M.A in Mental Health & Wellness Counseling

• Personal Goal: Completing this semester would be a personal goal for myself since this is my first semester as a grad student.

  
  

• Professional Goal: Complete Master's degree and licensure requirements to gain LPC and assist clients for better mental health.

I would like to understand the trauma concepts and full emphasis about crisis as a whole. There are many factors about trauma and crisis can distribute towards an individual and understanding coping mechanisms and using the resources will allow me to learn within the course.

I would like to mention about collaboration with different professionals will allow me to learn and grow being an LPC. Counseling had different routes based on the paths we are looking to take, but collaboration and communication is key to assisting the clients for better mental health.

As a future role being a licensed professional counselor, prior knowledge is essential to understanding the elements with mental health with trauma and crisis. I will apply the knowledge and will benefit me in my future career role to assist individuals who go through a traumatic experience.

counseling.edu/resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf

Ganley, Anne L. "Understanding domestic violence." Improving the health care response to domestic violence: A resource manual for health care providers (1995): 15-42.

courseware.cutm.ac.in/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Domestic-violence.pdf

This assignment allowed me to investigate different factors of the traumatic event and how to move forward between the client and counselor. This assignment has taught me from the beginning from the client coming in explaining the situation to designing a plan for the client to live a better mental health life.

The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) studies emphasize the previous experiences that a child may have face previously and trauma has been initiated. The ACE studies demonstrate that children exposed to domestic violence, child abuse, and other traumas will live shorter lives and suffer a lifetime of health and social problems (Liu & Goldstein, 2022). The use of ACE studies to crucial and necessary to assess the previous childhood experiences and how it will be influenced when reached in adulthood. This would be a good representation to the population as a learning opportunity to view how a previous childhood traumatic experience can bring up stress, health concerns, relationship, and social concerns.  

Identify and explain, in your own words, three types (categories) of trauma you found most interesting in the course readings. Provide an example for each trauma.

1. Primary (Direct) Trauma – This refers to trauma experienced either on a personal level or been a witness of the event within a physical or psychological state. An example may include a driver or passenger involved in a car wreck.

2. Acute Trauma – This refers to having a flashback, memory, or an experience in the back of your mind that an individual is unable to move forward from. An example would be a mass shooting at a store and individual keeps thinking about the event constantly.

3. Burnout Trauma – This refers to an individual who is exhausted and does not have the motivation. An example would be a mechanic exhausted from work after dealing with multiple vehicles to fix within the same day.

Why do you think children are especially susceptible to trauma?

Children are susceptible to trauma based on brain development causing them to be vulnerable. Infants and toddlers are exposed to abuse and neglect at disproportionate rates compared to other children, setting a trajectory for disrupted developmental processes and increased vulnerability to future traumatic exposure (Melville, 2017). The trauma can result in children not feeling protected or safe and inadequate behaviors can occur through adulthood.

Identify at least two grief informed or trauma informed strategies that can be used to help a student/client.

A grief informed strategy will be providing the client with open door communication. The client may not open right away with their loss and grief, so it is very important to provide the availability for communication and having compassion in their state of vulnerability. A trauma informed strategy has pattern environment such as writing in the journal for the first thirty minutes of the day for self-reflection or keep a set schedule categorized on different activities such as calming activities and breathing exercises.

Do you think it should be mandated that all health professionals receive education about the effects of trauma and how to access for trauma?

All health professionals need to be updated and aware for trauma and I believe it should be mandated. Traumatic events happen throughout in anyone’s lifetime, and it can affect differently. It is crucial to receive trauma education and how it can be approached for the client.

From your professional perspective, why is it important to have a basic knowledge and understanding of the effects of grief and trauma? (How is the important in your future role?)

The basic knowledge and understanding for grief and trauma to understand the individual’s previous experiences. As a future counselor, the grief and trauma are important to know the understanding of the client’s previous experiences and how to move forward in a positive state for better mental health. 

References:

Liu, E., & Goldstein, B (2022). Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Studies. Family & Intimate Partner Violence Quarterly, 15(2), 33-59

https://easydb.angelo.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=i3h&AN=163521062&site=eds-live&scope=site

Melville, A (2017). Trauma-Exposed Infants and Toddlers: A Review of Impacts and Evidence-Based Interventions. Advances in Social Work, Vol 18. No. 1

https://doi.org/10.18060/21287

This five hour course was designed to complete online and allow me to test my knowledge at the end of the course. In my future role as a licensed counselor, I will use these different strategies to implement individuals within the local community and providing coping techniques to assist individuals with mental health concerns.

This assignment was completed as a group project and we worked together as a team to put a presentation about Domestic Violence. In similarity, working as a team in the project goes hand in hand with other mental health counselors working together to help individuals with domestic violence and taking a stand against it.