Social Work E-News 
Issue #177
August 11, 2015
 
 
 
Social Work E-News
Editor's Eye
Hello --

Welcome to Issue #177 of the Social Work E-News! Thank you for subscribing to receive this e-mail newsletter, which is brought to you by the publisher of The New Social Worker magazine, SocialWorker.com, SocialWorkJobBank.com, and other social work publications.
 
Congratulations to new social work graduates. AND…welcome to new social work students starting on your social work education journey. This is an exciting time!
 
We published a web-exclusive article on marriage and children of divorce last week. Read “The Divorce Dividend: When Children of Divorce Marry,” by Washington, DC, social worker Elisabeth LaMotte.
 
As you may have heard, Lara Sobel, a professional social worker and employee of the Department of Children and Families in Vermont, was tragically killed on Friday afternoon by a mother who had lost custody of her daughter to DCF. Three of the suspect’s relatives were also found murdered in a nearby home. We are saddened for Lara’s family, for our profession, for Lara’s clients, for the families of the three slain relatives, and for all who are affected by this loss. As we mourn this loss of one of our colleagues, we look to ways to prevent this from happening to others. National Association of Social Workers CEO Angelo McClain was interviewed yesterday regarding ways to improve social worker safety. NASW also has a Social Work Safety page. The New Social Worker has published several articles in the past on this topic and will continue to explore this issue, with one additional article already in the works prior to this latest tragedy. I hope these resources are helpful to you.
 
Don’t forget—the Summer issue of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER is available NOW! Read articles from this issue at http://www.socialworker.com. Highlights of this issue include the DSM-5 and ethics of diagnosis, living with uncertainty, evaluating job offers, working in a chronic pain clinic, job interviewing skills, finding a mentor, neuroscience and social work, sharing culture to achieve racial equity, emotional contagion through social media, a review of the long-awaited sequel to ReMoved, six book reviews, and more. The article on neuroscience has been especially popular, as has the article on ethics of diagnosis.
 
Here’s a quick link for immediate download of the PDF edition for Summer 2015: Summer 2015 issue: Quick Download Now
 
 
You can go to http://www.socialworker.com/Subscribe_to_The_New_Social_Worker and subscribe (free) to receive an e-mail reminder and table of contents of each issue of The New Social Worker magazine when it is available. If you are a subscriber to the E-News (which you are reading now), this does NOT mean that you are automatically subscribed to The New Social Worker magazine. They are two different publications.
 
If you like our Web sites, The New Social Worker, and the Social Work E-News, please help us spread the word by using the "Share" button on the right side of this newsletter to share with your friends and contacts. Tell your friends, students, or colleagues to visit us at http://www.socialworker.com, where they can download a free PDF copy of the magazine, become one of our 105,000+ fans on Facebook, and more. If you have a social work-related Web site, please feel free to link to us (www.socialworker.com) and let me know about your site, too, so I can check it out.
 
Until next time,
Linda Grobman, ACSW, LSW
Publisher/Editor
THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER®
 
 
Networking:
 
 
This Month
August marks several observances, including but not limited to:
 
  • National Breastfeeding Month
  • National Immunization Awareness Month
  • World Breastfeeding Week (first week of August)
  • National Health Center Week (second full week of August)
and more!
 
Words From Our Sponsors

 
What does a life in social work look like? You might look at it as a series of “sideways” stories! “If life were black and white, we’d have no need for social work.” Read Ogden Rogers’ collection, Beginnings, Middles, & Ends: Sideways Stories on the Art & Soul of Social Work. Listen to an episode of the Social Work Podcast that includes author Ogden Rogers reading from 6 of the 99 stories in the book. Available on Amazon.com (print and Kindle), Google Play (e-book), directly from the publisher, and other bookstores. Do you know a social worker or social work student who loves to read? This book is a welcome retreat from academic textbooks. For info, see http://www.beginningsmiddlesandends.com.
 
 

 
 
 
**Get your textbooks!** Support The New Social Worker while you shop. Follow this link to Amazon.com for all your textbook and other supply needs.
 

 
Advertise With Us
 
If you would like to reach our audience of social workers and others interested in social work with information about your program or social work-related product, please contact Linda for information on advertising in THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER, the Social Work E-News, or on our website at SocialWorker.com.

Ask about listing your program or business in our new online Social Work Directory.
 
Job Corner
Social Work Consultant - San Diego and El Centro
 
Social Work Consultation to Social Service Departments in Nursing Homes. Must have LCSW and healthcare and/or geriatric experience. 
 
4-20 hours/month. Starts at $38/hour.
 
