Elena Yee

At the start of the spring semester I began my practicum at a local mental health services agency, Housing First RI, which is geared towards the homeless population. In particular they were providing housing and wraparound services for those wanting to leave homelessness and stabilize their lives.

What I love about attending a conference is that long after the event itself I continue to reflect on what I heard and learned then begin to share with others. Here are some observations and lessons from the ACA 2015 Conference in Orlando.

This year I had the opportunity to attend the ACA annual conference in Orlando as a graduate student and as an ACCA emerging leader award recipient. This meant that my registration fee was covered and all I had to do was make my way from Rhode Island to Florida, which was a welcome respite from the snow (over five feet) in the past month.

Before I started the clinical mental health counseling program at Rhode Island College, I had always been an advocate for counseling. My first experience of seeking counseling was when I was thirty-one years old after returning from a teaching stint in China and having had experienced a traumatic experience. What I discovered is that looking for a counselor is much like finding a friend, roommate or life partner in that compatibility and connection are important bedrock characteristics for a healthy relationship.

It’s not what you think. As counselors we know how deeply words matter. Indeed they can make a difference in the world – either for good or evil – for an individual, for groups, for families, and for our society. The words I’m thinking of are not words of the verbal sort. Rather they are words on the page and, in particular, words used in textbooks.