Mark A. Stebnicki - Counseling Practice During Phases of a Pandemic Virus

Title: Counseling practice during phases of a pandemic virus / Mark A. Stebnicki, Ph.D., LCMHC, DCMHS, CRC, CMCC.

Description: Alexandria, VA : American Counseling Association, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021008083 | ISBN 9781556204081 (paperback)

Subjects: LCSH: Disaster victims—Mental health. | Disasters— Psychological aspects. | Psychic trauma. | COVID-19 (Disease)

Classification: LCC RC451.4.D57 S74 2021 | DDC 363.34/8—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021008083

This book is dedicated to my mother Patricia, a COVID-19 survivor

who continued to struggle with symptoms 4 months after her diagnosis.

She has dedicated her life to prayer and service to others.

• • •

I want to offer my sincerest gratitude to the following individuals who reviewed the work I created for my pandemic risk and resiliency continuum theoretical model and to those who submitted a “Pandemic Perspective” for this book. I invited a review and comment from a panel of individuals who had expertise in the areas of disaster mental health and trauma counseling, counselor education, behavioral sciences, epidemiology, and public health and those who have worked with the medical, psychosocial, and vocational aspects of chronic illness and disability. I requested their critical review because of the respect I have for their impressive careers and body of work, which assisted me in developing a stronger book.

Stephanie F. Dailey, EdD, LPC, NCC, ACSAssistant Professor, Counseling and Development George Mason University

Donna R. Falvo, PhDProfessor (Ret.) Mary Switzer Scholar Clinical Psychologist, Registered Nurse (Ret.) Southern Illinois University–Carbondale University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill

Debra A. Harley, PhD, CRC, LPCProvost’s Distinguished Service Professor Early Childhood, Special Education, and Rehabilitation Counseling University of Kentucky

Michael E. King, PhD, MSWCaptain, U.S. Public Health Service Regional 4 Administrator, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Atlanta, Georgia

Hanoch Livneh, PhDProfessor (Ret.), Counselor Education Program Portland State University

Karen Pell, PhD, CVEApplied Social Scientist Columbia, Maryland

Tyra Turner Whittaker, RhD, LCMHC, CRCProfessor, Department of Counselor Education and Family Studies Liberty University

Noel A. Ysasi Jr., PhD, CRCAssistant Professor, Director of PhD Program Department of Addictions and Rehabilitation Services East Carolina University

• • •

Mark A. Stebnicki, PhD, LCMHC, DCMHS, CRC, CMCC,is professor emeritus and former coordinator of the Military and Trauma Counseling (MTC) certificate program in the Department of Addictions and Rehabilitation Services at East Carolina University. He developed the MTC certificate in 2015 and the Clinical Military Counseling Certificate program offered through the Telehealth Certificate Institute in 2016. Dr. Stebnicki is an active teacher, trainer, researcher, and practitioner with more than 30 years of experience working with the psychosocial rehabilitation and mental health needs of adolescents and adults with posttraumatic stress symptoms, chronic illness, and disability. His primary areas of interest relate to the medical, psychosocial, vocational, and mental health needs of persons with chronic illness, individuals with disability, military service members, veterans, and their families.

Dr. Stebnicki has extensive experience in disaster mental health response. He is certified by the Washington, DC-based crisis response team the National Organization for Victim Assistance and North Carolina’s American Red Cross Disaster Mental Health crisis response team. He served on the crisis response team for the Westside Middle School shootings in Jonesboro, Arkansas (March 24, 1998), and has done many stress debriefings with private companies, schools, and government employees after incidents of workplace violence, hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. His youth violence program, the Identification, Early Intervention, Prevention, and Preparation Program, was recognized nationally by the American Counseling Association Foundation for its vision and excellence in the prevention of youth violence. Other honors include consulting with President Bill Clinton’s staff on addressing the students at Columbine High School after their critical incident (April 20, 1999).

Dr. Stebnicki has served in many statewide and national professional counseling associations and on several accreditation boards. He has written a total of 10 professional texts, most recently Clinical Military Counseling: Guidelines for Practice (2021, American Counseling Association), Disaster Mental Health Counseling: Responding to Trauma in a Multicultural Context (2017, Springer), The Psychological and Social Impact of Illness and Disability (7th ed.; edited with Irmo Marini; 2018, Springer), and The Professional Counselor’s Desk Reference (2nd ed.; edited with Irmo Marini; 2016, Springer). He has written more than 40 journal articles and book chapters and has presented at more than 100 regional, state, and national conferences, seminars, and workshops on topics ranging from military mental health, traumatic stress, and empathy fatigue to the psychosocial aspects of chronic illness and disability.

• • •

Chasing plagues had never entered my consciousness as a mental health and rehabilitation practitioner, counselor educator, and researcher. However, those who work in the laboratory, out in the fields, and in bat caves to collect data on viruses that could potentially alter the history of humankind are champions. Who would have thought that spending months collecting samples of bat feces and saliva could be such important work? Indeed, viruses have existed on planet Earth since the beginning of humankind. The nature of viruses is that they change their genomic sequences and mutate into highly infectious diseases such as the novel (meaning “new”) coronavirus (COVID-19). The constant comingling of different genomic sequences globally has created dangerous new pathogens that have lethal consequences for humankind.

Counseling Practice During Phases of a Pandemic Virus was inspired by my more than 30 years of experience as a mental health and rehabilitation practitioner, counselor educator, clinical supervisor, and researcher. My areas of interest are chronic illness and disability, disaster mental health response, and traumatic stress. My work has guided me to provide mental health and rehabilitation services to active-duty service members, veterans, veterans with disabilities, and military families. I have worked in hospitals, a physician’s office, nursing homes, outpatient clinics, and a variety of rehabilitation programs. My interest in disaster mental health response was accelerated when communities where I lived and worked were at the epicenter of school shootings, workplace violence, hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, and earthquakes. Despite all these experiences, I am a student all over again studying a new type of natural disaster—a pandemic virus. So now I am chasing plagues.

Metaphorically speaking, the new anthem in disaster mental health response may not look like the old mental health hymnal. There are human casualties, restrictions on our freedoms, government mandates, and public health guidelines for protection and safety. We as Americans have made multiple attempts to try and restore some normalcy in our lives. It requires a significant amount of psychological/emotional real estate to build a treatment center within our mind, body, and spirit to try and make ordinary sense out of an extraordinary stressful and traumatic event. The operation tempo is relentless because the viral enemy combatant never sleeps or takes a day off. Thus, it is essential that we prevail on the COVID battlefield. Overall, the medical, physical, and psychological costs of fighting an unseen enemy such as COVID-19 and its mutant strains have been imprinted on our mind, body, and spirit.