Community Care

DECEMBER 7, 2021

Children should be removed from their families if there is “any inkling” of harm to them, the education secretary has said. Nadhim Zahawi made the comment in response to a question from fellow Conservative MP Bob Blackman following his statement on the government’s response to the Arthur Labinjo-Hughes case yesterday. Blackman had said that what Arthur’s case had in common with those of Peter Connolly (2007), Victoria Climbié (2000) and Jasmine Beckford (1984) was that &

Social Worker 362

Social Worker Government 362

Gary Direnfeld

DECEMBER 8, 2021

Remember that movie from 2006, “Failure to Launch?” They finally get the guy in his thirties out of his parent’s house long enough to meet a gal. The movie was based on a social trend of men who never left home. Some had sporadic jobs but otherwise lived in their bedroom or the basement mostly playing video games. Since then, I am seeing another social trend; women who married those men now seeking to separate from them.

Counseling 264

Counseling Private Practice Consultation Mental Health 264

My Brains Not Broken

DECEMBER 28, 2021

As someone who celebrates Christmas, this past week was a busy one. The holiday season can take its toll on us in many ways, and while I tend to shine a spotlight on mental wellness during the holidays, there are other areas of wellness that are important to remember. Sometimes I forget about the connection between my physical health and my mental health, but when I forget to take care of my wellness, my body reminds me in a major way.

Mental Health 246

Mental Health 246

Martin Webber

DECEMBER 21, 2021

New 4-year integrated Masters qualifying programme in social work at the University of York is producing confident, skilled and experienced practitioners.

University 223

University 223

Advertiser: Caseworthy

Thousands of nonprofits rely on case management software to help collect data, manage programs, coordinate with agencies, and provide life-changing health and human services. Adopting a cloud-based case management platform is essential for nonprofits and government agencies to operate more efficiently and make better use of their funding and budget.

Case Management

Social Work Futures

DECEMBER 13, 2021

The Council on Social Work Education regularly goes through a lengthy process to revise its educational and practice standards. Currently there is an “open commentary” opportunity to weigh in on the latest round of the proposed standards for 2022. You can read about the process and the proposed standards themselves here. This entry offers a brief analysis of the proposed 2022 CSWE EPAS Guidelines.

Schools 178

Schools 178

Teaching & Learning in Social Work

DECEMBER 30, 2021

One of my academic favorites is Dr. Katie Linder who produces a podcast called You’ve Got This , where she offers advice and examples for other academics as they navigate the world of higher education. Frequently, Katie talks about goal setting and how she works to accomplish her own goals. As I listened to her end-of-the-year podcast about her 2021 goals, all I could think about was my blog.

Social Worker 162

Social Worker Engagement 162

Gary Direnfeld

DECEMBER 22, 2021

The parents complained that their son didn’t listen. He was just four. A sweet little boy. It’s not that he was wild, he just wouldn’t always follow through with requests. He would stand looking dumbfounded. I had the parents ask him to get a ball which was laying on the floor. Pointing and nodding, the parents provided the instruction verbally and through simple gestures.

Private Practice 182

Private Practice Mental Health Social Worker Counseling 182

My Brains Not Broken

DECEMBER 14, 2021

Mental health is important for everyone, but it’s especially important to spotlight teenagers and mental health. For today’s post, I was able to talk with Monica Utley, the Executive Director of Tilly’s Life Center. Located in Irvine, California, Tilly’s Life Center teaches life skills to teenagers that build confidence, inspire compassion, and encourages adolescents to pursue their dreams.

Mental Health 246

Mental Health Adoption Communication Schools 246

Martin Webber

DECEMBER 29, 2021

New research reveals the complex matrix of mental health social work in Local Authorities and NHS Mental Health Trusts in England and Wales.

Mental Health 232

Mental Health 232

Save the Social Worker

DECEMBER 27, 2021

How was your year? Tough question, isn’t it? As you wind down the year and look forward to a new year, what do you remember about this year? What did you overcome? What could you have done better? Can I tell you a secret? I don’t have a job. Maybe that’s why you shouldn’t listen to me. But being without a job has allowed a break, and to think about where we can go from here.

Social Worker 130

Social Worker Psychology Social Services Social Services 130

Speaker: Gary Direnfeld, MSW, RSW.

You may have the clinical skills to manage a private practice, but your success could actually hinge on marketing skills. For a thriving practice, you need to differentiate yourself from others and present yourself in a way that attracts referrals. These days, much of that happens online, including on social media. In this webinar, Gary Direnfeld will discuss how social media marketing can help you build your private practice and grow your client base.

