Social Work Futures

MARCH 24, 2023

[link] Is all social work – “disaster social work” now? I have kind of had this question banging around in my head the last couple of years. I don’t have a good answer…I’ve seen things that make me debate this with myself on the regular. Slow disasters – like our variety of forms of structural violence in underfunded social care resources – and – fast disasters like pandemics, large scale climate events, and other cataclysmic events like oil

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My Brains Not Broken

MARCH 23, 2023

Earlier this week on the blog, I wrote about understanding symptoms. When it comes to mental illness, many symptoms are easy to see or understand. However, many symptoms also feel impossible to see in ourselves or others. A symptom of depression for one person might not exist for someone else, but both of these people could experience depression. Mental health is complex, and understanding our symptoms (however they look) is a big step on the path toward mental wellness.

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Community Care

MARCH 16, 2023

The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) has urged its members, and other social workers, not to work for a new Home Office agency established to assess the ages of unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people. Its chief executive, Ruth Allen, said taking a job with the Home Office’s National Age Assessment Board (NAAB) was a “risk to professional objectivity and could compromise the judgment of social workers”, in the light of government rhetoric about adult asylum seeke

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Gary Direnfeld

MARCH 23, 2023

Mindfulness is the capacity to be aware of one’s emotional state. Meditation is a tool to help one develop that capacity. Both are learned skills that require practice over time to develop. Many people begin thinking that Mindfulness and Meditation is like a switch you can turn on to find an immediate benefit. That would be wrong. Think of it like wanting to be a race car driver, yet you don’t even drive yet.

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Case Management

My Brains Not Broken

MARCH 21, 2023

Today, I want to talk about symptoms. When it comes to mental health terms, I’d guess that the word “symptoms” is very well-known. Everyone has experienced an illness, or feeling unwell, at some point in their lives. We are told to look out for symptoms and when we see them, to stop what we’re doing and get help. Most often, what we’re told to do is rest.

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Social Work Futures

MARCH 15, 2023

This is part of a monthly series of posts to share a few things I run across regarding the future of social work (and beyond). For people involved in foresight practice, the practice of scanning, organizing and creatively interpreting “signals of change” in the ecosystem is a primary and foundational part of the work. This blog is a place where I’m doing that “out loud” and in public to both share what I’m finding, and encouraging readers to do the same.

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Welfare Social Worker Child Welfare Social Services 228

The International Association Of Schools Of Social

MARCH 8, 2023

World Social Work Day 2023 : Message from IASSW President Happy World Social Work Day 2023 (WSWD). This year World Social Work Day will be celebrated on the 21st March 2023. This year’s theme is ‘Respecting diversity through joint social action ‘ Which relates to the third theme of the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development 2020-2030.

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Community Care

MARCH 31, 2023

The British Association of Social Workers England has warned of the risks of diluting the social worker role after the government unveiled plans for more assessments to be carried out by non-social work qualified staff. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has given authorities £27m to explore different ways of streamlining the assessment process for adults who may need care and support and carers with possible support needs.

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Gary Direnfeld

MARCH 19, 2023

You know the saying, “Monkey see, Monkey do?” Well, it turns out their brains are wired to mimick each other. In their brains there is an area of what is called “mirror neurons.” So as one experiences, the brain of the other just by observing their experience, experiences similarly. That was learned through experimentation in the 1990s with macaque monkeys.

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Mental Health Social Worker Private Practice Counseling 148

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

My Brains Not Broken

MARCH 14, 2023

I wish it weren’t true, but I’m extremely familiar with self-stigma. I’ve written about it before; in fact, I tried to break it down in a blog post last year. But as much as I’ve learned about how self-stigma exists in the world, I’m a whole different story. I have so much more to learn about how self-stigma exists within myself.

