https://www.counseling.org/knowledge-center/ethics#2014code

The ACA Code of Ethics contain nine main sections which address the following:

• The Counseling Relationship, Confidentiality and Privacy

• Professional Responsibility

• Relationships with Other professionals

• Evaluation Assessment and Interpretation Supervision, Training, and Teaching

• Research and Publication

• Distant Counseling, Technology, and Social Media

• Resolving Issues

ACA code of ethics is relevant to the role of a professional counselor. The ACA code I will elaborate on is A.1. Client Welfare, The responsibility of the counselor is to respect the client and promote the welfare of the client (ACA Code of Ethics as Approved by the ACA Governing Council Mission for Non-Commercial Purposes Only, 2014).

ACA Code of Ethics As approved by the ACA Governing Council Mission for non-commercial purposes only. (2014). https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/2014-code-of-ethics-finaladdressc97d33f16116603abcacff0000bee5e7.pdf?sfvrsn=5d6b532c_6

After reading through the course resources, I learned about the different levels of mental health illnesses and even more the statistics regarding mental health. I am eager to dive deeper into the statistics and research further regarding how mental health impacts a diverse group of individuals and groups. I believe that learning about mental health and trauma is so important to my current and future role as a counselor. Currently, I am a certified school counselor working at a school serving students who are majority lower social economic. Many of my students are dealing with situations such as poverty, single parent households, mental illnesses, learning disabilities, and many others. As a counselor, I want to become very aware of how trauma may truly be impacting their lives and learn how I can best support my students as their counselor. 

I found this article https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness interesting because it dives deep into the statistics regarding mental health. I also find that this article defines the definiton of mental health and further explains populations that are impacted the most.

In unit 2, I researched five different mental health disorders including Depression, Anxiety, Psychosis, Substance Abuse Disorder, and Eating Disorders. I learned new information from each mental health disorder that I was not aware of before. The mental disorder that stood out to me the most is Eating Disorder. I was not very familiar with eating disorders before this assignment. From the Mayo Clinic resource, I learned that Anorexia Nervosa is not necessarily about the food but instead is a very unhealthy way to cope with challenges about one own's weight. This can also be a life threatening disorder. Individuals with Anorexia often associate thinness with quality of life (Mayo Clinic, 2018).

ReferencesMayo Clinic. (2018, February 20). Anorexia nervosa - symptoms and causes. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/anorexia-nervosa/symptoms-causes/syc-20353591

For unit 2 assignment, I dived deeper into the issue of trauma and watched a documentary that depicted what trauma may look like in the life of different individuals. The documentary that I decided to watch is The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez. This documentary was by far the most horrendous and saddest story of child abuse and neglect that I ever watched. While exploring the documentary, I saw patterns of trauma within the entire family or group. Watching the documentary really taught me the importance of studying patterns and trauma amongst all individuals of a family. The abuse Gabriel suffered at the hands of his mother and her boyfriend was so unfair. They never dealt with their own trauma and instead projected their own insecurities and anger on this sweet little boy who is no longer here with us today (The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez | Netflix Official Site, n.d.).

The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez | Netflix Official Site. (n.d.). Www.netflix.com. https://www.netflix.com/title/80220207