I plan to learn the best crisis management plan for bullying during this course. I hope to learn techniques to help students and people experiencing trauma or crisis.

The three forms of trauma are abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction (Starecheski, 2015). Abuse can be considered physical, emotional, or sexual. Neglect categories include physical and emotional. Household dysfunction includes mental illness, incarcerated relatives, mothers treated violently, substance abuse, and divorce. In my experience, the abuse was emotional because I was humiliated by my father over my grades, behavior, and love for my mother. Neglect was both physical and emotional. We never had enough groceries in the house, or clothes were not clean, and I often witnessed my mother being abused physically. The household dysfunction category was extremely adverse in my experience. My mother and father both struggled with bipolar disorder; my father was arrested three times before I was 18, incarcerated for five years, and was released during my senior year of high school. My father was an alcoholic, and both of my parents were drug addicts. Their marriage ended in divorce around my fifth-grade year. My childhood could be considered traumatic. However, the positive things are not factored into the score, and I do think that makes a difference in the long-term effects of childhood trauma.

I also enjoyed watching the documentary and observing it from a counselor's perspective, making connections to ACEs. It was also neat to read classmates' information about their choice of documentary and the information they gathered. This was a helpful assignment.

Starecheski, L. (2015, March 2). Take the ACE quiz — and learn what it does and doesn't mean. NPR.https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/03/02/387007941/take-the-ace-quiz-and-learn-what-it-does-and-doesnt-mean

Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council and Texas State Board of Examiners of Professionals Counselors Rules are the laws a counselor must follow.

Hello, my name is Heather Morton. I am a professional school counselor at Blossom Elementary, completing my third year in this position, and have taught elementary for ten years. I received a Master of Science in Professional School Counseling from Angelo State University in 2021. I am working to complete the LPC Bridge program at Angelo State University by the end of the current school year. I plan to either work in private practice or as the Special Education LPC for our district.

I plan to learn the best crisis management plan for bullying during this course. I hope to learn techniques to help students and people experiencing trauma or crisis.

Prior Knowledge

I believe that the graphic stating that more than 10 million adults have unmet needs for mental health treatment was a shocking statistic for me. I was aware that so often, people self-medicate for anxiety and depression with illegal drug use or alcohol. It was eye-opening to realize how high the number of people are with untreated mental illness. 

I suffer from anxiety and have been treated for it for the past five years. I probably went untreated for 15 years before my diagnosis. Feeling out of control of your emotions is a struggle. I can empathize with others. I took the mental health anxiety quiz and scored severe anxiety 16 out of 21. It was not shocking to me because of the research I have done and my current diagnosis. I also took the “Channel Kindness Mental Health Quiz” and the “Deconstructing Stigma Mental Health Quiz”. Both were enlightening on statistics about mental health. I have had experience with family members battling depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. My 16-year-old daughter is currently being assessed for ADHD. We have always managed her symptoms with strategies that help individuals with ADHD. It is hard as a parent to know when or if it is the right time to medicate for different mental health concerns. Dealing with these things has allowed me to empathize and look at things differently. I believe that I am more likely to research and look for ways to help individuals who are struggling with different trauma or mental health diagnoses because of my personal experience.

This course will be an excellent way to compile helpful information about trauma and mental health for my future role as a Licensed Professional Counselor. I look forward to compiling the information into the padlet format. I enjoy how easy it is to access data from this website. This will benefit me in the future and help ensure I have quality resources. 

The connection between childhood trauma and special education is a significant factor and essential to be aware of in the role of a special education counselor.

https://spark.bethel.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=etd

Based on the information from Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Leveraging the Best Available Evidence and other scholarly articles, ACEs are a good representation of the population and are a valid concept. I took the ACE Quiz on the npr.org website and scored an eight based on my childhood experiences. ACEs are potentially traumatic experiences that occur in childhood (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019). 

The three forms of trauma are abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction (Starecheski, 2015). Abuse can be considered physical, emotional, or sexual. Neglect categories include physical and emotional. Household dysfunction includes mental illness, incarcerated relatives, mothers treated violently, substance abuse, and divorce. In my experience, the abuse was emotional because I was humiliated by my father over my grades, behavior, and love for my mother. Neglect was both physical and emotional. We never had enough groceries in the house, or clothes were not clean, and I often witnessed my mother being abused physically. The household dysfunction category was extremely adverse in my experience. My mother and father both struggled with bipolar disorder; my father was arrested three times before I was 18, incarcerated for five years, and was released during my senior year of high school. My father was an alcoholic, and both of my parents were drug addicts. Their marriage ended in divorce around my fifth-grade year. My childhood could be considered traumatic. However, the positive things are not factored into the score, and I do think that makes a difference in the long-term effects of childhood trauma.

Children are especially susceptible to trauma because they are dependent on adults to meet their basic needs. Suppose the basic needs are not being met and abuse is happening while their brains are still developing. In that case, it can have a lasting effect on brain development and the ability to cope with adversity later in life. Goddard states, "The trauma-informed care approach includes the realization of how ACEs affect health, the recognition of pediatric clinical symptom presentation and screening protocols for ACEs, and the health care provider's ability to respond and not re-traumatize patients when delivering evidence-based care." (Goodard, 2021). 

It should be mandatory for all health professionals to receive education on the effects of trauma and how to assess it. It is essential in my role as a professional school counselor and future LPC because many people are not aware of how trauma can affect them later in life and need resources to help cope with their trauma. Trauma is prevalent in all aspects of counseling. Being able to identify and help provide a toolkit of ways to cope is essential as a counselor.

References

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

Goddard A. (2021). Adverse Childhood Experiences and Trauma-Informed Care. Journal of pediatric health care : official publication of National Association of Pediatric Nurse Associates & Practitioners, 35(2), 145–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedhc.2020.09.001

Starecheski, L. (2015, March 2). Take the ACE quiz — and learn what it does and doesn’t mean. NPR.https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/03/02/387007941/take-the-ace-quiz-and-learn-what-it-does-and-doesnt-mean