Discussion Board DUE Sunday 7/18 at 9PM EST

Week 7 Classmate Responses

Classmate 1:

Chapter 19 Counseling Children with Special Concerns

1. Briefly outline your treatment for working with a 10-year-old male whose parents have just divorced. What symptoms of trauma would you expect to see and what kinds of counseling interventions would you plan?

With divorce I am sure there are all kinds of emotions that are causing discomfort to this child. The parents on the other hand may also be going through a series of emotions as well. This riff between the couple could cause several adverse reactions that may result in abusive or neglectful behaviors toward the child.

I would focus on helping the child process through their emotions and possible feelings of shame and guilt. Some interventions that I would use is on page 632 as quoted below:

“Prepare school personnel by teaching about normal sexual development, symptoms of abuse, state law, school policy, and reporting procedures.

Deliver an abuse prevention program at school that educates children to danger signs, prevention skills, and the importance of telling adults about abuse.

Develop a network of professionals to build skills in assessment and knowledge base of ways to work with abused children. The network should include child protection workers, other counselors, therapists, and agencies that diagnose and treat victims.

Have toys, books, and games in the counseling office to ease discussions of family, feelings, or trauma.

Have resources about testifying in court.

Keep accurate professional records that are clear and objective. (Henderson & Thompson, 2015)”

2. Describe four goals you might include in your treatment plan for a child in an alcoholic family. What kinds of counseling techniques would you probably include?

It’s important to remember that all states require all counselors who work with children must report known physical abuse (Henderson & Thompson, 2015). However, the definition of abuse is different among states. Neglect is the cause of many child fatalities. When I think of alcohol and its impact on the family, I think of possible abuse or neglect. Of course, I don’t jump to conclusions. Chapter 19 has a list that shows signs and symptoms of the maltreated child. In this case, goals would focus on the child's needs and development in these four areas: social, cognitive, self control, and safety concerns (Henderson & Thompson, 2015).

I personally don’t have much experience in this area. However, when I was in the Army, I saw a soldier, E-5 who was being charged with neglect to his child. I heard that they found the baby locked in a room that was covered in its own biological waste. In Hawaii, I feel like child abuse happends all the time but is seen as discipline and not abuse. A recent story that I read on facebook was about a mother who just finished mopping the kitchen floor. The little boy ran on the clean floor and the mom grabbed him by the area and tried to fling him outside the door. But the mom actually swung the boy full force into the wall, missing the doorway, and he died. In both stories, I don’t think alcohol was the cause of the abuse.

Chapter 20 Counseling with Children with Disabilities

1. Tommy is a 9-year-old child from a single parent home. He has been diagnosed with an emotional disturbance and has symptoms of hyperactivity, anxiety, sadness, and is destructive with his acting-out behavior. Describe your plan for treatment.

Emotional disturbances can include symptoms of anxiety, bipolar, conduct, eating, OCD, and psychotic disorders (Henderson & Thompson, 2015). There are several interventions mentioned in this chapter that are specific to each disorder. This child, Tommy, seems to be suffering from several of these symptoms. A common theme that I am picking up on is that support groups are imperative. Tommy currently has his parents, possibly mother, and his teacher to help support him. My treatment plan for Tommy is a multidisciplinary plan that includes psychiatrists, teachers and his parents, or parents. Together the aim would be to establish confidence, and increased self-esteem while educating his parents on how to help.

2. List the categories and descriptions of exceptionalities. Have you worked with any children in these categories? Share what you can about your experience.

I have had the pleasure of observing several play therapy sessions with different children. Their reasons for attending therapy varied along with their age, gender, and race. I think my favorite session that I sat in on was a 9 year old girl who showed signs of narcissism. The goal for this session was to practice empathy. We started with an art activity, where we all drew a heart and filled it in with different colors to represent the amount of different emotions we are feeling. We all participated and presented our art piece to everyone. We then talked to see if we could empathise with each other's feelings. I felt that she did a great job of being able to imagine our feelings. However, the counselor thought that she didn’t empathize that well. I then realized that she shifted the topic and the focus was back on her.

References

Henderson D. A., & Thompson C. L. (2015). Counseling Children. [VitalSource Bookshelf]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781337028479/