If there’s one thing Hallie Sheade wishes people knew about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), it’s that the disorder is actually the human body’s natural reaction to trauma. “PTSD is a very normal response to a very abnormal experience,” says Sheade, a licensed professional counselor (LPC) who runs an equine-assisted therapy
Category: Counseling Today
My wife Linda Bowen Wasicsko began this article before her death, and I have finally finished it. It is based on a series of workshops we developed and delivered together on caregiving and care receiving. It details her personal journey to become what she called a “therapeutic care receiver.” I
“Michael Taurus” is a C student who, as a ninth-grader, gave very little thought to his options after high school. If pressed, he probably would have mentioned going to community college or getting a job. Michael’s parents immigrated to the United States shortly after he was born and did not
The following vignette describes an actual situation that occurred in one of my diversity workshops. In this case, I was called in to show a film at a university in the Midwest to about 300 students, faculty members and folks in the community. A young Jamaican man volunteered to share
As Stephen Southern was boarding a plane this past spring to make his third professional outreach trip to China, he thought about his longtime mentor, Robert Smith. Southern, a professor and chair of the Mississippi College Department of Psychology and Counseling, was leading 18 of his students on a study tour
Mention the word trauma to Americans in the 21st century, and their thoughts are likely to turn to images of terrorism, war, natural disasters and a seemingly continual stream of school shootings. The horrific scenes at Newtown and Columbine still dominate public consciousness, particularly when our society discusses child trauma.
U.S. teenagers are smoking cigarettes less frequently but texting while driving more. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the most recent data from its biennial Youth Risk Behavior Survey this week, which showed smoking among teens continues a long-term drop. Cigarette smoking among U.S. high school students
Can video games and comic books be used as a counseling tool? Absolutely, say Josué Cardona and Stephen Kuniak, licensed professional counselors who advocate for what they call “geek therapy.” Superheroes, science fiction and other “geeky” things can be used as conversation starters with clients and help to further the
A growing number of counselors are embracing “geek therapy,” or incorporating video games, comic books, superheroes, science fiction and other “geeky” things into their work with clients.
Mental health treatment has greatly improved over the past century. It has moved away from exiling patients to mental “hospitals” and instead offers inpatient, outpatient, partial hospitalization, individual therapy, group therapy and several other options. There is, however, one specific mental health population that is underserved and underrepresented time and