Editor's Eye

 

 

HOT OFF THE PRESS: 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’ new collection, Beginnings, Middles, & Ends: Sideways Stories on the Art & Soul of Social Work.

 

TODAY is the official publication date of this new book. In celebration of this event, we are offering a 15% discount on ALL social work books at White Hat Communications (http://shop.whitehatcommunications.com). Use coupon code LAUNCH15 when you check out to receive this discount! (Now through Oct. 22)

 

Terry L. Singer, Ph.D., said, "This read is a gift to all, whether they are starting or ending their journey of service to others."

 

Read reviews and interviews with the author at Social Justice Solutions and Social Work Career Development. Now available on Amazon.com (print and Kindle), Google Play (ebook), directly from the publisher, and soon available through bookstores near you.

 

For more info, see http://www.beginningsmiddlesandends.com.

 

 

 

THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER Magazine’s Back-to-School Guide for Social Work Students, edited by Linda May Grobman and Karen Zgoda, is available now! Get this e-book at:  http://www.amazon.com/WORKER%C2%AE-Magazines--School-Students-ebook/dp/B00EZAXVJ8 (Kindle format) or http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/355823 (ePub and other formats). Only $4.99.

 

Check out all of our social work and nonprofit books, social work greeting cards, social work buttons, and more. All of our books and products are available through our secure online store at: http://shop.whitehatcommunications.com.

 

 

You can also download our catalog in PDF format.

 

 

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**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.

 

Job Corner

Fedcap Rehabilitation Services, Inc., is seeking a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW).  Under the direction of the Clinical Supervisor, the LCSW is responsible for direct service to clients in the Agency's outpatient mental health programs.  

 

Duties and Responsibilities:  

•Responsible for gathering information from clients.  Including conducting intake interviews, providing psychotherapy when necessary, case management and referrals.  

•Maintain a caseload of clients with the expectation of delivering a minimum of 28 hours of direct service per week.   

•Must be available to provide 24 hour, 7 days per week telephone coverage for clients enrolled in treatment as prescribed by Agency policy and procedures.  

 

Education   Master’s Degree in Social Work required.  

 

REQUIREMENTS:  

•Valid LMSW license •Must obtain and maintain all NY State licensure/certifications necessary for this position 

•Experience working with persons with disabilities and other barriers to employment.

•Must have Article 31 experience

•Bilingual (English/Spanish) required •Excellent oral and written communication skills  

 

Equal Opportunity Employer. We are only accepting resumes through our website www.fedcap.org. This position is Requisition #142.

 

Featured Excerpt

by SaraKay Smullens, MSW, LCSW, CGP, CFLE, BCD

 

Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from the Fall 2013 issue of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER. Read the full article at:

In your work, you may be encountering an unfortunate reality of the social work profession and of the psychological professions in general: researchers and clinicians have not usually walked hand in hand, consulting and collaborating, complimenting each other’s efforts. In fact, it too often has seemed as if the two orientations exist in a universe unrelated to the other.

In the field of psychiatry, research-oriented psychiatrists and academics often have little awareness of the solid, time tested body of knowledge that is the essence of social work education. Our emphasis on mutual respect and lack of condescension toward those we are privileged to work with, as well as the deep respect we hold for the innate capacities of all individuals to grow, heal, and change, is often overlooked by researchers in favor of an emphasis on biomedical, genetic, and neurological factors.

This divide has intensified in recent decades as psychiatry has become dominated by a growing attempt to categorize psychological reactions in the same way medical science categorizes physical illnesses. Normal conditions are classified as disorders, while at the same time, many of our clients with serious psychiatric illnesses who can be accurately and clearly diagnosed and treated are being neglected.   

In brief, those who “talk this talk,” even those with patient contact, usually have little understanding or appreciation of the real lives and struggles of our clients or the body of time tested knowledge and skill we call on as we “walk the walk” with them. The recent changes in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) reflect this unfortunate and widening schism. According to one of the nation’s preeminent professors of social work, Dr. Jerome Wakefield, “The DSM-5 Task Force would claim that (these) changes are based on scientific evidence; however, when the evidence is closely examined, this claim turns out to be extremely exaggerated. It depends very much on the specific change. Some changes are based on reasonable evidence; others are based on flimsy or questionable evidence, and still others are based on virtually no evidence at all” (personal communication, 2013).

