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Job Corner

 

Openings for LCSWs/LPCs/LMFTs to work FT or PT with children, adolescents, or adults; able to provide individual, family, and/or group counseling.  Looking for someone who is committed and would like to work in a family environment.

 

NC license preferred. Out of state license not an obstacle.  Strongly prefer therapists who hold current credentialing with major insurance carriers such as Tricare and Medicaid, although not 100% required.

 

Please e-mail cover letter and resume to delmar@delmarnc.com for consideration and further discussion of opportunities available.

 

 

 

Pesach Tikvah, Inc., is seeking social workers with strong clinical skills to work with Holocaust survivors suffering from PTSD. Yiddish a plus. Competitive salary, excellent supervision.   

 

Provide psychotherapy to Holocaust survivors; provide family members with guidance and support; interface with agency psychiatrist, service coordinators and volunteer staff. Pesach Tikvah/Door of Hope Inc. is an OMH licensed mental health clinic located in Brooklyn.

 

Contact:  Zalman Kotzen, zkotzen@pesachtikvah.org

Phone: 718-875-6900 ext. 141  Fax: 718-875-6999

 

 

 

 

 

THE STRENGTH TO HEAL OUR NATION’S DEFENDERS.

 

You can gain the unique experience needed to enhance your career when you become a social worker and officer on the U.S. Army Reserve Health Care Team. By working in your community and serving when needed, you’ll provide a wide range of services to our Soldiers and their families that are designed to improve their lives.

 

Benefits include:

 

Requirements include:

Numerous positions are available worldwide. Visit us at healthcare.goarmy.com/m_service to find out more. 

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U.S. Army Medical Service Corps

 

THE STRENGTH TO HEAL OUR NATION’S DEFENDERS.

 

As a social worker and officer in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps, you’ll play an important role in ensuring the well-being of our Soldiers and their families. In addition to providing direct services, your responsibilities could include teaching, training, supervision, research administration, and policy development.

 

Benefits include:

 

Requirements include:

Numerous positions are available worldwide. Visit healthcare.goarmy.com/m_service to find out more. 

 

Features

by John A. Riolo, Ph.D.

 

If you’re in a partnership, you can dissolve it. In a committed relationship, you can break up and go separate ways. You can divorce your spouse and start fresh. However, does your client ever stop being your client, no matter how much time has elapsed since the end of treatment? Ask your colleagues and co-workers, and see what they say. Many, if not most, will tell you “once a client, always a client.” Some might go so far as to say that treatment doesn’t actually end after you stop seeing the client, but continues perhaps indefinitely. This way of thinking is intended to be protective of clients and can help prevent various kinds of abuses, up to and including taking advantage of clients sexually. Among students, senior clinicians, and many faculty, this is a near universal opinion. To challenge it can bring some negative reactions from peers.

But is it a valid premise? Is it always helpful to think that way?

Before you read further, let me be absolutely clear. In no way am I supporting or encouraging any activity with a client or former client that would be exploitive. This includes sexual relations with clients, as well as any situation in which we exert undue influence over a client for our own benefit.

The issue here is whether or not the therapist/client relationship truly lasts in perpetuity. And if so, what are the logical ramifications or consequences? If, in fact, “once a client, always a client,” then we would run into some interesting situations that create ethical dilemmas with no easy solutions. In small rural communities, this situation would be more acute, but the principle would be the same in big cities, too.

Imagine these scenarios: You are interested in politics in your community and decide to run for school board. You find out a former client has also announced his or her candidacy. Do you campaign against your former client, or withdraw because it would be a conflict?

Our clients are often free to join many, if not most, of the organizations where we are members. Do we withdraw if they join our groups? Do we bar their membership if we can? This could include online networks, as well.

You provide therapy to a child. Ten, fifteen, or more years later, that patient becomes a prominent, top in their field, attorney, surgeon, or other highly specialized professional. You discover that you need someone with those highly specialized qualifications. If the client is still a client even after all those years of no contact, is that a conflict of interest and a prohibited dual relationship? If it is an issue of power, who is in the position of power? Is power in any relationship always static, or is it variable and subject to change based on the circumstances?

 

Read the rest of this article at:

 

Additional articles from the Fall 2010 issue of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER include:

 

 

…and more!

 

 

by Pamela M. Cusick, MSW, LSW, ACHP-SW

Hospice Social Worker

 

I had only known her since November 11, 2009.  She had surgery and was recovering nicely with plans to return home.  Another medical problem was exacerbated by the intubation during and after surgery.  Because of radiation over a half a century earlier and again eight years earlier, her esophagus and throat had become very fragile.  Now she could no longer talk or breathe very well on her own.

 

That’s when hospice entered the picture.  Since she did not want to be aggressive about her disease process, hospice was the next option.  Actually, the physician who performed her surgery refused to sign the referral to hospice, because he knew he could “cure her,” which was contrary to her wishes.  When the whole hospice team met her and her family, we were all touched by this authentic person.

 

As a hospice social worker, I meet many patients and hear many stories about their lives. I’ve met many families…the good, the bad, the ugly.  But this family was listening. This is what she had decided.  Through her own life experience, she had decided she would not prolong her own life.  She did not want a feeding tube, a permanent respirator, or to lie in bed all the time and have someone feed her and wipe her bottom.  Contrary to what the physician and his team at the hospital said they could do for her, she said “No!”

 

For a period of time, she had raised her five children as a single parent, even though she was married.  All of the children were doing well as adults.  On the other hand, what is a normal family?  One of the many lessons she taught her children was respect for other people’s ideas, feelings and wishes.  That definitely showed as they visited her daily.

