Blogs

Christ-like Character

By Ronald Crampton posted 09-06-2015
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AnOddBox Christ-like Character… Probably the most important knowledge I took from Northwest Nazarene University was that the meaning of Christian is Christ-like Character... It was also one of the most somber revelations... I watched a movie called Left Behind… Those who were Saved disappeared…, called to heaven…, and those who did not believe were cursed to experience the apocalypse as Left Behind… I was asked once if I believed I would be called to heaven or left behind… I truly believe in Christ-like Character, but my answer would be neither… If such a story were to hold truth then even if chosen I would refuse to go… The proclamations of ...
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Your non-billable work is about to get WAY easier

By Evan Center posted 08-16-2015
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Years ago, I hired an assistant to create the types of forms (superbills and CMS 1500 forms) that I needed to submit to my clients’ insurance each month. That was one of the smartest decisions I ever made. Before that, I used to spend hours doing it myself. But now there’s a world of products online that offer to automate these and other processes for your private practice. (Even my assistant’s time is now better spent on other things). So... How do you choose? Which one will fit your needs? Whether it’s reducing no-shows, getting your Informed Consent signed, or streamlining the processes (e.g. scheduling, billing, clinical notes, ...
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INNER HEALING AND CURE OF SOULS..

By Miguel Cuevas posted 05-30-2015
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Mental Health Awareness

By Saundra Burleson posted 05-05-2015
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I was so honored to get to present to this Girl Scout troop about the importance of Mental Health Awareness! They are 9 and 10 years old and I was blown away by the depth of their questions and the insight that they displayed. They were REALLY into it and served as such an inspiration to me personally! In this picture we are showing the posters they made to promote Mental Health Awareness. Wow! The leaders of our future are looking great! If any of you are associated with Girl Scouts; the International BiPolar Foundation makes a packet and badges available so that you can present this to other troops and present them with a
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The day BCBS asked for their money back (and other stories of insurnace madness)

By Evan Center posted 04-11-2015
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When the BCBS of Montana sent letters out to just about every therapist in Montana asking them to pay back a large portion of the reimbursements they’d sent between July 2013 and July 2014, it wasn’t a joke. Yes this is 2015, and yes, they were talking about 2013. (Apparently they can go back that far.) They even said that they took “full responsibility” for their mistake, without intending any irony. Man, it is something to see a room full of 50-therapists get their hackles up – and justifiably so. These are people who spend their life focusing on relationships that cultivate trust and healing. And the insurance company had reimbursed them for that ...
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What I learned about therapy by being out-of-network...

By Evan Center posted 04-01-2015
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If you’re not going to be in-network with insurance companies, you are actually going to have to do things differently than the hundreds of other in-network therapists in your area. I know from my own experience that this extra thought and effort is well worth the pay off, but it does take some intention and strategy. For me, here’s what the payoff has been: I see only clients with whom I love working. I get to do the quality of clinical work I believe in, and offer extra services that I know help the process. I limit my caseload to something that is manageable enough for me to also run a second business (Center Institute) and ...
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Another Perspective on Social Justice in the Counseling Profession

By Kevin Wreghitt posted 03-19-2015
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M ulticulturalism and Diversity as well as social justice have long since been important tenant of the counseling field. The former is an imperative to be sensitive to the various client behavior based on ethnicity and socioeconomic influences and adjust therapeutic practices accordingly. It also means that as counselors should be aware of their own values regarding people from different sociocultural and ethnic backgrounds as well as to pay attention to one's personal heritage and economic status to be cognizant of how such factors affect clients. Social justice takes these issues one step further. It has been defined as “….how advantages and ...
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Am I an Atheist…?

By Ronald Crampton posted 02-25-2015
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WWJD: What would Jesus do…? Damn…! WDJD: What did Jesus do…? I get so angry with the topic of Jesus and God that I would have to say the emotion is just pure hate…! I want to shake my fists and cry havoc that I was ever taught about Jesus and even more so GOD…! Hell… Every day I wish I could wipe the knowledge of Jesus and God from my brain and just say I am an Atheist…! So what did you do when you read what I had just said…? Did your hairs raise with condemnation and wrath…? Did your heart leap with a cause for my salvation…? If you are reading this far, I know that you care… But did you see… Did you hear… Did you feel… Did you know… What I actually said…? ...
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Talk to me like a brother…

By Ronald Crampton posted 02-23-2015
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Talk to me like a brother…? I have been pondering this statement for many days now… Talk to me like a brother… What does this mean to you…? What does this mean to me…? At DU, Professor Faragher once said that Counseling Psychology is not talking to your neighbor, or your friend, or your family: Counseling Psychology… Is talking to a professional... This statement lead me to an understanding of why I often disagree with the psychology profession. When I sought counseling as a client I highly disliked the psychologist talking to me from a textbook and telling me psychological ideas when it was obvious the psychologist was not living what they were preaching. ...
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AAARGH…!

By Ronald Crampton posted 02-22-2015
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A wise man once said that no matter how long I knock my head on the wall, the wall will never answer… A wise man once said that if I cut my hair short it would save me from pulling it out… A wise man once said that if a wise man screams his head off in a car and nobody else is around, does he make a sound… Mary once asked me if I thought people might see me as arrogant or egotistical… My response was that it would not make sense because what I do is about you (everyone else). I am an odd duck… I do not want people to be me… I want everyone to be unique… Then of course as I so often think too much, I had to ask myself… Do I see the paradox in everyone being ...
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Counselor. Teacher.. POG…: What am I supposed to be…?

