Gracias Maria for your wise words,
Let's do something about this everyone!
Best,
Dr. Wanda Y. Quezada, Ed. D
President - New Jersey Counseling Association - 2018-19
On Tue, Apr 16, 2019 at 3:49 PM Maria del C Rodriguez <masolis@xxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Dear Wanda:
This was precisely the point being brought by Dr. Anna Flores Locke as she
delivered her keynote speech last Sunday 4/14/19.
If you remembered, Anna invited counselors to advocate for clients who
endure social injustice and oppression. Later, some counselors considered
"a social justice perspective as taking counselors in
an irrelevant direction". One participant even said that we should be
focused with remediating clients' problems and being exposed to the
techniques to do this. From my perspective, there is a place and time to
do remediation. There is also a time and place to incorporate social
justice perspectives in our work. Both efforts complement each other.
In response to these comments, the other keynote speaker, Dr. Shon Smith
clarified how we sometimes view the theme of social justice as adding more
duties to what we already do. He reminded us about the social injustices
we endure as a profession. When we're ignored by other mental health
providers, NAMI national and many other key players in the mental
health field, this social injustice needs to be called out. If there is
pay disparity for counselors, this social justice issue needs to be called
out.
It is up to us, NJ counselors, to raise our voices when we see our clients
being socially mistreated and when our profession is ignored (as in this
instance) and harness our collective wisdom and power to correct these
injustices.
In solidarity,
🌷Maria del Carmen Rodriguez, Ph.D., LPC, NCC, NJ-DRCC
Member at large
On Tue, Apr 16, 2019 at 3:07 PM Dr. Wanda Quezada <wandayquezada@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Hello everyone,
I recieved this today and thought it was a bit concerning for us
counselors nationwide. Please read below.....
Best,
Dr. Wanda Y. Quezada, Ed. D
President - New Jersey Counseling Association - 2018-19
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Smith, James <SmithJ2@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, Apr 16, 2019 at 9:58 AM
Subject: NAMI Booklet
To: <CESNET-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Greetings colleagues,
At my place of employment, we recently received a set of booklets from
our state chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) for
distribution to the university community we serve. We noticed in one
particular booklet, “Sharing Hope: An African American Guide to Mental
Health”, there is a section on seeking help from mental health
professionals. This section explicitly mentions licensed clinical social
workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists. It does not mention at all
licensed professional counselors. We reviewed the other materials we
received, and noticed the same pattern.
I contacted our state NAMI representatives regarding this, who told me
the national office of NAMI published the materials they provided to us. I
am now contacting NAMI’s national office. If we as counselors are excluded
from lists of “mental health professionals” by organizations such as NAMI,
then we continue to face the stigma that our profession is less competent
than others in assisting people with mental healthcare needs. Please join
me in contacting NAMI to ensure that counselors are included in their
publications when they list mental health professionals.
Thank you,
Jamie
*James M. Smith, M.Ed., LPC, NCC*
Director, Student Health and Wellness Services
Chairperson for Staff Council 2018-2019
Thompkins Student Health Center
Lincoln University
822 Lee Drive
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Phone: 573.681.5164|Fax: 573.681.5877
Email: smithj2@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Web:
https://www.lincolnu.edu/web/thompkins-health-center/thompkins-health-center
------------------------------
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--
Maria del C. Rodriguez, Ph.D., LPC, NCC, NJ-DRCC
Assistant Professor-Dept of Counseling EC 310 Tel: (908) 737-5958
*"You are a child of God. Playing small does not serve the world. We were
born to manifest the glory of God that is within us”.
<http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/mariannewi176040>*--Marianne
Williamson
