High School REACT

God has placed gifts in each and every one of us, waiting to be given to others. When we give, the masks come off and what becomes very apparent is the very image of God in us. In allowing our gifts to be received by others, we come to see ourselves. When we are received well by others, we see our human dignity. We come to appreciate and respect ourselves in unexpected ways. And as we know from REACT.. (Respect, Empathy, Acceptance, Courage, and Trust), self-respect is an essential component for positive mental health.  Serving others is what will help you see yourself, see your self-worth. In giving to others, we come to know ourselves and what gifts we have to offer. Seeking to serve others will renew our outlook on life, shine a path forward, and get us through challenging times.

 

 

What we do or say when we are angry has very much to do with how far along we are in the healing process with narcissistic injury. Lashing out others is a way to seek a feeling of empowerment and displace a feeling of unbearableness. The alienation that naturally results from someone lashing out at another perpetuates this pattern. This is a pattern commonly seen in intimate partner violence. On the topic of narcissistic injury, I think a lot about the inconsistency of human nature. However smooth and wonderful and holy we are at times, at other times we may still be capable of malicious things. We have a personal responsibility to smooth out these "lumpy" areas in our nature and cannot simply presume that our nature will be perfected without any action on our part.  

Cultural competency was one of the most important lessons I learned at Concordia. It was one of the most difficult and most controversial, and sometimes yes, annoying (I'm looking at you, D.W. Sue of Columbia Uni, NY). Yet it was one of the most important, and singularly this base of knowledge was the most useful to have in mind when working as a counselor as well as program lead helping facilitate counselor onboarding and execution of curriculum with fellow counselors. As I write my final post here, special shout out to all facilitators past and present. For sure, what I have seen working on this programming since inception, our strength as a program really has been in the diversity of our interns. It's been a joy, honor, and distinct learning experience for me in synthesizing all your viewpoints and unique vantage points in processing and delivering the curriculum we have developed together. Our strength is in our diversity, and universality simultaneously. We could not have ...