reflections on this Christmas season

This week I was a coffee shop with my dad. We were talking about Christmas. I told my dad that my dream gift was a iPad. Now I recognize that a iPad is a very expensive gift. So I know that this is not going to happen this holiday season. But we were talking about what my dream gift was.

Also this week I read a press release from success for kids and families, a organization that I have been affiliated with for a long time. Also this organization is the site for my internship next semester. I would like to include a statement from this press release. This is from the executive director of success for kids , Who is also a colleague of mine.she was talking about what success for kids is doing for their families this holiday season .  "Even though the average gifting amount is enough to get the kids a cool electronics toy-most of the kids themselves have asked for something really practical this year-like ‘a pair of shoes without holes in em'- or ‘my first pair of jeans that are not hand-me-downs"

As I reflect on this statement, I am beginning to wonder what is the true meaning of Christmas. I asked for a a iPad, and these kids ask for stuff like shoes and what they need to survive . I have seen a lot of stuff as a mental-health counseling professionals, that I never saw before. My experiences, have given me the opportunity to work with individuals that do not want iPad, they just want stuff to survive the next day. I read about these stories all the time, and I am beginning to see just how heartbreaking these stories can be.

It didn't used to be this way. I have now had the opportunity to workfor phenomenal organizations, that seek to help individuals in these kinds of situations. I know now that the meaning of Christmas cannot be the gifts that you get, because some people do not receive gifts. They do not have a family and friends to you with on Christmas Day. The greatest gift that they will ask for, is a gift that will let them survive. 

As I write this, I recognize how fortunate I am this Christmas season. I recognize that I will be able to spend time with friends and family. I might get a couple gifts. But the opportunity to spend time with family and friends will be the greatest gift of all.

Merry Christmas my friends. I hope you have the opportunity to spend time with loved ones this holiday season. Peace, and God bless.

Richard Chapman, on the profession 2011.

Why personal growth is professional growth

I can't speak for my fellow classmates, but I have long assumed I am not the only one whose work toward a master's degree in rehabilitation and mental health counseling has been more than a professional journey. It is, in fact, a professional journey -- but a personal one, too. (That's what happens when all your professors are therapists.) So while we grow as counselors, we have the opportunity to grow as people -- that is, if we are willing.

And both professionally and personally, I think we should be.

I will never forget the first class I took in our graduate program: foundations of mental health counseling. From day one, I had come to the conclusion that every person on earth should take the class -- not because I think every person should be a counselor, but because it is the perfect class to spark the kind of self awareness that makes all of our needs for growth completely obvious (and yes, we all need to grow!). You learn about empathy versus sympathy: As Brene Brown puts it in her book I Thought it was Just Me (But it Isn't), "...when we give sympathy, we do not reach across to understand the world as others see it. We look at others from our world and feel sorry or sad for them. ... Empathy is about connection. Sympathy is about separation." You learn the roadblocks to effective communication: ridiculing, criticizing, warning/threatening, telling people what they should or ought or have to do, commanding, starting your sentences with the phrases "do you realize?" or "At least...", interrogating, giving unsolicited advice, I could go on. You learn what distorted thoughts are and why they are maladaptive.

And then you have to decide: do I learn these things and only use them professionally? Or do I learn these things, use them to discern what in my life needs improvement and proceed to make the necessary changes?

Growth -- be it physical, professional or personal -- is uncomfortable. For personal growth, we are required to step outside our comfort zones, to stretch ourselves, to push ourselves. We have to dig deep inside -- deeper than we've looked before -- and uncover what we've always kept covered, shine some light on we have otherwise always kept in the dark. Sometimes, we have to acknowledge what we've always avoided acknowledging. Other times, we have to acknowledge what we didn't even realize we weren't acknowledging. And it's hard work, and it's painful, and uncomfortable.

But you know what? It's exactly what one day we'll ask our clients to do. It is part of the process we will facilitate for them when they are the clients and we are therapists. How good can we be at that if we have never known it ourselves? I don't remember exactly when, but at some point in the course of taking classes toward this master's, it dawned on me that for people in our field, while to grow personally is valuable in and of itself, to grow personally is also to grow professionally. You do the former, and you will do the latter. Period.

Arleen is six classes away from her MA in rehabilitation and mental health counseling. Check out her blog at http://arleenspenceley.blogspot.com.

introduction to gust contributing

hello everyone I hope you all are having a good time this week before Christmas. I wanted to talk to you about something new for on the profession. Every couple weeks, I will be getting someone to guest post on my blog. The idea behind this event's to give you guys adifferent perspective about the counseling profession. It is my hope to change the conversation about counseling. This will be a opportunity for some of my colleagues and friends to share a different perspective about the counseling profession.



I am really excited to have my very good friend and colleague Arlene to be the first guest contributor on my blog. She is a master student in the Department of rehabilitation and mental health counseling at the University of South Florida. She is also a journalist for the St. Pete Times. She tells me that she is very excited about being a contributor. This blog will be out on Wednesday. As always please let me know what you think

the complex issue of sexual attraction in the counseling relationship

Hello folks, I hope you all having a good day. I want to talk about the complex issue of sexual attraction in the counseling relationship. This is a issues that is often not told about for a variety of reasons. I will be getting into those reasons in a couple of paragraphs. The idea of this blog is coming from a conversation I had with a colleague and a friend of mine about the subject of sexual attraction is the counseling relationship.

