EVENTS
2023
TCA Conference
Houston, TX
Maintaining Wellness When Working with Complex Trauma: Considerations for the Master’s Clinical Experience
Program Summary: Counseling students are particularly vulnerable to experiencing compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, vicarious trauma, and burnout. Because these experiences can lead to serious impairment, this poster session presents considerations for master’s counseling students regarding maintaining wellness through their clinical experiences when working with complex trauma.
Sex Trafficking: What is it? Where do I start?
Program Summary: Sex trafficking is a chronic issue within Texas communities containing around 25% of all trafficked persons in the United States at any given time. With an aim to increase awareness of sex trafficking, presenters will share their own empirical research related to sex trafficking and offer insights into: (a) foundational knowledge of sex trafficking, (b) overview of the impact of sex trafficking on mental health, and (c) considerations for counselors working with clients who are at-risk, experiencing, or who have already left the life of sex trafficking. Case examples and practical resources for working with this population will be shared.
ACA Conference & Expo
Toronto, Canada
A “How To” Training Guide for Effectively serving Clients Impacted by Sex Trafficking
Program Summary: This experiential session will provide attendees with an opportunity to engage in an empirically developed training for counselors and counselor trainees servicing sex trafficking (ST) clients. The training modules address foundational knowledge on ST, initial screening and ensuring safety, processing trauma, and strategies to foster flourishing among ST clients. The presenters will share a pertinent refresher of clinical skills, practical tools, and strategies needed to work effectively with ST clients.
Surviving Sex Trafficking: A Phenomenological Study
Program Summary: Sex trafficking is a type of human trafficking with significant physical, behavioral, and mental health consequences. With exposure to at-risk populations, counselors can increase the identification and treatment of sex trafficking. This research education session introduces findings from a phenomenological study with sex trafficking survivors. The presenters will also provide implications for clinical practice when working with se trafficking survivors based on empirical findings.
Workshops
San Antonio, TX
Increasing Community Awareness of Sex Trafficking
Program Summary: The workshop will provide an overview of foundational knowledge regarding sex trafficking, explore the impact of sex trafficking on mental health, introduce the Youth Center of Texas, and will offer opportunities for specialized round table discussions.
Sex Trafficking: What Integrated Healthcare Professionals Need to Know
Program Summary: The workshop will provide an overview of foundational knowledge regarding sex trafficking, present considerations for assessment, explore the impact of sex trafficking on mental health, provide opportunities to review foundational skills, and offer opportunities to engage with case studies and helpful resources.
2022
Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Conference
Baltimore, MD
Advocating for Research Labs in Counseling programs
Program Summary: Leaders in the counseling profession believe that mentoring, such as mentoring the next generation of scholars in research, is a form of professional advocacy. Research labs allow students of all graduate levels to learn and apply research beyond the established curriculum. Involving master’s and doctoral students in research labs increases their development as researchers and fosters pathways to fulfill their ethical responsibility as consumers of research. Through this poster presentation, attendees will gain insight into establishing a research lab in a counseling program and mentoring students on the research process.
ACA Conference & Expo
Atlanta, GA
Counselor Experiences working with Sex Trafficking Survivors
Program Summary: Sex trafficking is a type of human trafficking with significant physical, behavioral, and mental health consequences. With exposure to at-risk populations, counselors can increase identification and treatment of sex trafficking. This research education session introduces findings from a phenomenological study with nine professional counselors working with sex trafficked survivors. The presenters will also provide implications for clinical practice and strategies for counselors when working with sex trafficking survivors based on the empirical findings.
2021
TCA Conference
Galveston, TX
School Counselors’ Training: Child Sex-trafficking in the Community and the Impact of COVID-19
Program Summary: Child sex trafficking persistently continues to affect the United States including Texas communities. Additionally, the COVID-19 outbreak has added additional challenges for school counselors including the ability to identify and provide care to vulnerable youth. Based on empirical findings from the presenters’ research, this presentation will increase counselors’ awareness of child sex trafficking and understanding of how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted youth’s vulnerability to sex trafficking. The presentation will also provide a number of resources to aid school counselors in the identification and care of sex trafficking in school-aged children.
2019
TCA Conference
Fort Worth, TX
Child and Adolescent Sex Trafficking for School Counselors
Program Summary: Child sex trafficking persistently continues to affect the United States including Texas communities. Additionally, the COVID-19 outbreak has added additional challenges for school counselors including the ability to identify and provide care to vulnerable youth. Based on empirical findings from the presenters’ research, this presentation will increase counselors’ awareness of child sex trafficking and understanding of how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted youth’s vulnerability to sex trafficking. The presentation will also provide a number of resources to aid school counselors in the identification and care of sex trafficking in school-aged children.
AARC Conference
San Antonio, TX
Content Analysis of Sex-trafficking Instruments
Program Summary: Sex trafficking is one of the most misunderstood and damaging forms of human exploitation. To ensure that counselors are appropriately identifying and intervening in sex-trafficking, accurate and accessible assessment tools are required. As such, the purpose of this study was to conduct a content analysis on instruments available for the screening of sex-trafficking in youth and young adults. Results of the study will be shared along with implications for research.
Sex-trafficking: Where’s the research?
Program Summary: Sex trafficking is increasingly garnering public and scholarly attention with 4.8 million victims of sex trafficking estimated in 2017 worldwide (The International Labour Organization, 2017). However, a literature review in ACA division journals shows only two published articles specifically addressing this topic. This roundtable invites counseling scholars to learn about sex-trafficking, discuss implications for research related to sex-trafficking, and converse about necessary changes that will expand current research on this topic.
Counselors Against Sex Trafficking 