https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk What is “wellness” in the counseling field? How might counselors facilitate optimal development and wellness over the lifespan? How does wellness impact resilience? What tools and techniques might we use to build resilience? How might Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) impact development/wellness? How are ACEs manifest across the lifespan? Does ACA address self-care in our Code of Ethics? en-us 2022-05-22 23:28:02 UTC 2025-11-09 12:54:11 UTC hello@padlet.com chensonnccu https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2218959622 This post offers a definition of what Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are. The post also introduces how ACEs impact overall wellness.

What are aces? and how do they relate to toxic stress? Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2020, October 30). Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/aces-and-toxic-stress-frequently-asked-questions/ ]]> 2022-06-13 02:27:06 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2218959622 chensonnccu https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2218961064 This post allows the reader to take an ACEs quiz to learn his/her/their ACEs score. The article introduces the three categories of ACEs and the health risks associated with ACEs.

Starecheski, L. (2015, March 2). Take the ace quiz - and learn what it does and doesn't mean. NPR. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/03/02/387007941/take-the-ace-quiz-and-learn-what-it-does-and-doesnt-mean ]]> 2022-06-13 02:28:27 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2218961064 chensonnccu https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2218968153 This CDC PDF is a helpful resource. Readers learn about how ACEs influence health and opportunity (p. 8), prevention strategies (p. 8-17), and interventions to lessen immediate and long-term harm (p. 21ff)

Leveraging the best available evidence - centers for disease control ... (n.d.). Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/preventingACES.pdf ]]> 2022-06-13 02:35:27 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2218968153 yjames21 https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2219681166 All information is listed under "Knowledge Center" on the ACA website. 
**Self-Care Resources for Counselors**
The American Counseling Association recognizes that the work counselors do, while very important and rewarding, can also be stressful. Self-care is an essential tool that can help in dealing with stress. The following ACA resources focus on self-care for counselors.

Article recommendations by the ACA:

1.  Self-care for the activist counselor
https://ct.counseling.org/2018/06/self-care-for-the-activist-counselor/

2. Behind the book: Counselor self-care
https://ct.counseling.org/2018/04/behind-the-book-counselor-self-care/

3. Stumbling blocks to counselor self-care
https://ct.counseling.org/2015/02/stumbling-blocks-to-counselor-self-care/

4. Cultivating a practice of mindfulness
https://ct.counseling.org/2016/12/cultivating-practice-mindfulness/



]]> 2022-06-13 15:17:56 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2219681166 yjames21 https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2219699843 https://imis.counseling.org/store/detail.aspx?id=78143

Additional recommended books by the ACA on Self-Care/Wellness are listed below:

1.  The Secrets of Exceptional Counselors
     Jeffrey A. Kottler
https://imis.counseling.org/store/detail.aspx?id=78141

2. Relationships in Counseling and the Counselors Life
    Jeffrey A. Kottler and Richard S. Balkin
https://imis.counseling.org/store/detail.aspx?id=78132

3. Disaster Mental Health Counseling: A Guide to Preparing and Responding, Fourth Edition Edited by Jane M. Webber and J. Barry Mascari
https://imis.counseling.org/store/detail.aspx?id=78126


]]> 2022-06-13 15:35:14 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2219699843 jtilson2 https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2219724623
When you hear the word "wellness" several things might come to mind. You might naturally gravitate to think about physical or mental health. Maybe you think of success? But how is wellness defined in the counseling field?

One working definition of wellness is "an active process through which people become aware of, and make choices toward a more successful existence",  Sweeny and Witmer (2000). 

Wellness is more than physical strength or overall strong mental health. Scroll below to get a glimpse into a more holistic view of wellness in the counseling field.

]]> 2022-06-13 16:00:19 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2219724623 jtilson2 https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2219801320 The Indivisible Self is an evidence based model of wellness, whose roots can be found in the The Wheel of Wellness theoretical model. The concept fostered in the Indivisible Self Model is that humans exist in a holistic way, where individual parts of the self interact but are indivisible.


]]> 2022-06-13 17:20:20 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2219801320 mhobbs81 https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2219973178 Wellness and resilience go hand-in-hand. Resiliency is a person's ability to cope and adapt to new situations. Implications of a developmental systems approach to resilience include: Resilience is dynamic and changes over time dependent on the experience of the individual. Resilence also depends on internal and external systems relative to the individual. Interventions to nurture or bolster resilience can target different processes within levels or linking system levels (Masten et al, 2021).