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Mental Health Depression Psychology 246

Save the Social Worker

MARCH 7, 2023

As the world faces growing concerns about food security and sustainability, an unexpected hero has emerged – noodles. But these are no ordinary noodles. W0W noodles , made from upcycled spent barley grain, offer a unique solution to increasing resilience to the global diabetes epidemic and food production challenges. W0W noodles may hold the key to unlocking nature’s restorative ability to deliver a healthier future.

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Social Work Futures

MARCH 2, 2023

I decided to invite Chat GPT to co-write a celebratory remark about “Social Work Month.” It took a couple of rounds to get it where I wanted to go…but here’s the results! Screen shots so you can have the “full experience!” It was fascinating to see how it grabbed the prompt and what it chose to include. How do you think it did?

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inSocialWork

MARCH 21, 2023

Louanne Bakk, Mickey Sperlich, & Steven Sturman In today’s podcast episode, our guests — Louanne Bakk, Mickey Sperlich and Steve Sturman, who are colleagues at the University at Buffalo School of Social Work (UBSSW) — will provide an overview of virtual reality (VR). They share how VR can be used effectively to support learning and instruction in social work education, and imagine how VR may be used in practice.

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Community Care

MARCH 15, 2023

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has announced increased tax relief for foster and shared lives carers, improved support for care leavers and enhanced help for disabled people to enter the workplace, in his Spring Budget today. However, social care leaders have criticised the lack of funding for core services for the coming years, while the statement also did not provide further detail about public sector pay settlements for 2023-24.

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Gary Direnfeld

MARCH 13, 2023

I know. It eases the pain. It masks the multitude of hurts. Away you go to another place. You get by. However, it catches up with you. It’s unsustainable. Further the fall. Circling. Circling. Catch a branch. Hold on. Tight is your grasp but weak your resolve. You need support. Another to hold you. Hold you. Therein some strength. Borrow their resolve.

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Mental Health Social Worker Counseling Private Practice 148

My Brains Not Broken

MARCH 2, 2023

After my (in my opinion) grumpy post about how challenging the month of February is , I’d like to try a different approach today. I’m glad I’ve admitted that the winter is a difficult season for me; doing so has helped shift the way I manage my mental health this time of year. While it hasn’t solved my problems, I’m glad that I’m more aware of what I’m up against.

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Mental Health Depression Anxiety 246

The New Social Worker

MARCH 8, 2023

As we celebrate the myriad contributions of social workers worldwide, we should remember that now, more than ever, we need to be proactive about breaking barriers. We must continue to advocate for for justice on all levels.

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Social Worker 117

Social Work Blog

MARCH 2, 2023

When it comes to snap decisions, we can all benefit by pausing to reflect first By Lorrie R. Appleton, LCSW The theme for Social Work month is descriptive and inspiring – Social Work Breaks Barriers. At our best, Social Workers are analogous to Super Heroes. When clients and families are faced with challenges, we rise to the occasion. Social workers advocate for justice, leap over mountains of agency red tape, and scale mountains of paperwork.

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The Guardian

MARCH 17, 2023

Ministers set to halve the £500m promised to invest in staffing of sector with more than 165,000 vacancies, report says Politics live - latest updates Ministers are poised to cut £250m from investment in the social care workforce in England, it has been reported, in a move that providers say could set back care “for years to come”. With more than 165,000 care worker jobs vacant, and low pay driving staff to quit for better wages in retail and hospitality, care providers and councils have been cl

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Community Care

MARCH 8, 2023

Councils are referring more children from residential to foster care, independent fostering agencies (IFAs) have reported. The trend reflects both the progress made by children in residential placements, as well as cost concerns on councils’ part, agencies told their umbrella body, the Nationwide Association of Fostering Providers (NAFP). But they warned that such moves needed to go at the pace of the child, to help manage their anxieties, and also stressed the need to allay foster carers&

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Gary Direnfeld

MARCH 13, 2023

The narcissist will not only spread lies about their ex, they will tell people how their ex will deny those lies if confronted about them. Think about that. It means that the ex who seeks to defend themselves against those lies may inadvertently wind up confirming what the narcissist said in the mind of the person the ex is trying to convince otherwise.

