Suicide Prevention For The Kern County Mental Health Hotline

Problem: Too many Veterans commit suicide. As of 2014, Veterans have a twenty-one percent higher risk of suicide than U.S. civilian adults. Veterans Affairs [VA], (2016). Fact Sheet Suicide Prevention.

Growing up as a child, many children would watch cartoons and play video games, but I took an odd liking into watching videos about different mental illness. For the longest, I have been fascinated with the human mind; trying to figure out how it works. Entering into my adulthood, I became an individual who was an open vessel for people to dump their problems into. I get gratification out of being able to help people with their problems and see them with a smile on their face. Being a counselor's is not just making someone's day or listening to their problems, but it is also about spreading mental health awareness to other individuals. I selected the Mental Health Counseling program because one day I seek to become a Mental Health Counselor. Having a Mental Health Counseling degree, will

A doctoral degree combining both supervisory professional mental health counseling skills and counselor education has always been at the forefront of both my personal and professional goals. Being afforded the opportunity to pursue a doctoral degree in Counselor Education and Supervision will allow me the ability to enhance my professional competencies and achieve my set goals. My primary desire is to obtain a position as a college professor that will allow me to nurture the professional growth and maturity of future mental health professionals. Pursuing the doctoral degree will simultaneously assist in developing skillsets that will further prepare me for advanced opportunities in not only teaching but supervision and research. Additionally, I desire to devote time and research to small rural communities to establish prevention based programs that will bridge communities as it relates to mental health challenges. A PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision from Capella University will afford me the opportunities to positively impact change in future professionals and the communities for which I serve.

Counseling is defined as ”the use of therapeutic strategies to help clients address personal concerns and mental health issues” (Nystul, 2016). Pursuing counseling as a career involves many years of formal study and certification or licensure. After receiving licensure to practice as a professional counselors it is a requirement to maintain involvement and certification in certain associations in order to hold your license. These association often require further education and/or professional practice in order to maintain membership in these associations. It is quite obvious that counseling requires a large amount of commitment and passion in order to pursue it as a career and maintain a title as a counselor. I have conducted an interview with a professional counselor in order to further understand the experience of being a counselor. The interview that I conducted explores the requirements of maintaining and receiving a counselling career, the experience of being a counselor, and what characteristics or skills a professional may have. The Individual who agreed to the interview was a counselor by the name of Susie Facio. Susie Facio, through this interview, will be giving us a look at what influenced her to become a counselor, what her work entails on a day to day basis, and what qualities and skills she has acquired in order to become a successful counselor.

Counseling others is a difficult job that requires people to listen, take notes, and respond in ways that are positive and helpful. It is important that trust be built between the counselor and the patient so that the patient will feel comfortable speaking about issues that are private or embarrassing. There are many different types of counselors including drug counselors; marriage counselors, grief counselors, job counselors, diet and exercise counselors, and others that can help people improve their lives in different ways. Counselors are trained to offer advice and listen to issues that may be bothering other people. They are not allowed to prescribe medication or expected to provide

I spent endless hours studying psychology books and learning about biochemistry. I discovered that the makeup of an individual was a result of a complex combination of one’s social environment and the composition of one’s brain. All of this self-taught knowledge now only distracted me from the disastrous circumstances around me gave me a clear picture of where my place was in the world; to pursue a career in Mental Health. As unfortunate as the circumstances were, this was the time in my life where I had the opportunity to communicate with families of ailing loved ones and the patients themselves. My passion for interacting and understanding stemmed from my early childhood exposures to people in these types of settings. Instead of isolating myself from the world, these observations didn’t diminish my dream of being a Mental Health Counselor but strengthened it. I instantly gravitated towards listening to other people 's problems and offered suggestions on how to deal. More importantly, I discovered the immense feeling of satisfaction garnered when I was able to support others in need. Considering the positive feedback I received, I was certain that being a Therapist of some kind was what I am suited to do with my life and that it is my calling. Whether it is close friends, family, or just peers, I am constantly willing to lend an ear, now and then. Even if I did not feel adequate proposing

In the United States, suicide is the third leading cause of death for 10 to 14-year-olds (CDC, 2015) and for 15 to 19-year-olds (Friedman, 2008). In 2013, 17.0% of students grades 9 to 12 in the United States seriously thought about committing suicide, 13.6% made a suicide plan, 8.0% attempted suicide, and 2.7% attempted suicide in which required medical attention (CDC, 2015). These alarming statistics show that there is something wrong with the way mental illness is handled in today’s society. Also, approximately 21% of all teenagers have a treatable mental illness (Friedman, 2008), although 60% do not receive the help that they need (Horowitz, Ballard, & Pao, 2009).