So let me give you some ethical and legal guidelines about this subject. Some of this is pretty common sense. It is unethical to have sex with a active client. There is no way around this ethical principle. In the state of Florida, you can lose your license if you violate this ethical principle.As mental health professions we have a duty to take action if we know about professional that is doing this.

This is the ethical standard that we must follow. However the issue of sexual attraction is very complicated. because of the nature of the counseling relationship, attraction does take place. This is a natural. However, acting on those feelings is unethical.

So what should you do if a client says they are attracted to you? This is a topic that you should talk about it session. You as a professional have the duty to set appropriate boundaries with the client. You should explore the meaning behind the attraction. We always want to approach the subject like we do in all subjects, in a unconditional positive regard manner. We always want to be non-judgmental.

Okay so we know how to handle this issue, but what happens if the practitioner is attracted to the client? This does sometimes happen. However again , we can not violate this ethical standard above. So how do you handle a situation of attraction? There was not a lot of the literature on this, but the literature does have some recommendations. You should never discuss this with the client. By discussing it, you will bring your business into the counseling relationship. You should seek supervision on this issue. it is very appropriate to ask for help. You need to remember that, this is not relevant to the Relationship you have with the client. See a counselor your self if it is appropriate to discuss the underlying issue.

a response to Jeff

hello folks, I hope everyone is having a good day. As many of you know, I believe that a blog it's supposed to be a blog is supposed to be a ongoing dialogue between people. I forming believe that a blog, is about the free exchange of differing ideas. Going along with that, I would like to take this opportunity to respond to a friend of mine, who recently posted a comment on this blog.

This is what a friend of mine said on my last blog"its difficult to medically diagnose "some differences that must be addressed" . Iwould like to say thank you to my friend, Jeff from making this comment about my last blog. I agree with him, it is difficult to diagnose differences. However, I was not arguing that we don't need to diagnose people. Sometime, a diagnosis is a way to give people a name for finally what they have. A diagnosis will sometimes give people the supports and help then they need. So I diagnosis is a good thing.

What I was saying is that we need to be careful with labeling the diagnosis.I believe when we label people as having a complex mental health issue, that we do something to that individuals. Everyone dissolves the opportunity, to get the help that they need. Even if some people say that they have a complex and serious mental illness. Some people argued, that because a individual has a severe diagnosis, and they do not need help.

It is always not necessarily to provide treatment to individuals, and diagnose You can see a individual with out giving them a diagnosis.

I need help with a definition of something

yes everyone I am still alive. This semester is done, and I began my final semester of graduate school in rehabilitation and mental health counseling. I can't believe that I am about be done. It seems like only yesterday that I began my graduate studies. So I have been thinking a lot about something, and I need you guys help.

So right now I am a meeting of self advocates, will I am a speaker at this meeting. I am having a ball. I have listened to a lot of individuals that have a complex disabilities by societies standards. Some people might say that they have a severe disability. The question that I have been struggling with is, what is the definition of a complex disability? How do we define this?.

I have some more my friends that work with individuals that have a severe mental illness. I believe that we can define a disability by, the level of complexity. I'm believe that when we define a individual by the level of complexity, then we are treating them as a individual that needs to be taken care of. I believe that we need to treat people as people. We don't need to define them by the artificial level of disability that society has given them. This goes for individuals with all different types of disabilities.

My only advice, to my friends in the mental health profession is, instead of saying that an individual has a complex disability , say that individual has some differences that must be addressed. We need believe that we can help all individuals. All individuals, regardless of their differences should have access to the same level of services that we provide .

life does not have guarantees, neither does counseling.

So to this blog is about ethics. Ethics is something that I keep very seriously as a professional. I believe that you have to. Every class we talk about the ethical aspects of this profession. We even have a class on the legal and ethical implications of mental health counseling. I always believed that you need to have high ethical standards.

So I want to bring a real life ethical scenario to you. So one of my colleagues, who is someone that I have a lot of respect for is a professional was talking about a article that was published in a community news paper. This article was written by 2 mental health professional. One of them is a license psychologist, and one of them is a license mental health counselor. The article stated that they do advertising for mental health coaching services. They will also making some guarantees about the services that they provide. I have a couple problems with this article. One of the people that was featured in this article is a colleague, that I have a lot of respect for. He also has some different perspectives on the nature of counseling. So this is why I was taken back on the article. I am not saying that he is not a competent professional. What I am saying is that the article, made some statements that should not have been made. We can never guarantee anything in this profession. It all depends on a lot of other things. Second, I am a mental health counselor professional. I am not a mental health coach. I don't even know what a mental health coach is. We always need to be careful to say the right thing about what we do to the general public. I don't believe that my colleague was trying to be unethical. What I am saying is statements should have been made.

The use of psychodrama:

So like I promisedI said that I would give you some information on the use of psychodrama. I w introduced to the concept of psychodrama by one of my clinical supervisoat Metropolitan ministries. Below is a document that I created about psychodrama from my group psychotherapy class.