Private Practice

Social Work Futures

DECEMBER 18, 2021

Futures thinker Bob Johansen says that futures thinking now, is about moving from “categorical” to “spectrum” thinking in his most recent book. To me, full spectrum thinking is about being able to consider the complexity of phenomena, situations and/or challenge – and avoid the trap of oversimplifying. As I’ve continued my work in futures/foresight – getting a better handle on the ways that complexity “works” has been important to my work and

130

130

Community Care

DECEMBER 3, 2021

The “full spirit of the Care Act” is not being met, the government has said as it plans to reintroduce performance assessments of council adult services. The Department of Health and Social Care made the comment in its social care reform white paper, published this week , where it set out further details about how the “assurance framework” for councils would work.

Government 331

Government Interventional Social Services Social Services 331

Gary Direnfeld

DECEMBER 16, 2021

Oh that guilt. So undermining. And with Christmas just around the corner, whose will it be? Yours? Someone elses? Boundaries. They are the thing that brings your life back to you. They help you distinguish who respects you acting in your interest versus their own. “No” is a boundary word. “We would love to normally, but this year we just need to __ for ourselves,” is a boundary phrase. “Sorry, we will be doing _this year and we are quite looking forward to it,”

Private Practice 147

Private Practice Mental Health Social Worker Counseling 147

My Brains Not Broken

DECEMBER 21, 2021

As I’ve written before, I tend to get sad during the wintertime. At this point, it’s become something to expect and prepare for more than anything else, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating when it happens. But it’s not just the wintertime – it’s the holidays, too. Last year, I wrote that it’s okay not to be okay during this festive period , and while the sentiment remains true for this year, I also wanted to issue a gentle reminder that many pe

Mental Health 246

Mental Health Anxiety 246

Martin Webber

DECEMBER 7, 2021

Community-enhanced social prescribing brings communities and link workers closer together to improve wellbeing for both individuals and communities.

190

190

Save the Social Worker

DECEMBER 27, 2021

How was your year? Tough question, isn’t it? As you wind down the year and look forward to a new year, what do you remember about this year? What did you overcome? What could you have done better? Can I tell you a secret? I don’t have a job. Maybe that’s why you shouldn’t listen to me. But being without a job has allowed a break, and to think about where we can go from here.

Social Worker 130

Social Worker Psychology Social Services Social Services 130

Social Work With Adults

DECEMBER 1, 2021

Reform has social work values built in. I am so pleased to be writing this blog, celebrating the publication of ‘ People at the heart of care ’, the Government's adult social care reform White Paper. Social work and social care values are at its core. This is about valuing people and what matters to them, appreciating those who care for and support them, supported by a vision reminding us of our commitment to personalising care and support.

Engagement 143

Engagement Social Worker Adoption Therapist 143

Community Care

DECEMBER 22, 2021

Advanced fostering practitioner Vivian Okeze-Tirado was working at home when she was crowned overall winner at this year’s Social Worker of the Year Awards. She had been handed the social justice advocate award earlier in the ceremony for her work creating diversity workshops for foster carers and social work colleagues following George Floyd’s murder in May last year.

Social Worker 330

Social Worker Diversity University Administration 330

Gary Direnfeld

DECEMBER 15, 2021

Omicron, Christmas and Anti-Vaxxers… Within families, there are still couples where there are divergent/polar views as to the reality of the pandemic and the value and even purpose of the vaccine. At this point and although a shrinking minority, those who remain fixed in their contrary views are less and less likely to change. This can be the issue that gives cause for a separation.

Private Practice 147

Private Practice Mental Health Counseling Social Worker 147

My Brains Not Broken

DECEMBER 9, 2021

This week on My Brain’s Not Broken, we’re talkin g about perfectionism. While it’s something that comes up in everyday life, perfectionism can be hard to spot, and even harder to deal with. When I was looking up how to manage and deal with perfectionism, I saw the same results as when I looked up how to manage self-doubt , which was that every article I found used terms like overcoming and get rid of when talking about perfectionism (which seems like an example of perfectionism

Mental Health 246

Mental Health 246

Martin Webber

DECEMBER 18, 2021

Most people with psychosis want more contact with other people.

233

233

Blurt It Out

DECEMBER 2, 2021

As the festive season approaches, diary dates stack up, another “please could you bring/remember/note…” message seems to come through daily, and it’s never long before we feel the festive frazzle. We’re eternally thankful to all those who work so hard to put smiles on our children’s faces and create wonderful memories. But navigating it without.

Schools 139

Schools Depression 139

Nnatasha Tracy

DECEMBER 1, 2021

Mental illness can prevent daily hygiene. I've been a victim of this and so have so many other people. Some people have come to me in confidence and said that they can't brush their teeth and it's causing major dental problems. Other people have said, in hushed tones, that they can't do their laundry so they don't leave their houses. These kinds of hygiene tasks are just too hard for some people disabled with serious mental illnesses.

Disability 137

Disability Disorder 137

Community Care

DECEMBER 14, 2021

The Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) is certain to be delayed again, with the government yet to consult on how to put the scheme into practice. The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) replacement was originally due come into force in October 2020, but this was then put back to a target of April 2022, due to the impact of Covid on health and social care.

