What good fortune to have social networking. Just recently there was a large fire near Santa Fe (the biggest in NM history!) and over 10,000 people had to evacuate from their homes. A couple people started wondering about whether the families were getting any mental health support during this very trying time. Within hours it was arranged for our art therapy students to go to the emergency shelters to offer art therapy to children who had been evacuated. Students who went to help were in their practicum and were able to not only offer help but accumulate clinical practice hours. Our counseling center is a wonderful resource for the community and this type of outreach brings the services directly to the client rather than have the client come to us. And the coordination was a few phone calls and a facebook announcement. Wow! When I heard a story of a young Native American boy coloring a picture of a fire chasing after his house I really “got” the value that these students had brought to the community.
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