By Ronald Crampton posted 02-20-2015
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It is about that time again…, to fork out several hundred dollars to renew my licenses… I took the surveys on the DORA site and admittedly I felt disheartened… What is a Mental Health Counselor…? A MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELOR is: a trained professional who can work with patients on a one-to-one basis: A qualified professional who is licensed to provide counselling either independently or as part of a treatment team: A person trained to give guidance [help or advice (an opinion or suggestion) that tells someone what to do] on personal, social, or psychological problems. A MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELOR is not a TEACHER: to cause or help [someone] to learn ...
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In a Word do you Share…? Or Suffer…? Or Understand…?

By Ronald Crampton posted 02-13-2015
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I shake my head as I believe we are ignorant and stupid, and thus lost in confusion as to who we are and what the hell we are doing…! There are stigmas against those in need of [Human] therapy, but I have seen the fingers of those pointing hands direct back at the majority of the human[oid] population. We, do not appear to even know what reason is; what feelings and emotions are; and we are highly ignorant and vain to our own behaviors. Hell, we do not even understand the difference between feelings and emotions… And, we are far more confused as to how to collaborate feelings and emotions on an individual level, let alone a social level. Where there are ...
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Personality… Does it belong to you…?

By Ronald Crampton posted 02-09-2015
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I am reminded of a scene in the movie 42. A young face full of joy, engaged in a memory that would define and follow into the life of an adult. My Father and I… Here in the grand stadium of My Dream of what I can be… On the field here they come…! That is Me down there…! That is Me…! Niger get out here…! What does that mean…? Why do the people yell this…? Why does my Father yell this…? Dad… What you say I do not understand, but I am you and what you say, is me… Thus I will be as you ask, and yell with you… Niger get out of here…! I know this is a movie, and I dare not say how accurate the details are to what truly happened during that game. ...
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Who do I talk with…?

By Ronald Crampton posted 02-07-2015
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It never fails that I cynically chuckle every time I contemplate the Graduate Record Examinations ( GRE). Personally I believe the GRE to be among the worst displays of arrogance the education system could engage in, but this is a rant for another now. At this now, I am thinking about what I refer to as GRE words… I had to take the GRE to get into graduate school and ironically when I used the GRE words in my graduate papers the professors often questioned what the words meant. What does it say when we have to define the words we use, as we use them…? I dislike polysemous words intensely. I am not a rote person, thus the way I remember a word is by my commitment ...
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Ubuntu…? Humanities…? Semantics…?

By Ronald Crampton posted 02-05-2015
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The other day I was engaged in a collaboration with a Sage who is also my brother. In part, we were discussing my discourse, in that I am predominate in Humanities though people drive me crazy…! I have such a passion for Human and what it is to be Human that I must embrace Humans to feel the Vitality (Life energy) of my life and who I am. My problem is finding Humans… My Sage introduced me to the word Ubuntu, of which I was not familiar with the word. He explained Ubuntu by using the similarity of the Na’vi from the movie Avatar. The Na’vi, as explained, believe that all life is connected and thus have a life need of each other. Take for example when Neytiri ...
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A Brand of Deficiency...

By Ronald Crampton posted 02-04-2015
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I am reminded of a story I heard as a Marine. I do not remember who told the story and I am going to paraphrase it significantly, but it goes something like this: There once was a professor who was an intense military history buff. One day the professor passes away and goes to heaven. In heaven the professor meets with God and together they walk and have a long conversation about many things the professor had questioned. At the end of their conversation the professor turned to God and asks a final question, “God, I know a lot about the military history of mankind, but could you tell me who was the greatest general you every created?” God replied, “That is ...
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Response to an ACA Peace and Justice Project: A S

By Kevin Wreghitt posted 02-03-2015
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( Author’s Note: The following statement (two posts combined into one found here) was written originally written in December, 2014 on the ACA Connect e-forum. This was in response some of the national events of last year. A young African-American male was shot by a police officer in Ferguson, MO. This caused riots and protests that lingered on for weeks, if not months. In another case, a young African-American male resisted arrest in New York, for stealing cigars and died of a heart attack, after being placed in a choke hold. As a result, further rioting and protests occurred and two police officers were fatally shot while on patrol in New York City. ...
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Survey Participants Needed

By Tiffany Madden posted 02-02-2015
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I am a doctoral candidate in the clinical psychology program at Walden University, and I am seeking research participants for my study entitled, "Factors in Use of the Harm Reduction Model among Substance Abuse Counselors." I am hoping to determine which factors contribute to the acceptance of the harm reduction model among substance abuse counselors. I am inviting active American Counseling Association (ACA) members who specialize in addictions to participate in an online study. If you are willing to participate in this online study which will take between 10-15 minutes please completely read the informed consent via the below link. ​https://w ...
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Predicting the Perceived Importance of Professional Advocacy in Counselor Educators-Your participation is requested

By Rebecca Nate posted 12-24-2014
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Dear Counselor Educator: This is the second request for participation in a dissertation research project titled Predicting the Perceived Importance of Professional Advocacy in Counselor Educators. This study is being conducted by Rebecca D. Nate, a doctoral student in the Counselor Education and Supervision program at Walden University. This form is part of a process called “informed consent” to allow you to understand this study before deciding whether to take part. Professional counselors with a minimum of a master’s degree who primarily identify with the professional identity of a counselor educator are the intended sample. If you ...
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Male Counselors Needed for Research Participation

By Hannah Davis posted 11-19-2014
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Dear Colleagues, I hope you are well. I am seeking participants for a qualitative study, exploring male counselors’ experiences of vulnerability, specific to their work with clients. Criteria for participation: - Must identify as male. - Over the age of 18. - Hold a Master’s or Doctoral degree in counseling, from a CACREP-accredited counseling program. - Primary professional identity as a counselor, counselor educator or counselor supervisor. - Access to Skype, a free application that can be downloaded at www.skype.com. Participants will be asked to participate in three 1-hour qualitative interviews via Skype or a similar ...
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