Without personal wellness such as positive self-image, high confidence, and the individual ability to embrace growth and adapt, one's resilience can be directly impacted. Lack of wellness chips away at one developing the ability to build resilience, but it is never too late to build resiliency back up! (Reach Out, 2022).  

]]> 2022-06-13 21:17:16 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2219973178 mhobbs81 https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2219988448 Story telling activities can be a great way to build your resiliency!

Think of a narrative you have told yourself over and over. A narrative that may not be productive to your self image or self esteem, for example. Now, replace some negative pieces of that story with positive pieces.

Example: I lost my luggage at the airport and didn't have internet to find my way places when I got to a new country. This city must hate me. I never prepare well enough.
Change to: My luggage got to me a little later than I arrived in the country, but I was able to find my way to the hotel and have some spontaneous adventures without having to Google everything! I always think so well on my feet.
What changed? You took control of the narrative in a positive way! You found your way and had fun despite some minor setbacks. ]]> 2022-06-13 21:49:03 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2219988448 mhobbs81 https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2220025560 Through practice and self-awareness, resiliency can be built and fine-tuned to the individual harnessing the power. Incremental wins are the path to building a strong foundation. Cognitive Behavioral approaches are correlated with success and can be integrated into client homework. Some exercises that can build resilience and mental toughness include: 

Storytelling activities
Purpose reflection 
Positive psychology 
Perform acts of kindness 
Gratitude activities 
Three good things activities 
Find something funny 
Find the silver lining 
Body scan 

...and so much more! https://positivepsychology.com/resilience-activities-exercises/#what]]> 2022-06-13 23:01:17 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2220025560 jtilson2 https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2220985928 Wellness is not a one size fits all. Our age, context and lifestyle all effect wellness. These areas of life also change over the lifespan, meaning wellness look different at different times for different people.]]> 2022-06-14 16:24:24 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2220985928 yjames21 https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2222491894 All apps listed are available in the App Store and Google Play. ]]> 2022-06-16 01:16:21 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2222491894 yjames21 https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2222501864 2022-06-16 01:26:00 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2222501864 yjames21 https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2222508732 Meditation for Sleep & Anxiety ]]> 2022-06-16 01:32:43 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2222508732 yjames21 https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2222522269 Limited information is identified in the Code of Ethics related to counselor self-care.  
"In addition, counselors engage in self-care activities to maintain and promote their own emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual well-being to best meet their professional responsibilities."   (American Counseling Association, 2014, p. 8) 

https://www.counseling.org/resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf]]> 2022-06-16 01:46:58 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2222522269 yjames21 https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2224943270 You are Worth it!]]> 2022-06-19 14:09:10 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2224943270 chensonnccu https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2225084194 "Childhood trauma isn’t something you just get over as you grow up. Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris explains that the repeated stress of abuse, neglect and parents struggling with mental health or substance abuse issues has real, tangible effects on the development of the brain. This unfolds across a lifetime, to the point where those who’ve experienced high levels of trauma are at triple the risk for heart disease and lung cancer. An impassioned plea for pediatric medicine to confront the prevention and treatment of trauma, head-on."

Harris, N. B. (n.d.). How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime. Nadine Burke Harris: How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime | TED Talk. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://www.ted.com/talks/nadine_burke_harris_how_childhood_trauma_affects_health_across_a_lifetime?language=en ]]> 2022-06-19 20:52:00 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2225084194 chensonnccu https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2225090868 This talk describes the lasting impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and resultant mental illness before explaining the effect on the brain.

Symmons, R. (2020, April 3). Adverse childhood experiences: What's it got to do with me? YouTube. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxmzjpp9AC0 ]]> 2022-06-19 21:16:01 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2225090868 chensonnccu https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2225095103 "This report presents an ecobiodevelopmental framework that illustrates how early experiences and environmental influences can leave a lasting signature on the genetic predispositions that affect emerging brain architecture and long-term health. The report also examines extensive evidence of the disruptive impacts of toxic stress, offering insights into causal mechanisms that link early adversity to later impairments in learning, behavior, and both physical and mental well-being. Research suggests that many adult diseases should be viewed as developmental disorders that begin early in life and that persistent health disparities associated with poverty, discrimination, or maltreatment could be reduced by the alleviation of toxic stress in childhood."

