomes reasonably apparent that the client no longer needs assistance, is not likely to benefit, or is being harmed by continued counseling. Counselors may terminate counseling when in jeopardy of harm by the client or by another person with whom the client has a relationship, or when clients do not pay fees as agreed upon. Counselors provide pretermination counseling and recommend other service providers when necessary.

A.11.d. Appropriate Transfer of Services

When counselors transfer or refer clients to other practitioners, they ensure that appropriate clinical and administrative processes are completed and open communication is maintained with both clients and practitioners.

A.12. Abandonment and Client Neglect

Counselors do not abandon or neglect clients in counseling. Counselors assist in making appropriate arrangements for the continuation of treatment, when necessary, during interruptions such as vacations, illness, and following termination."

• Uvalde EMS: 830-278-6583

• Alamo Area Ambulance: 830-278-4011

• Uvalde Memorial Hospital: 830-278-6251

• Uvalde Police Department: 830-278-3333

• Uvalde Fire Department: 830-591-0514

Non-Emergency Support Services:

• Uvalde Together Resiliency Center: 830-900-7349

• Community Health Development Inc.: 830-278-7105

• Texas Health & Human Services: 211

• Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: 988