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Mental Health Social Worker Private Practice Counseling 148

My Brains Not Broken

MARCH 16, 2023

I recently got the opportunity to connect with Noah Chenevert, a mental health advocate and author of the recently published book “ Mental Health Over Matter.” In this interview, we talked about the book, Noah’s approach to mental health, and his attitudes surrounding mental health in the current day and age. Thanks for taking the time, Noah!

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NCCPR Child Welfare Blog

MARCH 12, 2023

You probably remember the story: White adoptive parents of six black children drive themselves and the children off a cliff, killing them all. That may be all you remember, and perhaps wondering what would drive such a noble couple to such despair. After all, they rescued these children from their terrible parents, didn’t they? That was the story most reporters told, without asking any tough questions.

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Social Work Blog

MARCH 31, 2023

A client who is trying to get pregnant tells you she’s been having a glass of wine every night to unwind. “That’s ok, right?” she asks. What do you say? How much drinking is too much? Is there a level of drinking that’s “ok” for someone who is pregnant or thinking of having a baby? If you’re not sure how to answer these questions, you’re not alone. Recent communication research shows that many healthcare professionals are surprised to learn how few drinks per week are considered excessive.

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Interventional Social Worker Welfare Disorder 105

International Federation of Social Workers

MARCH 31, 2023

IFSW is pleased to announce that the Volume 20, Issue 1 (2023) of the International Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics has just been published.

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Community Care

MARCH 21, 2023

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. In the past few years, councils in England have been investing increasingly in recruiting from overseas to address the mounting vacancies in their social work teams. Recent Social Work England (SWE) figures showed that the number of international social workers applying to work in England had risen from 611 in the 2019-20 registration year to 1,684 in 2021-22 – a 175.3% increase.

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Gary Direnfeld

MARCH 8, 2023

I have mentioned many times to be cautious about seeking counseling for a child whose parents are separated and where one puts the child in the middle and says inappropriate things about the other parent. Placing that child in counseling may make matters worse. In that scenario, the child may be subject to more inappropriate coaching to prepare for each session.

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My Brains Not Broken

MARCH 30, 2023

It feels like it happens more often than it used to these days. I’ll be trying to finish a task or make a decision, and my brain will freeze up. I’ll get panicked, and I won’t be able to complete the task I started (if I can even remember it in the first place). I lose my breath, lose focus, lose my grip on whatever I was doing. This feeling I get, the feeling of becoming overwhelmed, has become more of a problem for me in recent years.

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NCCPR Child Welfare Blog

MARCH 3, 2023

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (Photo by Gage Skidmore) The recap: In a previous post to this blog , I wrote about a huge cave-in by Arizona’s Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. She apparently surrenderedto pressure from an extremist Republican legislator, State Sen. Jake Hoffman, and fired Matthew Stewart. Stewart was, very briefly, the first Black director of the state family police agency, the Department of Child Safety.

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Nnatasha Tracy

MARCH 21, 2023

It's important to know what to do in the case of a psychiatric emergency. Sure, you could float along with treatment righting every issue before things get really bad. You could catch everything early. You might have a proactive psychiatrist. Or, then again, this may not be your experience. I would argue that people with serious mental illnesses like bipolar disorder are just crises waiting to happen.

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Psychiatric Disorder Self-harm 101

International Federation of Social Workers

MARCH 4, 2023

How people’s rights are affected by international economic sanctions and what we can do about it….

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Community Care

MARCH 30, 2023

A scheme placing social workers in schools does not reduce children’s need for statutory social care services, one of the largest ever randomised controlled trials carried out in the sector has found. Researchers found no statistically significant difference in outcomes for children between schools with a social worker and those without, What Works for Early Intervention and Children’s Social Care (WWEICSC) said today , following the trial which covered the 2020-21 and 2021-22 academ

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