ACA and The American Red Cross

Interested in Becoming a Certified Red Cross Disaster Mental Health Volunteer?

As a Red Cross partner, ACA provides training to become a Red Cross Disaster Mental Health Volunteer. ACA members have been deployed through the Red Cross to such incidents as Hurricane Katrina, Virginia Tech, & Northern Illinois University. Each year free training is available to ACA members at the ACA Annual Conference. Upon course completion, attendees will receive continuing education credit and become eligible to be deployed by the Red Cross both locally and nationally. Interested members must meet the following criteria:

• Participants must be licensed for independent practice by the State Counseling Licensure Board from the state in which you reside. Counselors in a two-tier state must be licensed at the higher, independent practice level; or a school counselor or school psychologist who has successfully completed a masters or doctoral degree and holds a current state license or state certification. For more information check the following links:
  • Eligibility Criteria
  • Expanded Eligibility Criteria for School Counselors
• Valid practicing license (or school counseling certificate) at the time of training.
• Current ACA member in good standing

The next training will be offered at the ACA 2014 Conference & Expo in Honolulu, on March 27, 2014. Download application here.

You can also contact your local Red Cross chapter to get certification. Find your local chapter at http://www.redcross.org/en/where

Questions? Contact Debbie Beales at dbeales@counseling.org or 800-347-6647 x306.

Disaster Mental Health Resources

The following Fact Sheets were compiled by the ACA Traumatology Interest Network, lead by its facilitator, Karin Jordan. They are a base platform for learning about the skills for dealing with disaster mental health. Karin Jordan is the Facilitator of the ACA Traumatology Interest Network.

• Fact Sheet 1 - Post Trauma-Disaster Stress
• Fact Sheet 2 - Contributing Factors
• Fact Sheet 3 - Disaster and Trauma Responses of Children
• Fact Sheet 4 - Disaster and Trauma Effects on Parents
• Fact Sheet 5 - Disaster Impact Recovery Model
• Fact Sheet 6 - Suicide Assessment
• Fact Sheet 7 - Terms to Know
• Fact Sheet 8 - Personal and Pre-disposing Factors
• Fact Sheet 9 - Vicarious Trauma
• Fact Sheet 10 - 1:1 Crisis Counseling
• Fact Sheet 11 - Debriefing
• Fact Sheet 12 - Grief Reactions over the Life Span
• Fact Sheet 13 - Helping Survivors with Stress Management Skills
• Fact Sheet 14 - Home Emergency Preparation Kit
• Fact Sheet 15 - Intrusive Memories
• References*

Sexual Abuse Resources

IDENTIFYING, REPORTING AND TREATING CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE

The allegations of sexual abuse by a coach at Penn State highlight both the frequency (the US Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 1 out of every 100 children has been sexually abused) and the trauma that is experienced by survivors. Counselors are an important resource in promoting healing.

• A Counselor's Guide to Child Sexual Abuse: Prevention, Reporting and Treatment Strategies
• Everything Counselors and Supervisors Need to Know About Treating Trauma
• Ethics, Laws, and Adolescents: Confidentiality, Reporting, and Conflict
• Moving Forward: Issues in Trauma Response and Treatment
• The Impact of Child Sexual Abuse on Parenting: A Female Perspective
• Deviant Sexuality in Children and Adolescents: A Protocol for the Concurrent Treatment of Sexual Victimization and Sex Offending Behaviors
• Human Figure Drawings: Evaluating Trends in Child Victims of Sexual Abuse
• Domestic Violence and Children
• The Relationship Between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Substance Abuse in Women With a History of Childhood Sexual Abuse Trauma
• The Long-Term Effects of Childhood Sexual Abuse: Counseling Implications
• The Boy Code Betrays Me: Addressing Societal and Sex-Based Trauma in the Lives of Gay and Bisexual Men
• Treating Trauma: Using Psychodrama in Groups
• Creative Metaphors of Life Experiences Seen in Play Therapy
• Jungian Play Therapy: Bridging the Theoretical to the Practical
• Filial Therapy: Culturally Sensitive Intervention for Children and their Parents

Sheltering In Place

Trauma Interest Network

To join the Trauma Interest Network, send an email to Holly Clubb with your request. Please allow 3-5 business days for a response.