Project COMPANION recauda fondos y levanta el conocimiento de la importancia de controlar la sobrepoblación de animales.

En un esfuerzo de disminuir la incidencia de superpoblación de animales dentro de la ciudad, Project COMPANION acogerá un Dispensario Móvil que Esteriliza y Castra este febrero. El grupo local ha hablado con un dispensario móvil de San Antonio que ha concordado en venir dos días a Eagle Pass, y conducir procedimientos de esterilizar y castrar a 40 animales gratuitamente a la comunidad.

Project COMPANION raises money and awareness on the importance of controlling animal overpopulation.

In an effort to decrease the incidence of animal overpopulation within the city, Project COMPANION will host a Mobile Spay and Neuter Clinic in February.

Presentations by Rio Grande College Counseling Program students on subjects ranging from the efficacy of traditional folk medicine practices to the socio/economic impacts of the Eagle Ford Shale boom captured the attention of participants at the annual Conference of the Texas Counseling Association in Galveston last month. Four RGC teams comprised of bachelor’s and graduate-level students unveiled their studies in Power Point programs at the three-day conference. More than 2200 professional counselors and graduate-level counseling students attended the mid-November meeting. The RGC contingent was sponsored by Drs. Todd Russell and Monica Gutierrez. Afterwards, in a thank-you to his students, Dr. Russell cited their “amazing contributions to the profession of counseling, as well as heartfelt promotion of the RGC Counseling Program.” The RGC Counseling Program has gained a reputation as one of the state’s prominent counselor training programs because of its emphasis on working with Border region populations and its specialization of bilingual counseling and psychotherapy. Russell added: “Each of our four presentations was a significant and valuable contribution to our profession.” With their focus on timely Borderland social issues, Russell and Gutierrez plan to compile current and former research presentations into a formal publication for use by professionals in the region and beyond. Proceeds from book sales will go toward the Pete Carrillo Memorial Scholarship Endowment, honoring the name of a recently-deceased RGC counseling student. The good, bad and ugly effects of South Texas’ Eagle Ford oil shale boom on counseling and mental health were dissected by Russell and Gutierrez, along with advanced graduate students Sonia A. Flores of Eagle Pass, Melissa Cabralez of Uvalde, and Marilu Vargas of Del Rio. In their presentation, “Texas Boomtowns of the 21st Century: Impact of the Eagle Ford Shale on Counseling and Mental Health,” the researchers examined some 30 Texas counties along the 250-mile Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas production belt. Nearly $3 billion profits, 13,000 jobs, and some $48 million in local government revenues were tallied here in 2010, alone. But the RGC report also cites a concurrent rise in uncontrolled mental health problems associated with drug use, displacement, and long and dangerous work routines. Their study tells severe housing shortages and unaffordable rental costs that cause families to double and triple-up, leaving little personal space for parents and their youngsters. Families residing in travel trailers are considered transient and their children – now accounting for some 15 percent of current public school enrollments -- are classified as homeless. Additionally, “man camps,” that accommodate oil field workers, are attractors for prostitutes, drug dealers and alcohol abuse. Added to these problems, says the study, is the degradation of small town life, the deterioration of roadways and infrastructure, inflated prices, and steady decreases in school enrollment, as well as ordinary service jobs, to the allure of higher-paying oil field work. Counseling services are not among the growth professions in the region, say the RGC researchers. The Eagle Ford housing shortage is partly to blame, they offer. Many outside professionals willing to serve the area must commute from urban areas, and those who maintain practices in the oil belt are in “desperate need” because of strained capacities to serve clients with depression and other mental issues. Whether an afflicted person works in the oil patch or resides in a normal neighborhood, the social stigma of mental or physical health issues often keeps them from knocking at a counselor’s door. To probe this touchy subject, the authors of the Eagle Ford study led a workshop focused on the needs for counseling the often sidelined gay and lesbian populations of South Texas. Titled “Gay and Lesbian Life in the Mexican American Culture of South Texas: Implications for Counseling,” the presentation examined cultural intersections of the gay/lesbian communities in the Borderlands. The social and familial acceptance (or rejection) of sexual minorities related to “coming out,” and trying to carry out a normal life were addressed. The study cites the need for the church and educational institutions at all levels to teach equality, tolerance, justice and social support. The stigmatization and related mental health issues suffered by gays and lesbians is not unlike the aspects of the trauma experienced by Hispanic youth in the Border region who follow paths leading to crime. “Trauma-informed Counseling of At-Risk Hispanic Youth in the Border Region,” was presented at the Galveston conference by RGC Counseling Program alumni, Barbara McFadden of Kerrville, Mary Telisik of Eagle Pass, and Del Rio’s Janeshka Almaguer, Carolina Cardenas, and Jesus Garcia. Audiences at their presentation learned how easily Hispanic youth become disenfranchised by poverty and are pulled into Border drug smuggling, violent crimes, human trafficking, and substance abuse. In exchange for “easy money, beliefs of minimal or no consequences, power and respect,” affected youth often find themselves in need of counseling for PTSD, severe depression, stress management, and emotional as well as cognitive restructuring, cites the report. In a culture where trust in folk medicine still runs high, why shouldn’t professional counselors become more sensitive to the trust many Borderland Hispanics still have in the emotional and physical healing powers of so-called curanderos? This question was explored during a three-hour workshop led by RGC Counseling students, Elia Guzman of Hondo and Gracie Torres of Eagle Pass in a presentation called, “Counseling and Curanderismo: A Curious Collaboration.” Through their beliefs as instruments of God in achieving a balance between health, nature and religion, the many ancient and complex ministrations of Curanderos are all basically aimed at achieving the same results sought from professional counseling, say the researchers. The practitioner first attempts to learn about the patient and create an atmosphere, or ambiance, for a curing process – the consultation. Next, the RGC report describes that in both scientific and non-scientific processes, there is the process of “opening of the heart and soul – the whole being of the patient,” which leads to guidance and cure. The study polled 173 college and university students Del Rio and Brownsville. One-third of the students reported curanderisimo participation and belief in faith healing. Twice as many held trust in herbal remedies. Yet, among the 53 mental health professionals polled in the study region, the majority reflected insensitivity to “culture-bound syndromes and folk medicine practices of their Mexican-American clients.” “There may be times when it is professionally okay to refer a Mexican-American mental health client to a folk practitioner, integrating practices,” suggests the report.