ACA MEMBER BLOGS

Our globe is the same size as it has ever been, but the world is shrinking and becoming less localized and more globalized because of diaspora. Diaspora’s Septuagint and Greek etymology is applied to people who have dispersed or scattered across lands—away from homelands and/or areas of ancestry.

Being a mental health therapist or other helping professional can be exhausting, draining and tough. Everyday might look different depending on the setting and the client. There could be crises daily or every other week.

With the recent migration of refugee and immigrant families, schools have seen an influx of enrollments. Are schools prepared to meet the needs of the students? I believe schools can meet their needs but only with the appropriate resources.

As a mother, it is important for me to find children’s TV programs and shows that educational, fun and addresses and supports the importance of mental health and the normalcy and validation of all emotions, thoughts, and feelings for my daughter.

Culture are the distinctives of an individual, families, communities, regions, and even nations. In counseling we often use a biopsychosocial-spiritual lens to define culture—and the DSM includes cultural formation interview ideas.

Mentorship is a wonderful opportunity to provide guidance and support to new professionals in the counseling field. Mentorship allows professionals to have that person that you can bounce ideas off and talk about their first experiences in counseling with and what they can expect in the counseling field.

Traditional talk therapy is great! However, more creative therapy approaches have been found to be helpful to children and adults. Creative approaches allow clients both young and old to tap into their imagination while learning life skills.

For the past few years, intermittent fasting has gained attention, but intermittent fasting is not new—some of our grandparents and great-grandparents held to fasting by letting the rotation of the earth determine eating and non-eating hours; as in, some would not eat after sundown and continue fasting until sunup. Most are aware that this is where we get the term: breakfast—the time to break the fast.

Being a therapist requires empathy, patience, active listening and unconditional positive, just to name a few skills needed to be an effective therapist.

“Take a look, it’s in a book…” sang part of the Reading Rainbow TV series theme from my childhood. My childhood contains memories of paper books: picture books, books to follow along with on recorded cassette tapes which often began: “When you hear the chime ring, turn the page.