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Virginia counseling group makes donation to ACA, issues challenge
The American Counseling Association recently accepted a donation from the Hampton Roads Association of Clinical Counselors (HRACC), an advocacy organization in Virginia. The nearly $2,000 gift, made as HRACC is dissolving, went to the ACA Legal Defense Fund. The organization also made a matching donation to the legal defense fund of the American Mental Health Counselors Association, a division of ACA.
HRACC is calling the donation a “challenge gift” in hopes that other organizations will be inspired to donate as well, says Clayton Maguire, a licensed professional counselor and marriage and family therapist who is HRACC’s founding president.
“I am always in awe when counselors ‘help their own,’ and this donation from Clay and his colleagues is a
testament to that philosophy,” said ACA CEO Richard Yep. “ACA is very grateful to Clay Maguire and the Hampton
Roads Association of Clinical Counselors for this generous donation to the ACA Legal Defense Fund. We all know
that this is a critical time to preserve, protect and enhance the role of professional counselors in society. The key
element to support these actions is in advocating for the profession. Today, Clay Maguire and his colleagues at HRACC stepped up with their very generous challenge grant. My hope is that our members will rise to the challenge, especially when they realize that each dollar they give is being matched up to the total of what HRACC has donated.”
HRACC formed in 1986 to serve clinical counselors in southern Virginia in the Virginia Beach and Newport News areas. According to Maguire, the organization helped counselors attain hospital privileges, as well as seek and receive payments by insurance companies. In addition, HRACC organized speakers on continuing education topics and achieved a local “political voice” for the counseling profession.
“Over time, the organization gradually became less active — too inactive to continue,” Maguire said. “It was decided, therefore, to distribute our treasury to two very worthy causes retaining the spirit of HRACC: the AMHCA and ACA legal defense funds. We would like to challenge other groups and individuals to share our excitement and contribute.”
— Bethany Bray
Clayton Maguire
family system. Whether a cuddly, furry family member, a sensitive therapy horse or a trusted confidant in any other form, the thought of someone harming such companions is unbearable.
As a profession of compassionate and caring people, our leadership in recognizing the need to protect these voiceless individuals makes sense. I hope it gains traction in future years. I will be working to keep it in the thoughts of the decision- makers. I hope others will join me and Mr. Wollheim in our efforts.
Melissa Bleiler Stoughton, Wis. bleiler@gmail.com
Relationship-based counseling as a possible answer to self-injury
The November 2014 Knowledge Share article, “Responding to the rise in self- injury among youth,” resonated with me. Importantly, the authors focus on client exposure to self-injury websites and the effect of social contagion. Although a strong article, another recent article in the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology (JCCAP) contradicts the authors’ position.
The Knowledge Share authors state that dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) “has emerged as one of the most effective treatments for adolescents who are suicidal and/or self-injure.” They further state that group therapy for such clients has proved effective. Both positions are in stark contrast to the findings of the JCCAP article, which used the guidelines
set forth by an American Psychological Association Division 12 task force for determining and disseminating the effectiveness of treatments. Included were cognitive behavior therapy, DBT and group skills training.
The JCCAP article determined that none of these were efficacious or superior to other treatments. Furthermore, the JCCAP article commented that DBT groups have dropout rates as high as
38 percent. The JCCAP article also commented on the mixed results of group skills training research (many youth experienced an increase in nonsuicidal self-injury) and suggested that it may actually be contraindicated. So we must ask: How do we reconcile these findings?
One promising route for reconciliation may be found in relationship-based counseling. The JCCAP article found that the therapeutic interventions with the most promising efficacy were those that incorporated a relational-/family-based counseling component. The Knowledge Share article mentioned relational counseling; however, I did not see any recommendations for relationship-based counseling approaches such as imago therapy, ontological hermeneutics,
family therapy or object relations. These theories could provide theoretical and practical insight into how the social contagion operates, as well as how to therapeutically intervene. For example, ontological hermeneutics asserts that people make choices based on possibilities
presented to them in their relationships (social contagion). This would inform a counselor to help the client create new possibilities to choose from when responding to self-harm triggers.
Kevin Glenn, LAC Mesa, Ariz. klg65@gmx.com
Midlife ‘madness’
I recently read the article on women
in midlife by Stacy Notaras Murphy (“Midcourse corrections, October 2014), and I loved that she has taken midlife and made it center stage for a moment. Thank you for publishing this article.
I believe I speak for many women traveling through this tumultuous time when I say that for too long, we have kept silent due to our fears of becoming irrelevant. No longer our young, gorgeous selves, we fear shame and disapproval.
At the same time, we are feeling more expansive, ambitious and audacious!
I think perimenopause, along with having adolescent children, brings with it a feeling of madness — a feeling of putting our life into the blender in the hope that when it’s finished and our blending has ended, there will be something delicious to live with.
Thank you for publishing such stories.
Genevieve David
President, Australian Association of
Buddhist Counsellors and Psychotherapists genevieve@genevievedavid.com.au u
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