101069: Social Work Today March/April 2007

About the Course:

Cutting Through the Chaos—Trauma and Abuse Recovery
Read about an innovative program helping women with mental illness and substance abuse understand and move past their trauma.

The PR-Savvy Social Worker—7 Smart Tips for Marketing Your Practice
What are the best methods to increase the number of clients in your out-of-pocket practice?

Get It in Writing—Psychiatric Advance Directives
This relatively new document gives control to individuals when their mental illness is out of control.

Yoga and the Social Worker—Mantra Meets Mental Health
Find out what benefits yoga can offer social workers and their clients.

Chemical Kids—Environmental Toxins and Child Development
The toxic effects of industrial chemicals are linked to developmental problems in children.

The Top 5 Social Justice Issues Facing Social Workers Today
In honor of National Social Work Month, SWT discusses the top five social justice challenges facing the profession today.

Publication Date:

Vol. 7, No. 2

Authors

Jennifer Sisk, MA; Dan Orzech; Lynn K. Jones, DSW; Matthew Robb, MSW, LCSW-C; Kate Jackson; Judith M. Schagrin, LCSW-C; Frederic G. Reamer, PhD; Lorraine Gutiérrez, PhD, LMSW; Libby Gordon, MSW; Mimi Abramovitz, MSW, DSW

About the Authors:

Jennifer Sisk, MA, is a suburban Philadelphia-based freelance writer with 15 years of experience as a writer and research analyst in the healthcare field. She has written on depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, schizophrenia, mental wellness, and aging.

Dan Orzech is a Philadelphia-based freelance writer and editor and frequent contributor to Social Work Today.

Lynn K. Jones, DSW, is a freelance writer and an executive coach and organizational consultant in Santa Barbara, CA. As a specialist in organizational culture, she supports leaders and organizations in developing mission-driven cultures.

Matthew Robb, MSW, LCSW-C, is a social worker and freelance writer residing in suburban Washington, DC.

Kate Jackson is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and editor and former staff writer for Social Work Today.

Judith M. Schagrin, LCSW-C, is the assistant director for Children’s Services at the Baltimore County Department of Social Services. She was named the 2004 Social Worker of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers.

Frederic G. Reamer, PhD, is a professor in the School of Social Work, Rhode Island College. He has served as a commissioner of the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation (the state’s housing finance agency) and as senior policy advisor for housing in the Rhode Island governor’s office.

Lorraine Gutiérrez, PhD, LMSW, is professor and director of the joint interdisciplinary doctoral program in social work and social science at the University of Michigan. She has more than 25 years of experience as a social worker and educator in multiethnic communities.

Libby Gordon, MSW, has experience in various healthcare fields. She previously worked in a transitional care unit, and she is currently the patient services manager for the Minnesota Chapter of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. She is also a hospital emergency department social worker.

Mimi Abramovitz, MSW, DSW, is professor of social policy at Hunter College School of Social Work and The Graduate Center, City University of New York. She is the author of Regulating the Lives of Women: Social Welfare Policy From Colonial Times to the Present and Under Attack, Fighting Back: Women and Welfare in the United States and coauthor of The Dynamics of Social Welfare Policy and Taxes are a Woman’s Issue: Reframing the Debate. She is currently writing a book on the history of activism among poor and working class women in the United States since 1900.

Recommended For:

This course is recommended for healthcare professionals, especially social workers, as well as psychologists, counselors, and nurses who seek knowledge about spirituality and compassion. It is appropriate for participants with introductory to intermediate levels of knowledge about the topic.

Course Objectives:

1. Describe the best methods to market a strong private practice and decide what will work for you.

2. Explain yoga’s benefits on physical and emotional health and how it is being integrated into social work practice.

3. Recognize the advantages of psychiatric advance directives and how they may help your clients with chronic mental illness.

4. Discuss the key elements of the top five social justice issues identified in this article: child welfare, healthcare reform, affordable housing, poverty and economic injustice, and celebrating diversity.

5. Describe how toxic chemicals in the environment are affecting child development.

6. Explain the challenges facing women with mental illness who have been abused and how the Trauma Recovery and Empowerment Model of treatment is helping them.