What is psychodrama?

Psychodrama what was founded by J.L. Moreno in the 1930. Psychodrama is a action approach to group therapy. Psychodrama involves having clients explore issues utilizing action Techniques such as role-playing, and utilizing various dramatic techniques. Utilizing psychodrama as a technique creativity, and spontaneity. It focuses on working in the present. The technique of psychodrama is really action focus.

It should be mentioned that, psychodrama emphasizes both creativity and spontaneity. As stated before, psychodrama it is a technique that is very action focus.

Who is involved in a psychodrama?

Psychodrama involves a unique set of vocabulary describing the group therapy process. Psychodrama utilizes specific language to describe the participants of inner psychodrama. Some of these participants include.

·                     The protagonists: is the one that is the focus of the psychodrama. This person is the one that is doing the work for the day.

·                     The director: is the main group therapists that is doing the work for the day.

·                     Auxiliaries: a auxiliary is a individual that is a supporting these psychodrama. Auxiliaries support the psychodrama. They could be individuals that the protagonist needs to talk to, such as relatives.

·                     The audience: they are the individuals that are not participating directly in the psychodrama. In the audience provides support and feedback to the individual that is the protagonists.

What is classical psychodrama?

Classical psychodrama is a very complex, and intense process. Classical psychodrama is normally broken out in three distinct phases. These phases include.

·                     The warm-up: the warm-up is the beginning of the psychodrama. Warm-up exercises can vary depending on what the purpose of the psychodrama is. Warm-up exercises include the director giving a brief explanation about what psychodrama is. Also group members could go around and make a comment about what they'll are experiencing in the moment.

·                     The action phase: the action phase of the psychodrama involves the enactment of various situations. The action phase could utilize various psychodrama techniques.

·                     The sharing and discussion phase: this phase involves the processing of the psychodrama. The sharing and discussion phase involves the reactions of the reactions of the group about what just took place in the psychodrama. This phase is about creating a nonjudgmental environment for sharing.

The implementation of classical psychodrama is a complex process. If you plan to utilize classical psychodrama, you should seek additional training.

Techniques utilized in psychodrama.

Psychodrama utilizes a variety of techniques. Below are some techniques that can be utilized

·                     doubling: doubling is the reflection of the protagonists inner voice. This is reflected by a auxiliary.

·                     The empty chair: this technique is often utilized in Gestalt therapy, but it was actually developed specifically for psychodrama.

References:  Corey, G. (2008)  Theory and practice of group counseling. 8^th edition-

Life is busy but good

Hello folks, yes I am still alive. I am discovering that I am busy graduate student, and that is not had time to blog. I'm going to try to get back into blogging. It has been a very exciting, but yet busy semester. I have discovered some stuff about the counseling profession, that is challenging me to grow as a professional. I am still amazed at the counseling profession. I would like to give you some updates about what I have discovered.

. Group psychotherapy is absolutely amazing. This is probably one of my favorite classes of the semester. I see group psychotherapy as a dynamic technique to provide therapy to clients. I am a lot more passionate about group therapy now. I have definitely decided that I wanted to get more training in group psychotherapy. This will hopefully be a area of specialization from me. I would like to facilitate a couple of ongoing therapy groups when I get out into building a practice.

This next one, will probably make Stephanie proud. Since I am getting into group psychotherapy, I have decided that I would like to get my certification in psychodrama. Psychodrama is a technique that uses actions, instead of talking about issues. I will be devoting my next blog to psychodrama. This will be a ongoing training process.

　

I have also decided that I may want to receive additional training in working with addictions. Addictions is a area that I didn't think I would like very much. This is probably my second favorite class this semester.

I have signed up to the CRC. The CRC is a very big exam for rehabilitation counselors. I will be taking the exam in March.

I finally bought a upgrade Dragon 11. Dragon 11 is my voice-activated software that I used to dictate. I will say that Dragon 11 is a voice-activated software.

My family is doing great. Everyone is good. Love you all, and I will talk to you later.

Community and a piece of baklava

Community is something that I valued deeply as a mental health professional. It is my belief that everyone needs to belong to some type of community. I am fortunate that I belonged to many communitys in my professional, and personal life. I would like to talk to you about a community that I have been adopted into.
One of my favorite places to eat is a place called Tarek's Cafe. Tarek's Cafe is the community that has adopted me. It is the only family owned and operated eating establishment on the University of South Florida campus. It is run by Tarek, Jefl, Kristen, and jenfer . They have been on the USF campus since 1993. They have the absolute best food on campus. The food is very good, but that is not why I keep coming back. It has been because of the relationships that I have established with them. I have a very close relationship with them. It is a good place to go and talk about, baseball, and football. It is a great place to go and talk about the news of the day. There is also a great place to catch up with people. They have also taught me a great deal about how to take care of all types of people. They always try to take care of people. If someone, has forgotten money, they say give us the money tomorrow. If you have a meeting for 15 people, and you forgot to call they normally can accommodate you. Everything they tried to do is based on social capital. Relationship that they have established with people, is how they get stuff done. If they don't know you, they would try to help you out. The community that has been established with this group of people is a really unique relationship that I have had the privilege of being a part of.
So how does this relate to counseling profession? As I stated at the beginning, community is something that I deeply value not only in my professional, but my personal life. The work that we do as mental health professionals, is at times very stressful. We need to have a community of people, willing to back us up. Willing to share food with us. Willing to be in relationship with us. This is something that is very important to all of us. We also need to recognize, that client is that we provide treatment to may not have community, or social capital like I described above. We must be willing to help to empower our clients to seek out community like Tarek's Cafe. This is something that I will go into in a future blog. Don't lose touch with people. Establish relationships with all types of people. Be willing to seek out community. Community is life changing to people. With community, come this concept of social capital. Community is important to all. Seek it out.

