ACA MEMBER BLOGS

Brené Brown captured it best: once you see something, you can’t unsee it. I hear you, this sounds pretty obvious. But when we’re confronted with harrowing insight into our weaknesses----especially if we’ve perceived these shortcomings as strengths---who wouldn’t want a little bit of “unseeing?”

To many people a therapeutic pet is nothing more than an animal with a fancy name. They give them little thought and at times complain that the service dog is allowed in offices, stores and other public area that common dogs are not.

Mindfulness. It’s a term that we have probably all heard over the past few years, as it is quickly becoming a fad of sorts not only in mental health, but also for CEOs, afterschool programs, and medical clinics.

Emotional Intelligence is a social skill that can help you become more aware and tactful in understanding handling your own emotions as well as the emotions of others. Benefits of emotional intelligence include improvements in coping, wellness, coping, relationship satisfaction, and overall happiness.

Last week I briefly touched on a few of the challenges rural counselors face regarding maintaining confidentiality and personal privacy. After re-reading an article from the April 2010 issue of Counseling Today on this same topic, I'd like to delve a little deeper.

I’ve reached a special time in my career. My instinct, in every conversation, is to announce, “Hi, I’m Christine. And I just…finished…my…MASTERS!” Queue the applause, balloons, confetti, and trumpet playing kittens. Needless to say, I’m pretty excited.

The healing power of dance is recognized across the globe. Common evidence-based benefits of world dance include, but are not limited to, improvements in muscular strength, endurance, balance, flexibility, agility, heart rate, and memory.

A frequent conversation held in my home is how counseling can support medicine. My husband is currently a medical student in his third year and going through rotations where he sees numerous opportunities where counseling services for patients outside of the doctor’s office could be beneficial.

Teens are tough nuts to crack. I admit with my 14 year old (soon to be 15) I sometimes wonder how to express how much I care for her (in a non-sappy manner) and also being assertive with her when I need to communicate my displeasure on something she has said or done.

Over the last few posts, my writing has evolved into focusing on underserved populations. People of color have long been an underserved population in mental health. The last couple years in American society has been filled with racial issues which affects the African American community in many different ways.