Shonkoff, J. P., Garner, A. S., Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care, and Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Siegel, B. S., Dobbins, M. I., Earls, M. F., ... & Wood, D. L. (2012). The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics, 129(1), e232-e246]]> 2022-06-19 21:31:56 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2225095103 chensonnccu https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2225098801 This article illustrates the relationship between health risk behavior and disease in adulthood to the breadth of exposure to childhood emotional, physical, or sexual abuse and household dysfunction during childhood. Persons who had experienced four or more categories of childhood exposure, compared to those who had experienced none, had 4- to 12-fold increased health risks for alcoholism, drug abuse, depression, and suicide attempt; a 2- to 4-fold increase in smoking, poor self-rated health, more sexual intercourse partners, and more sexually transmitted disease; and a 1.4- to 1.6-fold increase in physical inactivity and severe obesity. The number of adverse childhood exposure categories showed a graded relationship to the presence of adult diseases, including ischemic heart disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, skeletal fractures, and liver disease. The seven categories of adverse childhood experiences were strongly interrelated, and persons with multiple categories of childhood exposure were likely to have multiple health risk factors later in life. The study found a strong graded relationship between the breadth of exposure to abuse or household dysfunction during childhood and multiple risk factors for several leading causes of death in adults.

Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., & Marks, J. S. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. American journal of preventive medicine, 14(4), 245-258.]]> 2022-06-19 21:44:43 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2225098801 chensonnccu https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2225103449 Clinical studies suggest childhood maltreatment may cause nervous system changes and consequent cognitive disorders. The persistence of this association in late life is examined in this study. The study found that some adverse childhood events continue to have a negative effect on later-life cognitive performance. In contrast, some more severe acute events may have the opposite effect, underlying the necessity to consider events individually and not as global test scores. For example, sharing parental problems and, for women, losing a parent was associated with poorer verbal retrieval, whereas being sent to a foster home or mistreated by schoolmates was associated with poor visuospatial memory. Severe abuse was associated with a lower risk of cognitive impairment on some tests suggesting a resilience factor.

Ritchie, K., Jaussent, I., Stewart, R., Dupuy, A.-M., Courtet, P., Malafosse, A., & Ancelin, M.-L. (2010). Adverse childhood environment and late-life cognitive functioning. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 26(5), 503–510. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.2553 ]]> 2022-06-19 22:05:26 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2225103449 chensonnccu https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2225108637 “The child may not remember, but the body remembers.” The documentary Resilience reveals toxic stress can trigger hormones that wreak havoc on the brains and bodies of children, putting them at a greater risk for disease, homelessness, prison time, and early death. While the broader impacts of poverty worsen the risk, no segment of society is immune. Resilience also chronicles the movement to fight back. Trailblazers in pediatrics, education, and social welfare are using cutting-edge science and field-tested therapies to protect children from the effects of toxic stress—and the dark legacy of a childhood that no child would choose.

This documentary is available for purchase or rental through YouTube. For more information on "Resilience" visit the film's website at: https://kpjrfilms.co/resilience/

Redford, J. (Director). (2016). Resilience: the biology of stress and the science of hope [Film]. KPJR Films.]]> 2022-06-19 22:27:16 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2225108637 mhobbs81 https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2225110622 2022-06-19 22:35:16 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2225110622 mhobbs81 https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2225111328 2022-06-19 22:37:52 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2225111328 mhobbs81 https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2225111609 2022-06-19 22:39:06 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2225111609 chensonnccu https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2225112814 At the crossroads of at-risk teens and trauma-informed care, that Paper Tigers takes root. Set within and around the campus of Lincoln Alternative High School in the rural community of Walla Walla, Washington, Paper Tigers asks the following questions: What does it mean to be a trauma-informed school? And how do you educate teens whose childhood experiences have left them with a brain and body ill-suited to learn? In search of clear and honest answers, Paper Tigers hinges on a remarkable collaboration between subject and filmmaker. Armed with their cameras and voices, the teens of Paper Tigers offer raw but valuable insight into the hearts and minds of teens pushing back against the specter of a hard childhood. Against the harsh reality of truancy, poor grades, emotional pain, and physical violence, answers begin to emerge. The answers do not come easily. Nor can one deduce a one-size-fits-all solution to a trauma-informed education. But there is no denying something subtle and powerful at work between teacher and student alike: the quiet persistence of love.

This documentary is available for rental or purchase on YouTube. For more information, visit the movie's website at: https://kpjrfilms.co/paper-tigers/

Redford, J. (Director). (2015). Paper tigers: one high school's unlikely success story [Film]. KPJR Films.]]> 2022-06-19 22:43:10 UTC https://padlet.com/chensonnccu/dfl6jpem0yivqsjk/wish/2225112814