San Diego and El Centro
 
Masters in Social Work. Licensed in California (LCSW).
 
Geriatric and/or Healthcare Experience.
 
Contact: Jody Giacopuzzi, LCSW
No phone calls please.
E-mail: JodyGiac@aol.com
 

 
Find jobs for new grads and experienced social work practitioners at http://www.socialworkjobbank.com, THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER’s online job board and career center. Post your confidential résumé at http://jobs.socialworkjobbank.com/c/resumes/resumes.cfm?site_id=122
Soci
 
If you or your agency are hiring social workers, don’t forget to post your jobs on SocialWorkJobBank.com. Please check the SocialWorkJobBank “products/pricing” page at http://jobs.socialworkjobbank.com/r/jobs/post/index.cfm?site_id=122 for job posting options and SPECIAL offers. 
 
Job seeker services are FREE—including searching current job openings, posting your confidential résumé/profile, and receiving e-mail job alerts. Please let employers know that you saw their listings in the SOCIAL WORK E-NEWS and at SocialWorkJobBank.com.
 
There are 1,082 jobs currently posted on SocialWorkJobBank.com. Check it out today.
 
Featured Excerpt
Growing Oaks
 
Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from the Summer 2015 issue of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER. Read the full article at:

by Serena Hanson, LMSW

Can we spend a few minutes thinking about the oak tree? The oak tree is known in many different cultures and faith systems around the world as a symbol of strength. Celtic culture suggests the oak is said to carry magical powers. The bark of the oak is sometimes said to have medicinal ability. Oaks are associated with gods of thunder, and the Holy Bible prophet Isaiah refers to the Israelites as “Oaks of Righteousness” (Isaiah 61). The oak is designated the National Tree in at least 14 countries around the world, including the United States, and six states have designated a species of oak as their official state tree.
 
Oak wood is selected for its strength and endurance in the building of everything from furniture to timber-framed buildings, and oak wood was commonly used in the building of great ships, including the USS Constitution, the first ship of the U.S. Navy. One particular tree, called the Seven Sisters Oak, in Louisiana is said to be about 1,500 years old and has a trunk circumference of 38 feet. Live oaks are known to grow to between 40 and 80 feet tall. Perhaps the most interesting fact about the oaks is that their root systems will grow to almost mirror their height, pushing down as deep as the tree is high and branching out as wide as the branches! The oak can withstand incredibly strong storms, like tornados and hurricanes. Even when they are stripped of their leaves, oak trees survive because of their strength, their curvy branches, and their incredible root systems.
 
My story resembles one of a brutal storm—a hurricane that builds and builds out at sea, until reaching land with a heavy blow, leaving an imprint of damage and destruction in its path. The story started with an alcoholic father, a co-dependent and abused mother, abused and battered and emotionally beaten down children, building over 12 years, until finally exploding into circumstances out of my control.
 
I was a child in foster care. My six years in foster care included three foster homes, two stays at a temporary shelter, two stints in a group home, and an emergency foster home, finally ending with life as an adult, aging out of the system at 18 years old, with no permanent family or soft place to land.
 
Like most people, as you read this story, you may be focused on the turmoil...the storm. Remember, though, there’s always calm after the storm. The winds die down, the rain stops, and the sun comes out. Reporters show up and begin to talk to survivors, looking for those with resilience, strength, and determination to rebuild and move on. The resolve to be bigger than the storm becomes the focus of the story. It might be said that we begin to draw strength from those still standing with the strength of an oak tree.
 
Over time, the mighty oak tree is said to have adapted to the strong storms that are common along the southern coastal regions where they are commonly found. Hurricanes have tested their very structure, and the tree has adapted to sway and give instead of snapping.
 
Read the rest of this article at:
 
 
Articles from the Summer 2015 issue of The New Social Worker include:
 
 

...and much more!
News & Resources
 
 
Social Work Legislative Advocacy Survey by CRISP
 
The Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy (CRISP) is conducting a survey on social workers’ interest and involvement in legislative advocacy. Let your voice be heard!
 
You can participate in the 5-minute survey at: http://goo.gl/kRVEYU
 
 

 
Ethics in the Helping Professions

Dr. Merlinda Weinberg, a social work professor at Dalhousie University, has developed a website on Ethics in the Helping Professions. The site includes analytical tools; a discussion forum; Dr. Weinberg’s research; and links to associations, codes of ethics, and other ethics resources.
 