Self advocacy, hope, and the mental health profession

Let's say that you are working in a community mental health center. Let's say that you have a client that has a mental health diagnoses. Let's say that you are a new treatment provider, because his old one lost his job because of gross incompetence. You discover that the treatment provider has not met with the client in the past three months. What in the hell do you do?
Let me state that this is a hypothetical case. I am using this case to talk about the importance of teaching our clients self advocacy skills. Especially a client's in a community mental health environment. I can use this case study to talk about the ethics of the profession. I am not going to do that. I have studied self advocacy theory for a very long time. Self advocacy in a nutshell is about expressing choices that affect your own life. It is also about standing up for your rights. It is also about taking control over your own life. Self advocacy is something that is extremely important to me. I also believe that as ethical professionals we must empower clients to get some level of control over their own lives. Often times people in the community mental health environment are treated as less than. Is this right? No. This is why I have a love-hate relationship with community mental health. Some organizations client get lost in. This is live self advocacy skills are very important. If we teach our clients to advocate for themselves, then when something goes wrong they client will be able to express what they need.
Is this complicated in a community mental health environment, absolutely. Some people could argue that some people have a severe mental illness that prevents them from advocating for themselves. In my response to this, I say severe mental illness is about recovery. With treatment people will improve the quality of their lives. They might have times where they are in crisis, and needing to get stabilized back on the road to recovery. Self advocacy is a tool to empower our clients to some level of control over their lives. I argue that if we teach self advocacy, clients will be able to stay in recovery. We need to give people are hope, that life will get better. Hope is a valuable commodity, that must be giving freely to all people.

This is not acceptable

Hello folks I hope everything is going okay. It has been definitely on long time since I've last blogged. School has been very busy. I have been doing some traveling. I also have been givensome presentation. I gave a presentation today to a group of individuals that provide support to individuals with disabilities. Most of these people are family members of individuals with disabilities. The presentation went very well. I also had the opportunity to go to a presentation by one of my colleagues who is a student at the University of South Florida. The topic was on sexual health for individuals with developmental disability. Focusing on individuals with the autism spectrum disorder. this is a topic that I am very familiar with, or so I thought. I found something that was very surprising, there is a high prevalence of sexual abuse of individuals with a developmental disability. So high that I have been questioning the statistics that was talked about in the presentation. I am not saying that statistic is wrong. I am saying it is a problem that has not been brought to my attention.
I am a mental health professional. I recognize the impact that sexual abuse has on individuals. As a mental health professional, I do not find it acceptable to tolerate any type of abuse. As a disability advocate, I feel the same way. The presentation menu recognize the importance of having knowledge about trauma.
Individuals with DD need to have access to reliable information on sexual health. Having access to this type of information will prevent sexual abuse. We need to recognize that sex is normal or of life. This is any type of sexual abuse is something that will never be accepted. Being in this presentation has made me want to explore this issue. This will not bring my last blog on this topic. I know as a disability advocate, and a mental health professional I can not stand silent. This is not acceptable.

The privileges of this profession

Folks I talked about some of the hazards of this profession. I would like to talk about some of the privileges.

So as I begin to get into this profession, I recognize how much of a privilege it is to be able to do you what we do. Sometimes what we do require those of us in the profession to do stuff that we never thought we would have to do. I am thinking about issues of reporting child abuse, performing suicide risk assessments, and involuntary placement someone in the hospital against their will. As a license mental health professional I have this privilege, and this responsibility. I do not take this for granted. I recognize how much this is a responsibility. This is why it is also a privilege. As a 25-year-old I never saw that I would have this privilege and responsibility. This is not something that I take for granted. Often I feel that we are often we do not know what we are doing. We only go with the client takes us. Sometimes it takes us on a wonderful joining. e Often times it takes us to a place of pain for that individual. I believe that we must be able to be able to form a strong therapeutic relationship with the client. I believe that this therapeutic relationship is the primary vehicle for change in that individual. For that reason I am still very person centered. I am also interested in the utilization of other theoretical vehicles.
Because of what we have to do sometimes, we need to have a good group of people to back us up. This includes supervisors. Supervisors have been there before, they know how to get you through the difficult issues. We need family. People that don't know about some of the stuff we have seen. People that just love us for who we are. We need community. We need people around us that are willing to support us no matter what. We also need administrators that will keep the doors open so that we will be able to practice our craft. We also need to recognize that we are not superheroes. We cannot do everything. We cannot help every client. On the other hand, we need to go in with the belief that we can help every client.
All of the big three issues that I talked about above have such a gravity on the situation. I was talking to a colleague today. She was talking about what she was doing at the internship that she is that right now. She made me realize that what we do is definitely a privilege. The training that we do is meant to get us ready for what we must do. We must be willing to do stuff, at times makes us feel a little bit uncomfortable. This is the true privilege of this profession. All I can say is I am in awe.

