ACA Blog

The Penn State community has been rocked by tragic allegations of the worst kind. Our collective hearts, thoughts, and prayers go out to victims of sexual abuse in our community and in every community. The allegations have exposed locally what is a global issue that needs serious and immediate attention by all of us. One out of 4 girls and 1 out of 6 boys are sexually abused. One out of 20 cases are reported. These are sobering statistics that serve as a call to action for all of us. This exposure has led Penn State to take real and serious steps to raise awareness and take appropriate action. This work will be ongoing.

It’s easy for some people to see that individuals who commit the heinous act of child sexual abuse are monsters. But human problems seldom, if ever, occur in isolation. Rather, they usually occur in context. And so is the case of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal. According to linguist and social activist Noam Chomsky, some people lose sight of important, sometimes critical issues as a result of mindless devotion to an organization. Irrational subservience often contributes to individuals becoming apathetic, distracted, and diverted.

I am in the midst of teaching a course on social justice in which I use Sue and Sue’s (2008) well known text which requires an examination of areas of personal and systemic prejudice, bias and privilege. It is within this framework that I have been assessing the sexual abuse scandal at Penn State. Rereading Mark Kiselica’s introductory remarks (who coincidentally attended Penn State for his doctorate) was a timely reminder that we are both the products of and contributors to our culture. As I’ve read numerous articles on what the Penn State story entailed it has become clear that the culture at this university both produced and supported behaviors and beliefs while maintaining spoken and unspoken rules around who could speak up and who would be believed.

“It’s the most wonderful time of year.” However, many people are in employment situations which are causing them grief and stress. For example, there are many people who are unemployed, and there are many high school and college students who are unsure of their college and career direction. So, as you gather together during the holiday season with friends and family as well as with new acquaintances, this can be a very good time to have conversations with people to help them with their career development and provide them with hope for the upcoming year.

Trust is inherent in much of what we do. Faith, whether it being in a deity, person or program can make us feel safe to take giant leaps. A lack of faith can leave us feeling afraid to do even the most trivial thing. What is trust? It would appear that trust is defined differently depending on the circumstance and the person. In general it is a feeling that no matter what happens the source of trust will be there for you no matter what. This source of trust can be viewed as a rock fortress that cannot be broken no matter the wind; it is the constant in your life.

On my last post I talked about the idea of doing your own work individually – see “Do your own work.” In that post I talk a lot about the “self” of the therapist and what that means. I acknowledged that there are ways to let things go and other ways to unburden the pile up of psychological work we all undertake everyday. One of those ways is peer support and I wanted to blog a little about my practicum experience and the importance of networking within your community of peers. As a way of managing cases that seem to stick with you or “get into your head,” and even as a way to share cases, to learn and to process, peer support has already proven invaluable for me. Already in practicum I have clients who affect me and it helps a great deal to have trusted allies with whom to share and help process the why and how we are being affected by certain cases. Peer support in my opinion is a two way street so we learn from other counselors’ experiences and cases, while at the same time we learn by reflecting on our own experiences and reactions.

Almost three years ago, when Bernis Madoff was discovered to have bilked investors of billions of dollars in an elaborate Ponzi scheme, the disbelief and anger as the stunned world looked on was shocking. The ones most in shock were those who felt “lucky” enough to invest with Bernie Madoff. Wealthy people, including celebrities, found their own nest egg or the money for their foundations completely wiped out. However, the one who was the most tragic casualty was his own son, Mark, who took his life 2 years to the day after his father’s arrest.

As I mentioned in a previous post, one of my identities is being a mother to a rambunctious and precocious (almost) 2 year-old. Before I became a mother, I reveled in and focused on my other identities, including my career as a counselor. I challenged myself to excel and “be the best” in whatever I chose to do. Stress charged me, and I felt I did even better with the more I took on. In some ways, I felt limitless. I have dedicated most of my life to helping others, balancing the need to be challenged and “successful,” but at the same time wanting to fulfill an intrinsic need to be a change agent or an advocate for those who were in need.

Note: Designated Staff is on call for emergencies and there are no formal individual or group sessions scheduled. Why you might ask? Well for starters, everyone needs a break from work, especially the Vine and Branch Staff. In your individual practices, are you tempted not to take a day off because you feel the pressure to meet the “bottom line?”Are you better Counselors when you do not take time off?

When I read the response to the criticisms offered by Dr. Darrel A. Regier, vice-chair of the DSM-5 task force that the DSM is “a set of scientific hypotheses that are intended to be tested” I became deeply concerned. My first thought was: “When I go to my physician, I don’t want her to have a hypothesized diagnosis that she is going to test on me, I want her to know what is wrong and how to fix it!” And while Dr. Regier’s comment (and a subsequent one that he “hoped” that there would be regular updates to DSM 5, like software) might have been meant to ameliorate the criticism against DSM-5, the reality is that once it is published they will go from being “editable hypotheses” to “diagnostic canon” that insurance companies, government agencies, and courts will all hold clinicians to (to say nothing of the pharmaceutical industry), which will have serious consequences for the entire field. The problem is that the process and its proposed remedy fails to take into consideration the criticisms against it: namely, that it has been based on VERY shaky science (if any at all).