The “brain disease” model that currently dominates in psychiatry largely ignores the complexity of emotional problems and their frequent anchoring in real environmental circumstances. It encourages the development of new drugs to treat what is often normal emotional distress in an already over-medicated population. It is based on a mindset that disregards or minimizes respect for individual complexity and difference, marking a dangerous individual, familial, and societal direction. We, as social workers, as well as all clinicians who are dependent on insurance companies for reimbursement, know that these reimbursements will depend on strict adherence to the DSM-5. We also know that fewer available sessions will mean greater dependency on drugs for a society that is already far too drug dependent.

Consider these facts: 94% of all individuals in the United States who consult a mental health professional will visit with a mental health and substance abuse social worker, a clinical and counseling psychologist, a marriage and family therapist, or other mental health or substance abuse counselors (Grohol, 2011). Yet, for example, not a single individual with a social work background was on the committee that made the final decisions regarding diagnostic evaluations.

It is ironic that although the majority of mental health patients in the United States have clinicians as their health care professionals, researchers have come up with many dangerous and seemingly arbitrary changes to the newest edition of the DSM that have no chance of standing the test of time (Frances, 2012). What we find reflected in the recent DSM is an emphasis on unnecessary diagnostic labeling and a reliance on either unnecessary or prolonged medication and hospitalization. What is missing is emphasis on working through conflicts and the clinical support and alternative healing strategies, including a combined tincture of time and talk, that provide solace, lessen pain, and lead to insight and clarity of thought.

I am in no way saying that medication is all bad, or not to be used in the short term to feel better and cope, and when indicated for longer periods. What I am saying is that drugs are not always necessary, and long-term medication should be a very clearly thought out option, not a first and easy one.

 

Read the rest of this article at:

 

 

Articles from the Fall 2013 issue of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER include:

 

...and much more!

 

Features

 

In recognition of October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I have put together this list of articles and other links on breast cancer and social work. I hope you find them useful!

 

 

 

 

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The past week was Mental Illness Awareness Week. I would like to share with you this short excerpt from Ogden Rogers’ new book, Beginnings, Middles, & Ends: Sideways Stories on the Art & Soul of Social Work.

News & Resources

 

I am a Smith College School for Social Work Ph.D. student working on my dissertation. The title of my research is "Social Workers Views on Reproductive Choice," and it aims to understand social workers personal values and professional practices around reproductive choice and  to understand if the NASW Code of Ethics and policy statements truly reflect social workers' personal and professional values. I would really appreciate anyone willing to take the survey and pass it on to other social workers. I look forward to influencing policy, practice, education, and research around this issue with your help.

 

Use the link below to participate in the survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/reproductivejustice

Healthline recently partnered with the Timothy Ray Brown Foundation (TRBF) to launch "You've Got This," a video campaign that encourages HIV patients to give hope and advice to the recently diagnosed by sharing videos of their own stories. For every video created, Healthline will donate $10 to the TRBF toward finding a cure. Initial participants include Jack Mackenroth, Olympian Ji Wallace, Paul Lekakis, Josh Robbins, and Kevin Maloney.  For more information on the campaign and how to submit videos, visit: http://www.healthline.com/health/hiv-aids/youve-got-this

 

 

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I am seeking articles for upcoming issues of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine. I am especially interested in articles in the following categories:

 

 

Our style is conversational and educational, and articles typically run 1,500-2,000 words for feature articles (considerably shorter for news items).

 

I also welcome submissions of poetry, photographs, illustrations, artwork, and other creative work depicting social work and related topics.

 

Please contact Linda Grobman, editor/publisher of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER, at: lindagrobman@socialworker.com

On Our Web Site

 

The Fall issue of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER is available now! It is available to download in PDF format at:

 

 

THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER’s Web site at http://www.socialworker.com includes the full text of hundreds of articles from past issues of the magazine. The current issue is featured on the site’s main page. Past issues can be found under “Magazine Issues” in the right column of the page. For selected full-text articles from issues prior to Spring 2006, click on “Feature Articles Archive” on the left side of the page. The magazine is also available for FREE download in PDF format.

 

In addition to the free PDF and Web versions of the magazine, the magazine is available in PRINT at http://newsocialworker.magcloud.com! Order it today!

 

You can also purchase bound volumes for 2011, 2012, and 2013 at Amazon.com. Search for “The New Social Worker” (in quotes).

 

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 or other occasions) for yourself, or for your friends, students, and colleagues in social work!

 

Briefly, those currently in print are:

 

 

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.

 

 

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, 2^nd 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 NONPROFIT HANDBOOK: Everything You Need to Know to Start and Run Your Nonprofit Organization (6th Edition) and IMPROVING QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE IN YOUR NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION, by Gary M. Grobman.

 

 

All of our books are available through our secure online store at:

 

 

You can also download our catalog in PDF format.

VISIT OUR SITES

www.socialworker.com