Reevaluating my assumptions about group therapy

On Monday began the first day of the new semester. Typically I am very excited about beginning a new academic semester. This semester is no exception. I am very excited about beginning in this semester, even though I know this will probably be one of the most busiest semesters of my graduate program. I have classes. I have a couple classes with a significant is requirement. I'm also going to be involved in some disability advocacy activities. I had some speaking engagements coming that I will be involved with. I am so going to be traveling to Washington DC to participate in a review of a federal grant program. Even though I have a lot of activity is going on in my life my first priority has always been school.

One of the classes that the I am the most excited about is my of group psychotherapy class. This class will probably be one of the most intense classes of the semester. I have recently been exploring the issue of group psychotherapy. I have some experience with the facilitation of groups. When I was at Metropolitan ministries, a local homeless shelter.I co facilitated two groups. One was a employment group for the client's. I also was involved with a dialectical behavior therapy group. The employment group was a mixed bag. I didn't really enjoy it. The dialectical behavioral therapy group, was an interesting group, but I thought it was a little bit too psychoeducational. I do understand the importance of this type of group. Even though At times I had difficulty understanding the materials.  I felt not very passionate about reading these groups. In preparation for the semester I have been reviewing information on group psychotherapy. What I am discovering is that I may have underestimated the power of groups. I have had a renewed interest in groups. I think that in groups might be a very powerful treatment option for client's. I'm especially digging into psychodrama, and gestalt therapy groups. I will talk to you more about these treatment methodologies in future blogs.

One of the most important things about the group psychotherapy class is the opportunity for personal exploration. This is one of the unique things about a program in mental health counseling. During this class we will have the opportunity not only to lead a psychotherapy group, but to participate as a participate in a group. I believe that the only way that you can acquire the knowledge necessary to facilitate a group, is to participate in a group. I will keep you updated with how this is going to go. I'm sure that it is going to be a very interesting semester. Maybe what I believe about groups is incorrect. I'm excited to see what this semester will turn out to be.

The prevention of burnout

I am very fortunate, I have not experienced burnout. Yes, my experience in the mental health profession has been stressful at times. I am passionate about the work that I'm doing. I still believe that I'm living my dream to become a mental health counselor. I am passionate about the mental health profession, its people, and my clients that I have had the privilege to walk alongside them as they try to seek personal change.
I do recognize however that one day that I may have the experience of burnout. Recently, I saw a statistic that said 70% of at one time or another will experience some type of burnout. I need to recognize that I might actually experience burnout at times. I have developed my own routines so that I don't experience a high degree of burnout. This is only a list of ideas.
I am involved in other activities besides mental health counseling. As I have mentioned before, I am actively involved with the disability rights movement in the state of Florida. This is a way to do something besides counseling.'s. I'm also a writer. I keep up with this blog on a regular basis. I also have a trusted group of colleagues that I talked to about professional issues. Also active in the area of counseling and disability research. All of these activities are very important to me. I'm also actively involved in my church.
All of these diversifies my life. I consider myself a mental health counseling student, with interests in mental health counseling, and self-determination for individuals with disabilities. What have been some ways that you have perverted burnout?

Welcome to on the profession

Avoiding the hazards of this profession

This is the beginning of a series of blogs about avoiding burnout in the mental health profession.
You could say that counseling is a profession that isolates you. Is it just you, and your client. I don't necessarily agree with that statement. Recently I was having a conversation with a friend and colleague of mine. I won't go through the details of the conversation, but suffice it to say I was having some stuff that I needed to talk about. My friend was able to listen to me without judgment, my friend did not offer any advice, she was someone that just listen to meet without judgment. And for that I am appreciative.
I recognize that some of you reading this blog, might be starting out a new practicum placement. All I can say is don't isolate yourself. If you believe counseling is a individual profession, then you won't last long in the profession. I know that I will all ways need colleagues to consult with on challenging cases. I will also need to be able to talk to find ways to deal with what my clients are dealing with. I recognize that counseling is a very difficult profession, we do not need to practice alone. We always need to remember to practice as a team. What we do is something that is very challenging. We need to be able to the people, that we trust and seek support. If we do this we will become stronger mental health counselors. If you need help, just ask. I had the privilege of doing some work with success for kids and families. They are a local community mental health agency. I was told that asking for help is not a weakness, it is actually a way to make you a stronger mental health professional.
So what

It's time to reshape our beauty standards - St. Petersburg Times

It's time to reshape our beauty standards - St. Petersburg Times
this is going to be in tomorrow St. Pete Times about the standards of beauty. I found this article very interesting. This article was written by a journalist, who is also a mental health counseling student in my program at the University of South Florida. This is a very nice piece, and I thought I would share it with you guys. I think is very important for mental health professionals to be aware of this issue. Also for people that are not mental health professionals. As always I welcome your thoughts on this issue

