Ohio Crime Victim Justice Center

  1. Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project. Write two or three sentences describing the main activities your STEP Signature Project entailed.

As the Advocacy Intern Team Lead at the Ohio Crime Victim Justice Center, my main activities around the office involved assisting advocates with public records requests, court docket searches, and case briefings. I also was in charge of assigning other interns tasks and monitoring the progress of their projects. I also compiled information for multiple research projects regarding victims’ rights, mental health, and Title IX policy changes in Ohio. 

  1. What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP Signature Project? Write one or two paragraphs to describe the change or transformation that took place.

While working at the Ohio Crime Victim Justice Center, I worked a lot on projects revolving around the mental health of crime victims. An assumption that I had going into my internship was that mental health resources could be readily available to anyone who may need help. However, that is just not the case. Taking care of your mental health through therapy, psychiatry, or other forms of professional help can be very expensive. Many people believe and push for individuals to go to therapy to help with mental illnesses but do not realize the expenses that may come along with doing so. Individuals with a low/near poverty level income can not afford professional help for their mental illnesses and are forced to try to maneuver the world by themselves. This realization that mental health help is not readily available to anyone who may need it structured a lot of what projects I worked on while at the OCVJC and continues to be a problem I am passionate about finding a solution for. I transformed my passions for mental health towards trying to help individuals find ways to protect and help stabilize their mental health

  1. What events, interactions, relationships, or activities during your STEP Signature Project led to the change/transformation that you discussed in #2, and how did those affect you? Write three or four paragraphs describing the key aspects of your experiences completing your STEP Signature Project that led to this change/transformation.

I first came to this realization when I was working on a project searching for mental health services in Ohio for crime victims during the pandemic. After doing some deep searches for both organizations, non-profits, and individual practices, the cheapest prices for therapy were over a hundred dollars. There were options all over the state, and some even online, but none of them could be afforded by an individual who worked a minimum wage job. Compiling this list of affordable mental health resources was a difficult task and was the start of my transformation in my view of affordable mental health. 

After this, I talked a lot about mental health with my advocacy advisor, Emma. Emma explained to me that because the OCVJC is a non-profit, there were a lot of services that our clients were looking for but we did not provide, mental health services being one of them. She also explained that mental health assistance is crucial for individuals who are victims of violent crimes such as domestic violence, rape, and/or assault. We also discussed the importance of maintaining mental health during a pandemic. Individuals who have worked hard to stabilize their mental health may have lost resources during the pandemic to help continue their journey on protecting their mental health. This change in perspective led me to work on my next project at the OCVJC. 

The final project I worked on at the OCVJC was developing ways individuals can help stabilize their mental health in their own homes during this crazy pandemic. In addition to the uncertainty and stress of the global outbreak, spending time in quarantine can take a serious mental toll. Individuals may be likely to have feelings of loneliness, sadness, fear, anxiety, and stress, which are normal given the circumstances. Through my research, I found that being active, staying connected through technology, and establishing a routine are ways that an individual can help maintain their mental health. I also found out that practicing mindfulness and appreciation help with this as well. Doing this research and sharing my findings with Emma, along with the other advocates solidified my change of perspective of how important it is that affordable mental health services are necessary for everyone, including victims of violent crimes. 

  1. Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life? Write one or two paragraphs discussing why this change or development matters and/or relates to your academic, personal, and/or professional goals and future plans

It has been very important for me to better understand mental health for both personal, academic, and professional reasons. Mental health is always an important topic of conversation in my family life. My brother has been battling with balancing his mental health for over a decade, and understanding the best ways to help him is the most important for me. I also hope that gaining a better understanding of the importance of mental health will help me grow academically. As a double major in psychology and criminology, it is very important for me to best understand mental health as it is a huge component of both of those fields. Finally, I hope to take this shift of perspective and from it professionally. Whatever my career is, I plan to prioritize mental health and help to make it more accessible for everyone who may suffer from a mental illness.

One Research Project I completed on Indirect Trauma

A Research Project I completed on Mental Health