Continued Professional Development

There are several ways I plan to continue advancing as a professional. I have been looking into website that offers seminars in different cities. Some are at site and some are live pod casts. There was one that I was particularly interested in. It is a three day conference, held annually, that covers all manner of trauma.

If I am unable to get away at the time of the seminaries, books are always available. Something else that interested me was a 12 DVD set for $249.00 that covered Psychological Trauma: Neuroscience, Attachment and Interventions. A book I thought might be interesting is Traumatic Stress, The Effects of Overwhelming Experience on Mind, Body and Society.

A more experienced counselor might help guide the development of a beginning counselor in ways to best develop more professionally. Developing connections with other counselors is a necessity because counselors do not stand alone but are part of a much larger organization.

Cyberbullying

People have the idea that because no one sees them doing something it is hidden, but what the young people  that cyberbully don’t seem to realize is that every computer, cell phone or any other device connected to the internet has its own particular IP address and anything they say or do can be traced directly back to them. Dr. Kimberly Mason has prepared and posted one of the best jpegs I have seen on Cyberbullying. It can be found at:  http://www.schoolcounselor.org/rc_files/574/ASCA_2007_cyberbullying%20-%20Kim%20mason.pdf

This jpeg covers everything from the definition of Cyberbullying to seven ways to prevent it in the schools. She includes a breakdown of statistics between the cyberbully by sex and age. Interestingly 85% of Cyberbullying occurred at home. She points out that most Cyberbullying is done because of lack of empathy skills. I recently read an article in National Geographic, (Oct. 2011) written by David Dobbs. In the article he explains the results of a study performed by the National Institutes of Health that shows that between the 12^th and 25^th years of life the human brain does not literally grow, but develops many more dendrites that lead to more complicated thinking. It is this connection that allows the teenager to develop ethics, altruism, and then empathy. Some teenagers haven’t yet developed the ability to put themselves in others places and understand the hurtfulness and consequences of Cyberbullying.