A personal goal I have is to travel more once I am done with school. I love to travel with my husband and our two boys. I also enjoy working alongside my therapy dog Maggi. In my minimal free time, I enjoy reading.

Upon completion of the mental health and wellness program in August of this year, I hope to become a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). I aspire to work primarily with youth and also become a registered play therapist. During this course, I hope to learn more about the specifics of how trauma can affect behaviors in children and adolescents to help me with my future goals.

My biggest take away from the reading material in this module was the sheer volume of the mental health needs in this country and even among our children. Coming from an education background, I often look at these numbers from this lens. Mental health is a big concern for teachers and schools, and in my opinion, it is a reason that many teachers are leaving the field. There are too many needs and not enough support. I chose to do a bit of research on this topic and found the following information on how trauma affects children in schools: https://childmind.org/article/how-trauma-affects-kids-school/

Even outside schools, the needs often outweigh the services. My personal experience as a qualified mental health professional and a school counselor has shown me that oftentimes, families are made to wait months for quality psychiatric care for their children. Additionally, families who are on Medicaid have limited choices when it comes to mental health resources. I deal with many children who have extensive trauma and who have very limited options when it comes to mental health care. This leads to their mental health needs being untreated or undertreated at times.  

In my future role as a professional counselor; knowledge of trauma, crisis, and mental illness is imperative to help my clients achieve their goals to improve their mental health and wellbeing. Without this knowledge, I would not be able to help my clients effectively. For example, the effects of trauma can mimic different diagnoses, such as ADHD. It is important as a counselor to know these things in order to help my clients and their parents identify what is truly going on in order to help the situation. I hope to learn more about trauma throughout this course to become the best therapist possible. 

ACEs can have adverse effects, and the more ACEs a child experiences, the more likely a child is to experience adverse effects. Some of these consequences include; diminished education and job potential, increased risks of injury, sexually transmitted infections, maternal and child health problems (including teen pregnancy, pregnancy complications, and fetal death), involvement in sex trafficking, and a wide range of chronic diseases and leading causes of death, such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and suicide. Children experiencing ACEs also may grow up having difficulty forming healthy relationships. They may struggle with depression, finances, and job stability throughout their lives. These affects can then be passed on to their children (CDC, 2023).

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 2023, June 29. Adverse childhood experiences.