This topic addresses counseling, trauma-informed, and contextualized care within speech, language, and hearing sciences. It focuses on providing support for individuals with disabilities and their families in the context of their whole selves and lives, while also identifying and incorporating methods and policies to ensure effective care. We are integrated beings, each with intersectional identities deeply emersed in, impacted by, and influencing our communities, cultures, economic, political, and social contexts; and family, educational, work and health systems. Proposals submitted to this newly minted topic committee should indicate how counseling and trauma-informed practices are implemented using culturally responsive, contextualized care through the lenses of social and disability justice.

Proposals should address:

• The scope of practice for both speech-language practitioners and audiologists as it relates to counseling, trauma-informed, and contextualized care.
• Current trends in practice patterns for incorporating counseling and trauma-informed care in clinical encounters.
• Practical guides for clinicians to shape their clinical practice to address unique needs of patients and clients within the full context of their daily lives.
• Challenges and solutions related to the management of speech-language and listening needs among children and adults with multiple disabilities/diagnoses.
• Challenges and solutions related to the barriers professionals face when working with patients/clients exposed to trauma or otherwise impacted by factors outside of their specific speech-language or hearing needs.
• Research questions whose findings inform the profession at large relating to counseling and trauma-informed care.

Related Topics

• Proposals related to power relations with respect to diversity, equity, and inclusion, should be submitted to the Equity, Inclusion, and Cultural-Linguistic Diversity topic committee; however, topics involving diverse or underrepresented populations as it relates to counseling and/or trauma-informed practices may be submitted to this topic area.
• Topics about changing power dynamics between cis-gender, heterosexual clinical supervisors and student clinicians who are LGTBQIA+ should be submitted to Equity, Inclusion, and Cultural-Linguistic Diversity; however, topics about how homosexuality and related emotional trauma impacts an individual’s ability to manage their own care should be submitted to this topic.
• Topics about individuals, families, and communities with a range of practice patterns related to cultural-linguistic diversity should be submitted to Equity, Inclusion, and Cultural-Linguistic Diversity; however, topics about how cultural and linguistic diversity will impact counseling and/or trauma-informed decisions should be submitted to this topic.