 

Social Work and Health Inequalities Network (SWHIN)

The Social Work and Health Inequalities Network (SWHIN) is a global association of social work educators, managers, policy makers, practitioners, researchers, and allies from more than 20 nations spanning six continents. Its richly diverse membership shares a common commitment. Launched at the 2004 International Health and Mental Health Conference in Quebec, SWHIN’s goal is to combat the causes and consequences of unjust and damaging socially created health inequalities through sustaining a global network of social work professionals committed to working together to promote research, discussion, and action.
 
Membership is free, and members will have the ability to engage with social workers around the world to combat the causes and consequences of socially created health inequalities. Become a member by accessing: http://blogs.coventry.ac.uk/swhin/
 
 
 
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Write for THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER
 
I am seeking a limited number of articles for upcoming issues of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine and/or our website. I am especially interested in articles in the following categories:
 
  • field placement
  • practice specialties and practice skills/tips for all levels of practice (micro, mezzo, macro for new and seasoned social workers)
  • what every new social worker needs to know about…
  • articles related to various awareness months (i.e., Mental Health Month, Foster Care Month, Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, and so forth)
  • social work news items
  • other topics of interest to social work students, new graduates, and seasoned professionals. Some popular topic examples include those related to getting into graduate school, becoming licensed in social work, private practice issues, advocacy, and social worker burnout.
 
Our style is conversational and educational, and articles typically run 1,500-2,000 words for feature articles (considerably shorter for news items). We want positive articles that social workers can use to help them advance in their careers.
 
I also welcome submissions of poetry, photographs, illustrations, artwork, videos, audio, and other creative work depicting social work and related topics.
 
Please contact Linda Grobman, editor/publisher of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER, at:
In Print
White Hat Communications, publisher of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine and the Social Work E-News, has published several books about social work. These books make great gifts (for graduation, holidays, or other occasions) for yourself, or for your friends, students, and colleagues in social work!
 
Briefly, those currently in print are:
 
  • BEGINNINGS, MIDDLES, & ENDS: Sideways Stories on the Art & Soul of Social Work, by Ogden W. Rogers
  • DAYS IN THE LIVES OF SOCIAL WORKERS: 58 Professionals Tell Real-Life Stories From Social Work Practice (4th Edition), edited by Linda May Grobman
  • MORE DAYS IN THE LIVES OF SOCIAL WORKERS:35 Real-Life Stories of Advocacy, Outreach, and Other Intriguing Roles in Social Work Practice, edited by Linda May Grobman
  • DAYS IN THE LIVES OF GERONTOLOGICAL SOCIAL WORKERS: 44 Professionals Tell Stories From Real-Life Social Work Practice With Older Adults, edited by Linda May Grobman and Dara Bergel Bourassa.
  • RIDING THE MUTUAL AID BUS AND OTHER ADVENTURES IN GROUP WORK: A “DAYS IN THE LIVES OF SOCIAL WORKERS” COLLECTION, edited by Linda May Grobman and Jennifer Clements
  • IS IT ETHICAL? 101 SCENARIOS IN EVERYDAY SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE: A DISCUSSION WORKBOOK, by Thomas Horn
  • THE FIELD PLACEMENT SURVIVAL GUIDE: What You Need to Know to Get the Most From Your Social Work Practicum, 2nd Edition, edited by Linda May Grobman
  • THE SOCIAL WORK GRADUATE SCHOOL APPLICANT’S HANDBOOK: The Complete Guide to Selecting and Applying to MSW Programs, by Jesus Reyes
 
We also publish books on nonprofit management. Want to start your own agency? Check out the following:

  • THE NONPROFIT HANDBOOK: Everything You Need to Know to Start and Run Your Nonprofit Organization (7th Edition), by Gary M. Grobman
  • IMPROVING QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE IN YOUR NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION, by Gary M. Grobman
 
 
HOW TO ORDER
 
All of our books are available through our secure online store at:
 
Most are also available at Amazon.com.
 
You can also view and download our catalog in PDF format.
 
Reminders
IMPORTANT UPDATE

Future newsletters will come from a new address. Please add this address to your approved senders list:
newsletters@socialworkermail.com
  
 
VISIT OUR SITES

www.socialworker.com
 
 

IN THIS ISSUE
This Month
Words from Our Sponsors
Job Corner/Current Job Openings
Featured Excerpt
News & Resources
On Our Web Site
In Print
Reminders
NEWSLETTER NECESSITIES
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ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER
 
THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER® SOCIAL WORK E-NEWS is published by:
White Hat Communications (publisher of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER® magazine and THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER® ONLINE)
P.O. Box 5390
Harrisburg, PA 17110-0390
Linda Grobman, Editor
lindagrobman@socialworker.com
http://www.socialworker.com
 
 
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