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September 2024 | Volume 12 | Issue 5
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BROOK HIGHLAND PLAZA • VESTAVIA CITY CENTER
The power to save Why talking about mental health matters
Meet providers in your area and discover services near you.
See page B1
Education Guide
Explore educational services in and around Vestavia Hills.
See page B6
INSIDE Sponsors........... A4 City......................A6 Schoolhouse..... A8 Business........... A10 Real Estate...... A14
Events............... A15 Sports............... A16 Community........B11 Opinion............. B14
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By SARAH OWENS
B
eau Armistead has dedicated his life to helping people heal from their trauma. As the founder of Sojourn Counseling, a nonprofit counseling practice located in Vestavia Hills, he specializes in treating trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder through micro current neurofeedback and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. MCN is a treatment that uses gentle electric signals to target the nervous system and rebalance brain wave patterns. EMDR encourages the patient to focus briefly on a traumatic memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation (typically eye movements), which is associated with a reduction in the vividness and emotion associated with the trauma memories. Armistead is a licensed professional counselor and is certified in both of these treatment methods. “The thing with trauma is that our brains can’t process trauma the way our brain can process anything else,” Armistead said. “So we experience normal life experiences, and go to sleep at night, and during our rapid eye movement sleep, our brain is able to process the events of the day. If we experience traumatic events during the day, those things get stuck. So all the sights, sounds, smells,
physical sensations, emotions and everything connected to this particular trauma get stuck in our brain.” Armistead said that when trauma stays unresolved for long enough, that is often when people begin considering suicide. With September being National Suicide Prevention Month, he encourages people to seek help for mental health issues.
Inside this issue: ► Suicide among senior citizens on the rise, see page A20. ► Vestavia Hills schools battle against suicide, see page A21. ► Trauma, isolation, a choice: Veterans wage mental battle, see page A22.
See MENTAL HEALTH | page A18
Vestavia Seals programs benefiting students in languages and the arts By LOYD McINTOSH Vestavia Hills High School has emerged as a leader in the state in reviving interest in world languages and the arts through its innovative Seals credentialing programs. Under the leadership of VHHS faculty members Lisa McFadden, a Spanish teacher and world languages department chairwoman, and Faith Lenhart, the director of arts education, the VHHS Seal of Biliteracy and Arts Achievement Seal have recognized hundreds of students for their commitment to the arts and world languages, while encouraging them to develop skills beyond the core subjects required for graduation.
Lisa McFadden listens as Molly Mac Sharp, far left, describes what she did over the weekend in her honors Spanish III class at Vestavia Hills High School on Aug. 12. Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
See SEALS | page A23
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