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Members in the News – May 4, 2023

Virma Little is a member of NASW-SC:
Not screening for anxiety? Costs and solutions
Medical Economics
In recent years, there has been an increased emphasis on advancing screening recommendations for anxiety among health care providers and organizations, particularly in women’s health practices. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends screening for anxiety in adults aged 18 to 64, including pregnant and postpartum persons.

Doris Helmering is a member of NASW-MO:
When You Struggle To Like Your Teen
Newsmax
Recently I spoke with one father who confessed to having difficulty liking his son. Clearly his son was rebellious and had some behaviors that most parents would find offensive. The son rarely did what he had promised. He blew off chores. He had trouble backing down and he thought he never made a mistake. When I pushed the father to tell me something he liked about his son, he reluctantly admitted that the boy was a pretty good student, didn’t get in trouble at school, had a great sense of humor and a rather endearing smile.

Richard Brouillette is a member of NASW-CA:
2 Ways Empathy Determines the Type of Partner We Choose
Psychology Today
When we think of empathy, we usually think it’s about how we relate to other people’s feelings. In fact, empathy begins with how well we first learn to relate to our own feelings and emotional needs in childhood. How well we connect with ourselves will determine how we connect with others. In my clinical work, I use the idea of empathy styles to help my clients understand the way they handle their own emotional needs, and how they either show up for or avoid their partner’s emotional needs.

Jonathan Singer is a member of NASW-IL:
VIDEO: Consider family’s role, personal mental health when working with suicidal youth
Healio
For Mental Health Awareness Month, Jonathan B. Singer, PhD, LCSW, discussed his advice for working with suicidal youth and their families. “I think one of the most amazing things about working with suicidal youth and their families is that you tend to folks at one of their lowest points; and for most kids, in a fairly short period of time you get to see some improvement,” Singer, a professor of social work at Loyola University Chicago, told Healio. “They go from being in this terrible place to a better place, and that’s really inspiring.”

F. Diane Barth is a member of NASW-NYC:
5 Ways to Set Healthy Limits
Psychology Today
We often think of boundary-setting as a simple matter of saying “no.” But in truth, setting limits, whether it’s with your pet or your children, your parents or your colleagues at work, is a bit more complicated than that. In a recent post, I talked about how trying to be perfect can lead to burnout. But here’s something interesting: Research shows that both burnout and perfectionism are related to difficulties setting boundaries. In part, that’s because when you’re always trying to be perfect, you’re likely not setting healthy boundaries.

Lexie Honey is a member of NASW-WY:
Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week
Campbell County News
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and the first week of May is considered Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week. Kid Clinic wants to remind you and your children to take some time to slow down this month. Make sure to check in yourself and those around you. Monitoring your child’s mood can help determine if they might need to speak with a counselor.

Brian Mares is government relations director for NASW-TX:
When it comes to upping mental health services, Texas has a Medicaid problem
Texas Tribune
Bryan Mares, government relations director for the Texas chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, cited the Medicaid payment rate for counseling sessions as a main sticking point. “Medicaid reimbursement for these services don’t align with the current market rate within private health plans,” he said.

Darrell Wheeler is a member of NASW-NYS and a former national board president:
Darrell Wheeler Inaugurated as New Paltz’s Ninth President
The New Paltz Oracle
In a historic, three-day event, SUNY New Paltz hosted the inauguration ceremony for its ninth president, President Darrell P. Wheeler, from April 19 to April 21. “Today is a day of celebration. Tomorrow is a new way of beginning,” President Wheeler said in his inaugural address. The celebration began with lunch and a collaborative forum highlighting student-faculty research and creativity on April 19, followed by an inaugural festival later that day. 

Lynn Stanley is executive director of NASW-VT:
Advocates ask legislators to add students to discrimination and harassment reform bill
Vermont Biz
“Students within the schools should be held to the same standards as anybody else,” said Lynn Stanley, executive director of the Vermont Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. “I mean children are in schools to learn how to be functioning adults. And why wouldn’t you have the same standards within the school as you do in the rest of the world? That’s where you learn how to be nice to each other.” 

Kim Wheeler Poitevien is a member of NASW-PA:
We’re treating Black kids like they’re adults and it’s a danger to their lives
Insider
“Black children are often taught to behave in a manner more mature than their age. This has been a method for survival,” Kim Wheeler Poitevien, a licensed clinical social worker told WebMD. “When a girl is catcalled it’s because her clothes are ‘too tight.’ When she is reprimanded for talking in school she is ‘disruptive’ rather than gregarious.” Because of these reactions, many Black children learn to control the ways in which they are perceived through altering their appearance, whether it be clothing or hairstyles. This is a form of respectability politics that social workers like Wheeler Poitevien reject.

Sarah Younggren is a member of NASW-CO:
Organizations serving youth rethink their role in addressing mental health crisis
The New Brunswick News
Sarah Younggren, a licensed clinical social worker in Denver who works with schools on social-emotional learning, said that despite its conflation with critical race theory, the concept isn’t new or particularly controversial. If kids learn to recognize what they’re feeling and handle those emotions appropriately, they’re more likely to do well in school and in their future careers, she said. For some schools, that might mean a focus on teaching kids to calm themselves down, while others might be focused on bullying and school climate.

Kathleen Leornard is a member of NASW-PA:
Therapy Horses, Dogs, Pigs and More Help Spirited Breeze Care Farm Provide Comfort and Healing
Lancaster Farming
Kathleen Leonard, a licensed clinical social worker with more than 26 years of experience, had worked in a variety of traditional settings as a therapist and administrator, including group homes, hospitals and schools. Almost three years ago, she decided to take her behavioral health skills to a new arena — her horse farm. Leonard and her assembled team work with clients of all ages, and facing a variety of challenges, on her small farm tucked into the wooded hillside in Elverson, Pennsylvania.

Darlene Tando is a member of NASW-CA:
How model Zaya Wade’s family supported her gender transition
Style
“Support from parents is absolutely crucial to the development and well-being of transgender youth,” said Darlene Tando, a licensed clinical social worker in San Diego. “Just like any parent may listen to and encourage the passions or the interests of a child because they see that it makes them happy, this is a very core characteristic of the human. Being able to be affirmed for gender and being understood in our identity is a way for someone to go out into the world feeling understood, affirmed, and it improves a child and a teenager’s quality of life.”

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