Update and feedback

Hello my own friends, I hope you all are having a good summer. I recognize that I have not posted in a couple of weeks. I wanted to let you know that I am alive and well. I wanted to talk to you a little bit about what has been going on in my life the past couple weeks. I have to do this every now and again to let guys know what has been going on. I recognize that my family might appreciate this. I have done very well in school for the summer. in two weeks I will begin my final semester of full-time classes. Come January, I will be completing my final internship, and taking comprehensive exams. I didn't know what to talk about that. My family is renovating the house. I have also started a new blog about the disability rights movement in the state of Florida. This is something that I am very excited about. I also have been invited to be a program reviewer for a federal disability program. Life is amazing. I recognize that it might get busy again very soon. So I wanted to give you a quick update about everything. I have all is well. Also I would appreciate any feedback you guys have about the blog. What topics would you like to see. What content do you like, what content do you disagree with. Again I will try to do this every so often, so that you can input into the blog. You may e-mail, or place a comment to the blog. Hope all is well.

I know absolutely nothing about living with a disability: lessons in understanding the subjective experience.

 Recently I have been struggling with a issues that I don't really understand. I believe that disability is a vibrant cultural that is alive and well. I am not ashamed that I have a disability. However, I recognize that some individuals with disabilities might have self esteem issues because of their disability. Until recently I do not understand how this could be. As I am writing this blog, I am beginning to understand this issue. It is about my subjective experience as they individual that has a disability. I have no idea what it's like for my friends in the disability community to live everyday with disability. This issue recently came up. I was taking a step, because I did not understand how can someone with a disability have self esteem issues about the disability they have. The only conclusion I can draw is I wasn't really understanding the subjective experience of all individuals with disabilities. I have said that one of my areas that I would like to specialize in after I graduate is working with individuals that have chronic medical, and individuals that have disabilities. I have come to understand that if I am going to do this I need to forget what I know about being a individual with a disability. I just need to focus on my client, and really try to understand them. And this goes for every other issue a client maybe dealing with. In the beginning of the counseling relationship if the mental health professional is doing most of the talking, there is something wrong. We must try to to understand the client's perspective. The only conclusion that I can come up with is if we want to truly understand the client then we need to listen, and do not pass judgment. So maybe I don't understand why someone with a disability would have self esteem issues, but it is not my experience. It is not my story. So if I had client that was dealing with this issue I will seek to understand my clients experience.

The challenge: going back to a new environment

Between August of 2010, and may of 2011 was probably the most challenging, and rewarding work I have ever done. I was counseling student assigned to Metropolitan ministries, a homeless shelter for families, children, and single women. This was definitely very challenging for me. It was my first time in a counseling type of environment. A lot of changes happening why I was there. I have developed a little bit more grey hare since my time there. There is something very unique about a Metropolitan ministries client. This is something that you can only understand by spending some time at Metropolitan. I was able to get some very good supervision. In many ways my time at Metropolitan made me very passionate about the profession. I took the job very seriously.
Although I enjoyed my time at Metropolitan, I was ready to leave in May. I needed a break. This is just something that happens in the profession. So I am looking to do my final placement beginning next spring. Now it will be a full-time placement. I decided that I wanted to go back to Metropolitan, for half of the time I need. I am very excited about this. I know that I will be able to be challenged Metropolitan. I am passionate about the client's. I am passionate about the organization. This will be only half my internship. The other will be at a case management agency. I know that this will be a different experience for me. Due to the nature of the population, everything would have change. I will have new challenges that I must deal with. I look forward to going back.

Go slow the impact of social media and technology on the profession

I believe that social media has been a fantastic evolution for American society. Now I have to say that I have a Facebook account. I check it multiple times a day. I will send notification about this blog when I published in out on Facebook. For various reasons I am been thinking about the impact of the social media revolution has on the mental health counseling profession. They are too many questions that I have about the whole ethical issue of social media and mental health counseling. Do not get me wrong, the ethical codes that govern the profession do not specifically talk about social media. So one could argue that the use of social media in the counseling profession is absolutely ethical. On the other hand I believe there are too many questions that causes a ethical black hole. I believe it is definitely a boundary crossing, to have a client on your Facebook page. Now I am saying that clients cannot follow a professional social media page. For example, I know of some mental health professionals that have a professional Facebook page meant to attract new business with clients. This is completely ethical in my opinion. I also believe that technology itself get in the way of the therapeutic relationship it self. I feel that with technology that we are just trying to make counseling easy. As I said before, counseling is not easy. In fact it is very difficult. If you look at the founders of the great schools of counseling, they have not been impacted by the social media revolution. In fact they did not have the benefit of social media. Now I am not saying that we need to stop using technologies, what I am saying is we need to go very slow with this. This is only my opinion.

