Informed By Trauma Summary

The first article I read was entitled, “Informed by Trauma,” by Laurie Meyers. A very interesting article regarding working with clients who have experienced some type of trauma. Over the course of two years, researchers did a study with 17,000 patients. Participants were asked about childhood experiences of abuse, neglect and family dysfunction, such as emotional and physical neglect, sexual and physical abuse, exposure to violence in the household and household members who had substance abuse problems or had been in prison.

Researchers discovered that these negative experiences in childhood was predictive of lifelong problems with health and well-being. The more negative experiences a participant had, the more likely these problems became.

Counseling Today asked a number of ACA members who study diversity to share their thoughts on a complex issue: What needs to happen to make the counseling profession more diverse? Thelma Daley, the first African American president of both the American Counseling Association and the American School Counselor Association stated in the article that, “We have come a long way, but the door has only been cracked.” Institutional prejudice still exists. Daley states the profession is needed more than ever and that all racial/ethnic groups should have access to high-level counseling professionals with whom they can relate freely. Daley states a need to examine the hiring practices, the working conditions and the pay, which might be repelling forces for those who might want to consider the profession.

Selma de Leon-Yznaga, past president of Counselors for Social Justice, states in the article, “Until we can make counseling meaningful and practical for clients of all demographics, the marketability of counselors will be low, and we will continue to attract students who represent the dominant cultural group ( male, white, heterosexual, cisgender, nondisabled) who in turn will attract clients from the dominant cultural group.” Yznaga believes we will continue to struggle to attract and graduate diverse students unless we can make counseling a service that is

Will someone reading have the ability to identify that person? Will the person themselves be able to identify themselves? Will general public think positively or negatively about what one is posting? My second article is, Technology Tutor:” Bring your idea to life through crowdfunding.” by Rob Reinhardt. Crowdfunding is the process of raising money for a project from a large number of people usually through the internet. In some instances crowdfunding is a form of presale, giving people the opportunity to order the product before it actually exists. The person or company with the idea can pay for the manufacture of the product with the funds being raised while also making a profit, thus raising capital for continued production. There are currently more than 500 crowdfunding websites in existence. I learned that in order to have a successful campaign you need a large number of people,