...LITERATURE REVIEW Literature Review – Trauma Felt by a Counselor Marie C Klemens Walsh University Abstract The purpose of this research is to identify that a counselor can be a victim of trauma, as well as their client. By taking care of oneself in a physical, mental and spiritual manner, they are preparing for a potentially well maintained professional life as a counselor. Knowledge and acceptance of these traumatic occurrences, is the first part of healing. The literature that I had obtained provided the reader, with great knowledge pertaining to the subject matter of vicarious traumatization and counter transference. By identifying both of these subjects as different forms of trauma, I also learned that they have similar qualities. With the knowledge that I am basing this research on and further exploration of this subject matter, counselors can be more prepared for their future. Literature Review - Trauma Felt by a Counselor The counseling profession is based on the realism as a powerful, but yet private relationship between a counselor and a client, but with ethics being a factor, all efforts are centered on being impartial and having good intentions (Jaffe & Diamond, 2011). Because of the tight relationship between a counselor and his or her client, it is humanly impossible that a client and a counselor will not endure feelings and reactions towards each other (Jaffe & Diamond, 2011). Trauma is the occurrence in which an individual is confronted...
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...Running head: The Effects of Trauma on Clients and Counselors 1 The Effects of Trauma on Clients and Counselors :Week Eight Application Tonya James Walden University Manmade disasters and trauma causing events, such as hurricanes and suicide are events that have challenged the counseling community to learn more about how these events affect everyone involved (Digman and Ginter, 1995). None is exempt from experiencing either of these traumatic events. These events affect everyone in different ways; however it opens the door to the option of receiving mental health services and, these services can become more readily available during these times of crisis. Providing mental health services has become more and more of a challenge. There appears to be more people affected by disasters and trauma causing events than ever before. Hurricanes are one example of a natural disaster that has and can cause a significant amount of damage to personal property and can cause a great deal of mental anguish as well. A study completed by Satcher, Friel and Bell, 2007, indicated that 39% if Hurricane Katrina evacuees experienced moderate symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD and 24% had severe symptoms. Suicide on the other hand has been declared a national public health concern according to Thomas and Leitner, 2005. There are about 30,000 suicides in America every year, 80 suicides and 1,500 attempted suicides in America every...
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... as well as in the long term aftermath of exposure to trauma, children are at risk of developing disturbing and/or behavioral difficulties. The most detrimental types of trauma consist of sexual abuse, neglect, early physical and emotional/psychological abuse, along with direct contact to domestic violence, in the home. This paper will discuss the importance of why numerous services are available to and needed by the child and/or the family, for a suitable recovery. What is the problem being addressed? The problems that are being addressed at the moment are the level of trauma the client has endured and providing a certain type of service to him and/or her. One will identify the starting date, time, and location,...
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...Trauma is when a person is exposed in a situation where a person is involved in a serious injury or threat to their lives. Every person suffers at some point in their life through problems, injuries, or deaths of loved ones or suffer through traumatic events. We as human services providers will listen to many traumatic events, problems, and suffering stories of the clients that help. Some stories may be worse than others and harder to listen too. Vicarious trauma is the process in which the professional has gone through a shift on the way they see themselves, others and the world do to listening too or getting attached to the client traumatic experience (Kress, 2004). Vicarious Trauma causes changes in the person’s identity, memory, and belief system, which causes change in their personal life, relationships, and the way they view the world and others. When a person listens to the details of the client’s traumatic experience, they become witnesses to the traumatic realities, they picture and they play out the events in their mind, which leads to a transformation within the psychological functioning of counselors (Kress, 2004). Even those that work in other careers, like police officers, emergency medical workers, and firefighters go through vicarious traumas. I as a human being has not gone through a vicarious trauma, and I don’t know of many people that have gone through it. Even though I have not gone through it or I don’t know any person, it doesn’t mean that I will never...
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...the issues that can affect a counselor’s wellbeing and impair their ability to counsel clients. When dealing with clients who have experienced sever traumatic life experiences counseling professionals can begin to face emotional issues of their own. Understanding and recognizing how this happens, why it happens and ways to effectively combat it when it does are an important aspect of being a professional counselor. The Wellbeing of Counseling Professionals Pray, eat right, exercise, get plenty of sleep, take time for yourself and talk to someone. Six common and well know key pieces to dealing with the daily struggles of life, they help control stress and reduce anxiety. But what if you are the one that people turn to when they need to talk, to share distressing life experiences and are seeking understanding and compassion. Caring for the needs of others can quickly over shadow the needs of caring for ones self, what are the consequences of this and how can we as counselors maintain healthy lives so that we may serve others to the best of our abilities. In order for a counselor to be effective in the help that they give to their clients they must offer a more vulnerable side of themselves during a session. This is extremely important in helping the client feel safe and allows them to see the counselor as someone in whom they can trust, but this type of relationship can leave the counselor feeling mentally and physically depleted. “When clients express feelings of...