A right of passage: the counseling theories exam, or did I make a mistake in applying for the program

So I am going to talk about what everyone is talking about on Facebook. One of the most difficult classes we have in the program is called counseling theories. This class is not only the most difficult class in the program, but also it has one of the difficult exams we have to take in the program. Now some people absolutely hate it. Some people even believe that the exam is absolutely evil. I on the other hand, have a totally different opinion. Yes this exam is difficult. In fact it is one of the most difficult exams that I have had to take in the program. But I believe that this exam has to be difficult. I believe this exam must be difficult, because we will be dealing with people's lives. This is the fact. I have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a easy client, so we cannot just take the easy way out, and not really know good theory . Having a good concept of theory is absolutely essential, so that we can help clients succeed in life. This type of exam, will allow us to have knowledge of good theory.

The easy way

I am a member of generation x. My generation always wants gratification to be immediate. We want have everything given to us. I have grown up in the generation of standardized testing. If you take the test, you pass it and move on. If you give a presentation, you want to do the easiest way to get the A. This is my generation. I have to be honest, I used to have some of these beliefs. I wanted to go down the path that would be easiest for me to achieve that A.

Generation X is beginning to join the counseling profession. And I am wondering for various reasons, what would like if generation X practice counseling the easy way? Looking at my previous paragraph, I know we cannot do this. The client is the one that set the pace of counseling. Counseling is not a test, if you do this, you will pass. It is about following a process. It is about providing that place for the client, so you can achieve some type of self discovery. You can't believe how many times I client has asked me a question, and I know there would be very easy for me to answer the question, and speed along the process of counseling. But counseling does not work that way. There is a process that we must follow.

I have come to believe that there is no such thing as a easy client. Every client is different. All of them will be dealing with some very difficult issues. As a counseling professional we cannot do things the easy way. I had the distinct privilege of being in a meeting with the dean of are college that the department of rehabilitation and mental health counseling is located in. He said this: this is going to be difficult. And it should be, because you are dealing with people's lives. He is absolutely right. Counseling is something that is very difficult . The profession that we have chosen to join is a privilege, that comes with great responsibility. As mental health professionals we cannot practice the the easy way. Now this does not mean we do all of the work. Client must be willing to put everything he has in. We as mental health professionals must be willing to acquire the knowledge to walk along the side of of the client as they try to change.

Outside looking in : on counseling with a disability

I have always been a little bit hesitant with talking about my disability. I do recognize that I have a disability. I just don't think my disability is something that needs to be talked about. However, I will talk about my disability on this one blog. My perspective on disability is this, any type of disability is not a limitation, that only makes life more interesting. I am a mental health counselor that happens to have a disability. So for those of you who don't know, I have cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is a condition that affect the muscles in your body. Now I am not going to give you a detailed explanation of what cerebral palsy is, for that please see Susan Kelly. By the way the people who did not get that, that was a joke.

As I have always said this blog is about the counseling profession. I have to recognize that my disability does create some interesting stuff, that has to be integrated into the way that I practice. I am someone believes disability is a cultural. It is just like any other cultural. All counselors have stuff that they must deal with to be effective counselors, and I am no exception.

Now notice that I am saying stuff, instead of challenges, difficulties, and issues. My disability is a part of me. It is not a challenge, it is a something that must be integrated into the counseling process. I always tried to view my client's that have disabilities this way. I also recognize that as professional in the mental health field, we must always try to understand the clients way they view their life.

How do I practice as a mental health professional? I have had to learn how to make some adaptations to my style of counseling. It is really quite fun. Right now I am using a voice activated software system called Dragon. This allows me to speak into my computer, and will type what I say. I highly recommend it. I do not write, so I do not take notes in sessions with clients. I think notetaking gets in the way of the counseling relationship anyway. We need to do treatment planning with a client, I just break out my laptop. I have done this a couple of times, clients have found it very interesting.

Another issue with my disability is the issue of what do I disclose to my clients about my disability? For those of you outside of the mental health profession, the issue of what to disclose about your self to a client is something that is talked about in school. My philosophy on what to disclose, is mental health professionals have to be genuine and real with clients. You also don't want session to become about the mental health counselor. So you do not want to disclose everything to your client. Now since I have a physical disability, the people that I provide treatment to know that I have a disability. I believe the you need to be open and honest with your client's about a physical disability. Now I do not bring up the fact that I have a disability. If my client to ask about my disability, I tell them that I have cerebral palsy. I do not say that I have a disability, if the client does not want to know that I have a disability.

One of my biggest concern was how would my clients respond to my disability? This was a conversation that I recently had with my family. This is more about self of a therapist issue for me. I have been made fun of because of my disability in the past. This was one of my biggest issues that I was worried about when I was beginning to seem clients. This has not happened. I know that this issue might play out one day. This is why we have supervision in the counseling profession. This is definitely a self of the therapist issue.

Justice delayed is justice denied.

I did not want to make this blog about politics. Obviously I can't dictate how the government will dictate policy, and  how I feel as a mental health professional I must respond. Today's blog that was originally going to be published will not happen, it will be published on Tuesday. I would like to talk a little bit about politics. The governor has signed a budget. Before he signed the budget he used his authority to get rid of certain items in the budget. He has every right to do this Constitution. This is a common thing that happens. It is meant to get rid of funding that was wasteful. One of the items he got rid of, was $100,000 for a organization family justice center.  It is a organization that provides one-stop access to survivors of domestic violence. They provide treatment, and support to this population.