Consultation 321

Consultation Government Advocacy Hospitals 321

Gary Direnfeld

DECEMBER 14, 2021

I am thinking of step-families, those that are blended with kids from one or other parent, sometimes both. Of these, not all stepkids and stepparents form a loving, let alone caring relationship or even a tolerance for each other. Indeed, it can be highly conflicted and result in much disruption and challenging behavior on the part of those involved.

Counseling 147

Counseling Mental Health Private Practice Social Worker 147

My Brains Not Broken

DECEMBER 30, 2021

I don’t have a particularly long post today, but it’s a message I wish would be shared more this week. This year has been hard. At times, this year felt impossible. Even as we near the end of it, parts of this year still feel impossible. But I hope you take heart in the fact that, despite how you may feel about the state of your world and what you’ve done, this year, you did enough.

Mental Health 245

Mental Health 245

What a Shrink Thinks

DECEMBER 10, 2021

This is an educational/experiential workshop designed to support therapists and counselors, artists and creatives, meditators and those engaged in spiritual practices and anyone who wants to learn to work with their dreams in service of healing, creative or contemplative processes.

Therapist 132

Therapist Engagement 132

The International Association Of Schools Of Social

DECEMBER 28, 2021

IASSW Announces The Release Of Social Dialogue Magazine # 25. Dear Friends, International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) is ready with an excellent volume of Social Dialogue. on the theme “The Pandemic that Shook Social Work Education It is a collaborative effort from academics, students, practice teachers and service users from across the globe exploring social work’s educational response to the current COVID-19 pandemic, focusing specifically on how they have responded to the ma

University 130

University Schools 130

Michigan Social Work

DECEMBER 10, 2021

Lorraine Gutiérrez has been appointed the Edith A. Lewis Collegiate Professor of Social Work. Gutiérrez is an internationally renowned scholar in empowerment theory and anti-oppressive practice. Her teaching and scholarship focus on multicultural praxis in communities, organizations and higher education. Her current projects include identifying strategies for multicultural community-based research and practice, multicultural education for social work practice, and identifying effective methods

University 130

University Schools 130

Community Care

DECEMBER 6, 2021

Social workers have been freed up to spend more time with children after council investment led to a “significant reduction” in caseloads, Ofsted has found. Ofsted rated Walsall council as good overall at a full inspection last month, after telling the authority it required improvement in 2017 and rating it as inadequate nine years ago. Inspectors found some “exceptional practice” at the council, which it credited to the authority’s “deliberate corporate investment” in children’s services helpin

Social Worker 299

Social Worker Interventional Engagement Disability 299

Gary Direnfeld

DECEMBER 2, 2021

Let’s be clear. Life is not a straight line. It not only has bumps, it has tremendous highs and tremendous lows. That is the nature of life from which no one is exempt. The real issue then is resiliency, the capacity to overcome adversity. That and support. There we differ.Some folks have remarkable resiliency and some do not. Some have remarkable supports and some do not.

Counseling 147

Counseling Private Practice Mental Health Diversity 147

My Brains Not Broken

DECEMBER 16, 2021

Mental health matters for people of every age, race and demographic, but an area that doesn’t always get the attention it deserves is in young people. It might not be news to some, but the numbers are rising year after year when it comes to young people dealing with mental health disorders and mental illness. After an insightful Q&A earlier this week with Tilly’s Life Center, I decided I wanted to spotlight some of the important statistics about young people and mental health tha

Mental Health 246

Mental Health Depression Disorder Schools 246

NCCPR Child Welfare Blog

DECEMBER 6, 2021

Consider a recent case involving the family policing system in a county in Pennsylvania. Everything I am about to recount is true except for one detail: Two young children are taken from their mother. Their father is eager to take them in, but at the time of the removal he’s in the hospital. That’s because after he was hit by a drunk driver and confined to a wheelchair it led to medical complications that sometimes require hospitalization.

Child Welfare 128

Child Welfare Welfare Foster Care Disability 128

Nnatasha Tracy

DECEMBER 8, 2021

Trigger warnings don't work. I know that's a controversial statement as trigger warnings have crept into seemingly all aspects of media. But trigger warnings did this without anyone studying the effects of including a trigger warning. People started including them with good intentions, but that doesn't mean including them actually produces positive responses.

125

125

Social Care

DECEMBER 1, 2021

"Care certificates will create a new delivery standard recognised across the sector, which will facilitate more rewarding career paths for all colleagues and make sure there is a knowledge baseline for every care role." [Photo by Lauren.hurley@dhsc.gov.uk, DHSC]. Making the most of our people. With or without reform, the quality, reliability and effectiveness of our adult social care system depends on a workforce that feels valued, supported and encouraged to be the best.

Mental Health 129

Mental Health Therapist Social Worker Clinic 129