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...grows, I believe a person’s theoretical orientation will narrow, but will also continue to evolve. The core belief system that a therapist begins with is still there, but the platform that a therapist connects most with eventually becomes a therapist’s model. I am aware that my current orientation is rather eclectic in nature. I find a basic connection with Freud and agree that we do have instincts that are innate to every human (Corey, 2013), in essence we are all animals (Freud, 1961) of sorts. Adler was correct when he expounded on Freud’s work and introduced the idea that we are not solely shaped by our childhood experiences. Frankl, May, and Yalom have led me to the idea that there is no step by step instructional book on how to counsel clients. My experience in the military working with a multitude of different people of various religions, ethnicities, and languages has led to my acknowledgement that we are all different and are motivated and driven by many different things. Each person is different; this is what makes us special. No single solution is perfect for any two people, and there are always different variables involved with each person. Also incorporated into my view of human nature is Perls’s concept that places emphasis on what is being experienced in the here and now as being of great importance and that “the power is in the present” (Polster & Polster, 1973). At the same time it is important to recognize that what we have experienced in the past has...
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...Life of a Counselor Coun. 6100-9, Introduction to Mental Health Counseling Kevin Feisthamel Pattie Smith November 13, 2014 Life of a Counselor As a mental health counselor one can choose what theories of practice they follow or they can have an eclectic combination of theories they utilize determined by the client and what their needs are. The professional counselor can choose what demographic of the population they want to work with and specialize in that. Or the professional counselor can broaden their practice and work with all different clients, experiencing encounters with different ages of people with different diagnosis. The truth is that a day in the life of a counselor is like no other day before. Days are always changing and there are new experiences with each client. When speaking with Dana Woods LPC, she shared what her days were like. She does in-home care as well as holding clinic hours twice a week and helping in a free or reduced-cost clinic. She travels about 3000 miles a month in order to go into areas that have little access to counseling and provides service for the rural clients. She sees both adults and children, mostly of adolescent age. They all have different issues that take different styles of counseling, however she stated that she uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with many of her clients. A typical day for Dana would be checking in at the office for messages and reviewing the files of the clients that she is scheduled...
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...Invidious comparison and vicarious traumatization are two very real concepts in life. However, when working in the human service field, both concepts must be controlled to avoid negative outcomes. This paper will describe two concepts and how each has played a part in my life. The first concept of discussion is invidious comparison. The second topic of discussion will focus on vicarious traumatization. Aside from how both concepts have affected me personally, I will examine strategies that can help me avoid vicarious traumatization as a human service worker. The first concept of discussion is invidious comparison. According to Merriam-Webster (2014), invidious comparison is defined as “tending to cause discontent, animosity or envy”. In other words, invidious comparison is when a person compares themselves to others by class, religion, sex, and race. While this concept occurs to everyone, and seems to be a normal part of human nature, negative ramifications such as poor self-esteem, depression, and stress may result if not directed in the correct manner. The concept of invidious comparison is one I can relate to well. For many years, I used to compare myself to those who had more money that I did. While I am ashamed to admit how shallow I was, this comparison brought me into a state of depression. It was during my depressed mode that I realized that I needed to take control of my thought process and realize that money wasn’t everything. After all, I was blessed...
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...March 5th, 2015 When one is witness to trauma through listening to another’s traumatic experience, emotional reactions of confusion and turmoil can be evoked. This is otherwise known as secondary trauma. Secondary trauma is referred to a range of potential reactions one can have when engaged in assisting someone who is traumatized by an experience. Clinicians need to gauge what are healthy and normal responses when hearing another person’s trauma and what is considered as “compassion fatigue” or “secondary traumatic stress” or “vicarious traumatization” or “secondary traumatic stress disorder or countertransference. When exposed to this type of trauma, people need to identify and deal with their own emotional reactions and how this relates to their own experiences. As well as modulate their feelings and organize their thinking (Geller, Madsen, & Ohrenstein, 2004). The capacity to empathize, to feel with another person is the focal point of psychotherapy (McCann & Pearlman, 1990). That being the case, clinicians need to learn how to think clearly, modulate their emotions, feel effective when working with clients and maintain help that they are going to be effective. But, if the clinician is put into these states of stress by virtue of listening to others, they may feel inclined to withdraw from their clients (Geller et. al, 2004). When creating a psychotherapeutic relationship between a therapist and a client one approach that is considered as compatible with our...
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...Target Audience This conference will target educators, administrators, counselors, and mental health service providers who interact with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth. In the state of Pennsylvania the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) has mandated that service providers be trained to ensure accountability for providing inclusive services. The ultimate goal is to create respectful inclusive environments for LGBT youth enter our programs (City of Philadelphia, 2017). LGBT youth often find themselves victimized in schools, and this has been well documented (Valenti, & Campbell, 2009). This makes them susceptible to psychological challenges, including but not limited to, substance...