I am a mental health counselor working towards licensure in the state of Washington. I have a master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Antioch University Seattle. In my current counseling practice, I work with individual adults (over 18). I take a humanistic approach to therapy; in our sessions together, we will focus on the here-and-now of your experience, while also exploring your past and social context to the extent they are relevant to your present concerns. Our first meeting will be a time for you to tell your story; then, together, we will assess your concerns and issues, and decide on the goals toward which you would like to move (Hilton, 2016). As we continue through the therapy process, we

I finally started my first year of college at Miami Dade College in January 2014. During my adaptation to the new educational system, my Abnormal Psychology class professor mentioned how important it would be to participate in an Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training. I consider this to be very useful in today’s society where many individuals suffer from depression.

Healthy People 2020 is a government site that identifies health concerns based on statistics observed and collected over a ten-year period. Mental Health and Mental Disorders is one of the many health concerns or topics listed on their website and has been further subcategorized into objectives and goals (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], 2015). The first objective listed under this topic states “reduce the suicide rate” (HHS, 2015). The goal of this objective is to “reduce the suicide rate by ten percent” (HHS, 2015). Suicide is prevalent among varying age groups, ethnicities, and genders (HHS, 2012). It is an increasing problem prompting Healthy People 2020 to label it as a Leading Health Indicator or an extremely important issue (HHS, 2015). To meet their goal, Healthy People 2020 partnered with the U. S. Surgeon General and the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention (NAASP) to create a plan that can be utilized throughout the nation. Their plan focuses on removing the stigma associated with mental health and mental health disorders while simultaneously building supportive communities with increased access to care, creating a standardized model promoting the collaboration of health care professionals in order to increase identification and data collection of high-risk patients and provide continuity of care, and ensuring the education and the adequacy of patient support systems.

When I first started my college journey I initially majored in Biology. Not knowing what I wanted to do, I was influenced by my advisor to enter the biology field. After my third year, I decided not to pursue biology anymore, and that’s when I discovered my passion for the Psychology field. After receiving my undergrad in psychology, I knew that I wanted to get my masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, but I had no idea of how broad this area is. This week assignment granted me the opportunity to interview someone who has been in this profession for 25 plus years who has worked in all sectors when it comes to mental health counseling. It allowed me to learn the pros and cons of this field and it even gave me more insight and clarity on exactly what I wanted to do. I found this week assignment to be very informative and I believe it is necessary for anyone that’s interesting in entering in this field. I am grateful for the knowledge and advice that I received during this week assignment.

The American Foundation of Suicide Prevention is a non-profit organization acknowledges that suicide and mental health problems are part of our society and by understanding this we can better support those in need, and suicide affects a tremendous amount of people and proper education and treatment can prevent people from committing suicide. “Each year in the United States, suicide claims over 40,000 lives - more than war, murder, and natural disasters combined…Suicide is not just a faceless health issue for our society - it affects real people.” (1.) The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) which was founded in 1987, is one of the leaders in fighting against suicide by offers research, education to those in need, and supports those people and their families that are affected by suicide.

There are two reasons that instantly come to mind when I think about why I chose to pursue a career in the mental health field. One being because I’ve always loved helping people and from the first time I was asked what I wanted to do when I grew up I knew I wanted to help people. At first I had wanted to be a doctor, a firefighter, president, or a physical therapist. It wasn’t until I was a freshmen and college that I realized I wanted to be a substance abuse councilor. That year I was in college it seemed like every other week I was reading an article of someone I knew or someone I went to school with had overdosed or went to jail because of drugs. I felt sick to my stomach reading these articles and after reading them I always though “what

Many physicians tend to think of depression as an illness of adulthood. In fact, Brown (1996) stated that "it was only in the 1980 's that mood disorders in children were included in the category of diagnosed psychiatric illnesses." In actuality, 7-14% of children will experience an episode of major depression before the age of 15. An average of 20-30% of adult bipolar patients report having their first episode before the age of 20. In a sampling of 100,000 adolescents, two to three thousand will have mood disorders out of which 8-10 will commit suicide (Brown, 1996). Blackman (1995) remarked that the suicide rate for adolescents has increased more than 200% over the last decade.

Three people in my life have completed suicide; my uncle, my mom’s late fiance, and my step brother on my dad’s side, within four years of each other. I’ve witnessed each parental figure in my life become compromised by grief and the inevitable pain accompanying it, and I’ve seen the way depression can plague someone so deeply, even without the ending of suicide. The prevalence and growing numbers of deaths by suicide calls for a revised manner of education on all mental illnesses and the preventative measures one can take to reduce risk. Initially, when I heard of the Suicide Prevention Week Keynote event with Jamie Tworkowski (founder of ‘To Write Love On Her Arms’) I was thrilled. Hosting such an event on a college campus, presenting to a population greatly affected by mental illness, is demonstrative of the steps that should be taken toward raising awareness. Any opportunity for a comprehensive view on mental health and its significance is one to be taken advantage of. However, as the night proceeded, I did take note of several things that would improve the layout of any future events, as well as further deepen an individual’s comprehension of mental illness.