ACA Blog

I am not one that ever wanted to be classified as a psychometrician though I did study school psychology and have done my share of testing. It’s funny though that in so many of the psychometric protocols they use the term “normative range” to define behavior that was normal, abhorrent, adjusted, maladjusted, average etc. I remember those days and just had a thought. In light of today’s social and political climate, the back stabbing, back biting, viciousness, endless lies and innuendo compounded by years of “reality” tv shows and the glorification of people who you would never want to live in your neighborhood (planet?) that perhaps we need to take another look at these instruments to make sure that they in fact reflect society standards. I imagined a few scenarios and wanted to share one of them.

By now you have either experienced (as I have) or have heard about the “debacle” that was the release of the acceptance and rejection letters for the ACA conference next year. If you haven’t here it is in a nutshell: there was a mistake where 700 or so acceptance letters were sent out for proposals that for whatever reason were not really accepted to present at the conference next year. As one of those who received the letter and the resultant elation followed by the “crush of defeat” in learning that they were not actually accepted, I can tell you that in layman’s terms, it sucked; it sucked big time but let’s put things in perspective here. Nothing was taken away except the excitement that we had from thinking we had been accepted. We had not been accepted in the first place, so there was no real demotion or anything personally against us. It was simply a mistake.

Appropriateness is an underrated quality these days. Be it speech, manner or dress, it is important to be appropriate to the occasion. But it’s the latter of these – appropriate dress – that I want to sew up now.

My soul has been fed! I feel at ease, happy and in tune with my culture and my family. Why, you ask? How did I accomplish such a thing, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you. First, the Columbiana County Fair was last week. Second, the family and I went on a wonderful mini-getaway to Clewell’s Landing, which is at Guilford Lake State Park. This is a long story to prove a short point, so bear with me, readers. There is a moral at the end of this self-indulgent tale!

With permission from my client I am able to write this success. However names have been changed. Missy was a 13 year old girl with Reactive Attachment disorder, brought in by her aunt who she called mom. Her bio mom was a drug addict but did stay in contact with Missy. Even though Missy hated her. She still wondered what it would be like to live with her.

In sixteen days my wife and I will board the first of three planes for a very long trip to Nairobi, Kenya. We will meet the chair of the Counseling Department at the airport and hope to find a good night’s rest before making the four-hour drive to Kenya Methodist University the following day. I don’t anticipate being in good thinking shape after 25 hours of flight from Portland, Oregon to Newark, to Zurich, to Nairobi, so I’m trying to have a good framework in mind for one of the courses I will teach—Human Growth and Development.

After over a decade as an Army Behavioral Health Specialist, BH-related experiences on 2 overseas deployments, from reports I was privy to while working in my active duty position in Washington, D.C., and from countless stories from military friends, co-workers, and clients, I have personally noted that interpersonal relationships were/are the most common theme amongst Troops contemplating or attempting suicide. This is something not “treated” with a diagnosis and a pill but that’s what our Troops typically get. Finally a U.S. publication has printed the truth: Our Troops need therapeutic counseling to address their most serious mental health needs. See the article link below.

You may have guessed by those rudimentary (and overly formal) first sentences that I am learning Spanish with the Rosetta Stone software program. It is probably painfully obvious that I am presently on Level One, Unit One. Oh yes, it’s basic as basic can be. But we all need to start somewhere, no? (That last word, by the way, is the same in English and Spanish. I find that comforting, somehow).

After a few sessions, a client I’ll call “Paul” looks at me with tears in his eyes and says, “I wish I had known this years before. I can help myself if I learn to watch my mind—it’s so simple that it’s almost silly, but what a difference it makes for me.”

I will be the first one to admit that I am an avid Facebook user. Not a day goes by where I don’t log in and check status updates or photo uploads, or simply flit from page to page, like an overeager butterfly. While most of my friends say they don’t use Facebook nearly as much as I do, their hourly comments tell another story. And I should know, I’m commenting too.