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...therapy utilized by many counselors. This type of therapy encompasses an entirely different set of ethics than that of individual counseling. There are numerous reasons for why a counselor may elect to use group therapy rather than individual therapy. The American Counseling Association (ACA) has developed a code of ethics for the counseling professional in order to provided a universal guideline for all counselor to abide by. Within the code of ethics provided by the ACA are codes that cover areas of the counseling relationship, confidentiality and privacy, professional responsibility, relationships with other professionals, evaluation, assessment, and interpretation, supervision, training, and teaching, research and publication, distance counseling, technology, and social media. All of these areas are further divided into subcategories in order to include all aspects ethics in the counseling relationship. Each of these sections provided by the ACA are important to a counselor practicing in a group setting, however, not all of these areas are applicable to the group counselor. Ethical Issues Unique to Group Therapy Group counseling offers many relationships, in order to assist an individual in growth and problem-solving. During a group therapy session members are encouraged to discuss the issues that brought them to therapy. Members are encouraged and expected to speak openly and honestly during sessions. It is the job of the counselor to create an atmosphere of...
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...a school counselor in a Title One middle school located in the heart of Newark, NJ. Recently, there was a shooting at your school that involved many students. Classrooms were locked down for three hours. A few days ago, a teacher at your school said she saw in the crisis handbook that following a crisis, teachers should look for student behavior that is out of the ordinary as a way of identifying students who may need to see the school counselor. The student she is concerned about is a seventh grade (13 year old) Asian male named Tai. She said that he seems to be more withdrawn since the shootings and believes one of the students who were shot was a friend of his. Tai is new to the school this year and participates in the free lunch plan. Case Conceptualization and Needs Assessment Having a comprehensive crisis management plan in place allows members of the school staff and community to be aware of policy and procedures related to identifying students who may be in crisis. A crisis management plan should detail student behavior which may be signs of mental illness or crisis. In doing so school staff have criteria in place that helps identify those who may need assistance. According to Allen et al., the role of the school counselor is defined by the American School Counselor Association's (ASCA, 2000) by the statement, "the professional school counselor's primary role is to provide direct counseling service during and after the incident" (ASCA), school counselors are expected...
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...Psychological Abuse Coral Nichols Liberty University Abstract Psychological abuse is a form of abuse that affects many woman across all cultures and ages. This form of abuse takes on at least two different forms: emotional and verbal abuse. These two types of abuse are not the same; however they often can be very closely compared. It is understood that if one of these forms of abuse is present then the other form of abuse is often present as well. One whom works in the helping profession needs to be able to define these types of abuse as well as be able to understand the effects of the abuse on the victim. One must also be able to understand a variety of treatment methods to be able to aid the client in the healing process. A Christian counselor must also be able to provide biblical insight in the situation for the client. Introduction Abuse against women happens in many forms; some people might considering one form of abuse more damaging than others. In order for one to have a basic concept of abuse it must be defined; Krishna, Prasanna, Sheikh & Dattatreya (2014), reports “mistreatment; harming or injuring another, abuse can be divided into two categories internal and external. The external abuse is the focus on this paper, it can be physical abuse, emotional abuse, verbal abuse or sexual abuse” (p.18). The basic understanding of abuse is that it produces a negative outcome for the victim. The most prevalent form of abuse towards women is domestic violence; it...
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...As a current practicum student and future licensed school counselor there are going to be many different situations that I am going encounter during my career. These possible situations span a wide array of issues including: educational, emotional, psychological, and physical. So far, during my limited experiences I’ve encountered a few of these situations. However, one of the situations that I have yet to encounter is that of an individual who is suffering from an eating disorder. The purpose of this paper is to examine this problem a bit further. In this paper I plan on discussing exactly what an eating disorder is, what causes an eating disorder, what are the possible theoretical approaches to treating an eating disorder, and finally my plan of action for treating an individual(s) who is suffering from an eating disorder. I would like to begin my examination of eating disorders by explaining what exactly an eating disorder is. An eating disorder is a complex compulsion to eat, or not eat, in a way which disturbs physical and mental health. Often the symptoms can be seen as extreme, or as extensions of culturally acceptable behavior and preoccupations. The eating may be excessive (compulsive over-eating); too limited (restricting); may include normal eating punctuated with episodes of purging; may include cycles of binging and purging; or may encompass the ingesting of non-foods. The most commonly known eating disorders are Anorexia nervosa (starving yourself) and Bulimia...
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...Journal 6 Trauma and Memory Brain in a Search for the Living Past written by Peter Levine is a fascinating book that explains the fluidity of memories combined with the different ways in which they are stored. I enjoy that it is well written incorporating science in an easy to read manner. He highlights the reconstructive process stating that it is continuously adding, deleting, rearranging, and updating information. Understanding that memory is not concrete is extremely important to a counselor. Comprehending that our mood at the time of the event effects how the memory is stored increases our understanding of our clients when they relay details of the past. Helpful memories are ones we learn from and move on. Ordinary memories change over time. Traumatic memories are static. Realizing that there are explicit (conscious) and implicit (unconscious) memories were valuable because we must remember that the body knows what happened even if the client cannot remember the event consciously. This will help us to understand why a client may be reacting abnormally to certain situations. It allows us to hypothesis are they reacting to smells, touch, visual or sounds. We can then ask the client questions that may assist them to clarify. When you feel anxiety what do you notice? Is there a smell? What does the environment look like? Is there...
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