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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LCSW Recovery Social Worker Engagement 268

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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Mental Health Depression Anxiety Therapist 246

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

Social Worker 302

Social Worker Government Adoption Schools 302

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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Private Practice Mental Health Social Worker Counseling 147

Advertiser: Caseworthy

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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.

Mental Health 241

Mental Health Anxiety Depression 241

Save the Social Worker

MARCH 13, 2023

Money is the one thing we don’t often talk about when we are in social work. You may think that because you’ve joined the non profit sector, you can’t talk about money. And you can’t think about money. Because you’re trying to do good, and these two things simply don’t square together. Well, well. I’m going to talk about it. After 2 years being a social worker in a Family Service Centre (FSC) in Singapore, earning all of $3600 per month, before having a pay bump to $3690 in my second year (which

Domestic Violence 130

Domestic Violence Social Worker Social Services Social Services 130

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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Diversity Schools 144

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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Social Worker Rehabilitation Advocacy Government 358

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.

Private Practice 147

Private Practice Mental Health Social Worker Counseling 147

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 Psychology Depression 246

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

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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Interventional University Social Worker 130

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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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 119

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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Disability Social Worker Government Foster Care 318

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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Private Practice Counseling Mental Health Consultation 147

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 Anxiety Depression 246

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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Human Services Social Worker University Schools 118

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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Military LCSW Private Practice Psychiatric 109

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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Government Hospitals 112

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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Foster Care Self-harm Social Worker Mental Health 301

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.

Private Practice 147

Private Practice Mental Health Counseling Social Worker 147

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.

Anxiety 147

Anxiety Mental Health 147

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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Adoption Child Welfare Foster Care Welfare 105

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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Healthcare Interventional Social Worker Disability 103

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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Schools Social Worker School Social Work Interventional 259

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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Counseling Private Practice Mental Health Therapist 147

My Brains Not Broken

MARCH 28, 2023

I’m pretty sure I write this sort of post every year, and I love doing it. I write a lot of posts about the way weather impacts my mental health, and today’s post is a similar one. The days are starting to be a little longer, and the weather a little warmer. I feel like I’m shaking myself awake after a long hibernation, and I’m ready go out into the world again.

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Mental Health Depression Anxiety 130

Social Care

MARCH 22, 2023

Supermarket recruitment musings: "The idea that working with oranges, apples and pears could be a lifestyle choice intrigued me and made me wonder if working in social care is, or could be, a lifestyle choice too?" [Image created by freepik.com ] A fresh perspective I dawdled into my local supermarket recently and noticed a banner near the entrance advertising vacancies in store.

Diversity 101

Diversity 101

The New Social Worker

MARCH 1, 2023

Let’s break barriers! March is Social Work Month. Please spend it with us at The New Social Worker. THANK you for all you do. Follow us all month (March 2023) to celebrate the social work profession and the many ways we break diifficult barriers.

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Social Worker 100

NCCPR Child Welfare Blog

MARCH 14, 2023

● I’ll begin by repeating my favorite paragraph among all the rave reviews for Roxanna Asgarian’s book, We Were Once a Family. This is from The New York Times: "[Asgarian] knows that abolishing #fostercare as it’s currently practiced might sound not only undesirable but almost inconceivable to many people — myself among them, at least before the book unsettled some of my assumptions.

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Child Welfare Domestic Violence Welfare Foster Care 98

Community Care

MARCH 31, 2023

The biggest social work union, UNISON, is preparing to ballot its members to take industrial action over this year’s pay offer from council bosses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Unlike fellow unions GMB and Unite, UNISON is not consulting its members on the offer of a £1,925 rise for 2023-24 but moving straight to a ballot on taking strike action or action short of a strike, such as working to rule.

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Social Worker Government Consultation Schools 253

Gary Direnfeld

MARCH 13, 2023

The lad’s behavior was a mess when we first got together several months ago. Meltdowns, aggression, talking back. There was nothing in the history to suggest anything biological. There was the issue of the parental separation, and although not fully on the same page, at least they were close in terms of parenting. My involvement, however, was with the one parent and their partner, the stepparent.

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Private Practice Schools Counseling Mental Health 113

My Brains Not Broken

MARCH 9, 2023

Earlier this week, I wrote about the connection between music and my mental health. I’ve wanted to write a post like this for a long time, but it was challenging. It’s hard to put into words the impact music has had throughout my mental health journey. In Tuesday’s post, I did a lot of research to show the benefits of music, and how it can help improve people’s mental health.

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Mental Health Depression University 130

Social Work Blog

MARCH 28, 2023

By Alison Laurio David LaPensee has traveled to 30 countries and 47 of the 50 United States. He said he has been taking photos for decades and always has his camera with him. “If I went alone or with other people, I always had something to do in the present moment,” he said. LaPensee in Rocky Mountain National Park in 2017. “It’s a meditative project.

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Clinic Social Worker Private Practice LCSW 98