This is a mistake. The family justice center, is not a organization that is a waste of tax money. They provide life-saving support to individuals in the most horrible situations that you could imagine. I had difficulty imagining what domestic violence, before I began my time at Metropolitan ministries. It is my belief that as a mental health professional is to advocate on behalf of my client's, who often cannot advocate for them self's. Issues of domestic violence has become a advocacy issues for me. Just like disability rights. I am right now very angry at the governor for the decision that he has made. One of my colleagues, is the executive director of the family justice center. I guess I am a little bit outrage with the decision that he has made.

What is going to happen to to the family Justice Center? I am having difficulty imagining what would happened if they would close. I am very concerned about this. I have a friend in the disability rights movement that says your budget reflects your values. I believe this decision that could be life changing to some people. If the family Justice Center was too close, it could be life ending to some people. This is the reality of domestic violence. Domestic violence is a plague on the community, that must be stopped. This is a tragedy for the community. The community must figure out ways to keep the family Justice Center operational.

listen and do not judge

I have been trying to come up with topics for this blog. I have been asking my friends about what they would think would be a good idea for blog topics. There have been very helpful. I will be using many of their ideas. This process of coming up with ideas for my blog, has had me thinking about about giving people advice. I was looking for people to give me advice on how I should proceed with my blog. When I was beginning my training as a mental health professional, I assumed that giving people advice would be part of my job. I have come to understand, if I give people advice I would not be a very good mental health professionals. As a mental health professional I believe that listening is better than giving people advice. Sometimes you have to be quiet, and let the other person talk without judgment to make any real progress in the counseling relationship. I have been surprised with the type of the information that I was able to get by just sitting back, and listening to my client. To be honest, I do not know where this blog is going, but thinking about the writing process of this blog has reminded me of two very important things. Do not give advice to your clients in most circumstances, always listen to people you will be surprised with how the counseling relationship will develop.

The theoretical concepts of counseling

So this is part two of helping you guys get to know me as a professional counselor. So I guess I should begin by talking a little bit about my theoretical prospective on counseling. Your theoretical orientation gives you a roadmap in the counseling process. It provides you with a guide to help clients achieve change. Now I am still very young as a mental health professional, so I am still developing my theoretical perspective on counseling. I have been influenced by different type of counseling schools.
　
I believe that the therapeutic relationship is the primary vehicle for change my job in the relationship is to facilitate the counseling process. My job is to provide a safe place of my clients, that they can accomplish the change that they need accomplice. I want to be able provide a environment, that will allow my clients deal with some very difficult issues.

I have been influenced by positive psychology. I like to focus on what is good with my clients, and try to build upon what is good. I don't like to focus on my clients weaknesses, I always try to focus on what is good with my clients.

I have also been influenced by the creative side of counseling. I have had supervisor that was very much into psychodrama. Psychodrama is a very powerful tool to use with clients. I am right now interested in gestalt psychotherapy is the way to work with clients.
I am also a marriage and family therapist. So part of my theoretical orientation is the systems perspective. The systems perspective believes that the client is the relationship. The systems perspective focuses on the relationship. I am not going get into systems theory, this will be a topic for a future blog.
　
Why do I talk about why theoretical orientation? I believe it is very important for the individuals reading this blog to understand my beliefs on what counseling is. If someone was going to ask what my theoretical orientation is? I would probably say that I have been influenced by many of the great schools of counseling. I guess you can say that I am truly a student of many types counseling theory.

What exactly do I do?

Hello everyone. This is my first blog of any substance. It is my goal in published blog postings between 2 to 3 times a week. This will be on various topics related to the counseling profession. So I am dedicated the first couple of blog articles to letting you guys know me as a counseling professional. Why am I doing this? I think it is very important for you guys to understand where I am coming from in the counseling field. Let me say from the beginning that this blog is not meant to be a substitute for counseling. I am not a license mental health professional. I am a master's student in a rehabilitation and mental health counseling program. What does that mean exactly? Rehabilitation means employment of individuals with disabilities. Mental health counseling, helps individuals deal with emotions. Now notice that I did not say that mental health counseling is about helping clients deal with mental health issues. That is any of mental health counseling, but that's the only area of counseling. It is about helping individuals or groups facilitate some type of personal change. The client is the one doing all the work, I am the one just facilitating the process.
What type of clients do I like providing counseling to? Now I am still a student. Right now I specialized in providing counseling in several areas of the population. I like to provide treatment to individuals dealing with chronic medical conditions and disabilities. I also enjoyed providing marriage and family counseling services. These are the two areas that I enjoy providing treatment to. Now I know that there are areas of counseling that I want to explore. I would like to explore working with individuals dealing with significant trauma. What do I mean by this? This could be issues of abuse, and domestic violence. Now I know that I will need additional training to do this. This is the great thing about the profession of counseling. You always have to receive additional training to keep up your skills as a counselor.
I am also actively involved in research. I will be published in the academic article with a colleague, later this year. I have a very active research agenda. Right now I'm having an interest in counselors values and believes. I also have a interest in the disability rights movement, and marriage and family therapy.