 

She was still a very strong and independent woman as she traveled through this stage in her life.  She was able to communicate all of her thoughts by writing them on paper.  Little did she know that her children were keeping those thoughts, ideas, and wishes so they would have those memories after....

 

Prior to her trip to the hospital, she had been living on her own with a couple of children within ear-shot of her home.  She had been cooking on her own, visiting other family members, greeting her grandchildren and great grandchildren in her own home, and anticipating her grandson’s wedding.  She also was looking forward to Christmas, when she would get to spend time with all of her family.  She had a life-long tradition with her children, grandchildren, and then great grandchildren of baking cookies together.  It was time she would give to her family…a tradition that would live forever…just like the memory of her.

 

She had written the last chapter of her life.  She had chosen not to be connected to all the bells and whistles that prolong life.  She had spent time going through pictures of her life and writing the names on the back of the photos.  She planned her “life celebration” funeral from the songs to the people who would be part of the mass.  She laughed with her children and smelled her great grandson’s poo!

 

She also educated us and sanctified our passion and devotion to hospice.  If there could be a “perfect” patient and/or someone who was prepared 100% for the end of life, it would be her.  She provided for us the equal sign at the end of the equation of life.  She stood on the pedestal, prepared with all the equipment she needed, and was ready to fly.  She knew what she wanted and was in charge!

 

What has she left us?  Her family…admiration, respect, and love for her.  She taught how to live and how to die.  For those of us in hospice, she gave us a more complete understanding through the last chapter of her life.  She also told her life story…a strong, independent, kind, considerate, loving person who took us along for the flight.

 

Thank you, alone, does not seem to be enough.  I know I will be a different person because she became a part of my life and memory and shared her authenticity with us.  She will have a part of my heart forever.

 

And with continued grace, she left us on Friday, November 20, 2009.

 

 

 

Each year, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month focuses our attention on the burden of breast cancer in our society and reminds us that there are things women can do to help detect this disease earlier, when it may be most treatable, and, possibly, to reduce the risk that it will occur in the first place.  Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer, other than skin cancer, among women in the United States and the second-leading cause of cancer death.  This year alone, it is estimated that 207,000 American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and nearly 40,000 will die from the disease. 

 

Research has shown that regular screening mammography can help lower the number of deaths from breast cancer for many women.  As a result of the introduction of widespread screening as well as advances in treatment, the breast cancer death rate in the United States declined by approximately 26 percent between 1975 and 2007. 

 

Beginning at age 40, all women should consider having mammograms every one to two years.  A family history of the disease, radiation therapy to the chest for a previous cancer, treatment with menopausal hormone therapy, and obesity may all increase a woman's risk of breast cancer.  Each woman should talk with her healthcare provider to determine her personal risk for breast cancer and what screening schedule is best for her.  Women should also try to maintain a healthy weight and exercise regularly.  Taking these measures may help reduce the risk of developing breast cancer.

 

The Affordable Care Act, signed into law earlier this year, makes breast cancer screening and coverage for treatment available and accessible by requiring health plans to cover preventive services and eliminate cost-sharing and by making health coverage more affordable and accessible for women. 

 

If you or your family enrolled in a new health plan on or after September 23, 2010, that plan will be required to cover recommended preventive services without charging you a co-payment or deductible.  This includes annual screening mammograms for women starting at age 40.  The Affordable Care Act will also help ensure that people who have been diagnosed with breast cancer get the quality, affordable health care they deserve.  Unfortunately, women with breast cancer are often forced to make decisions based on their finances instead of what is best for their health.  For example, those with cancer are more likely to reach lifetime insurance policy benefit limits than individuals without cancer, leaving them vulnerable when they need coverage the most.

 

Starting this year, the Affordable Care Act prohibits insurance companies from imposing lifetime dollar limits on essential benefits, which will help women with breast cancer continue to get the care they need.  Beginning in 2014, insurance companies will no longer be able to deny women coverage because of a pre-existing condition like breast cancer.  And, in the individual and small group markets, the law eliminates the ability of insurance companies to charge higher rates due to gender or health status.  At the same time, an estimated 32 million Americans will obtain health insurance, and many women with breast cancer who have trouble affording health insurance coverage will qualify for tax credits that will reduce their health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket expenses.

 

Through all these important initiatives to promote health and prevent disease, and through ongoing research, we will be able to save more lives and improve the quality of life for all Americans with breast cancer.    

News & Resources

Affordable Care Act gives consumers new tools, makes health insurance market more transparent  

 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced earlier this month that new information and tools have been added to HHS' consumer Web site http://www.healthcare.gov that will make the health insurance market more transparent, increase competition and help lower costs for individuals.   

 

For the first time ever, price estimates for private insurance policies are available, allowing consumers to easily compare health insurance plans - putting consumers, not their insurance companies, in charge by providing one-stop shopping and taking the guesswork and confusion out of buying insurance.  

 

To help consumers make more informed choices, the site includes new information including two notable metrics never before made public: 

 

 

"Millions of Americas have already logged-on to www.HealthCare.gov's Insurance Finder to see what health coverage options are available to them," said Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. 

 

"This already unprecedented ability to search and compare coverage options is getting better with the new benefits and price information now available.  These changes will help Americans find coverage that meets their needs and that gives them value for their dollars now."  

 

Created under the Affordable Care Act, www.HealthCare.gov was launched July 1, 2010, and is the first website of its kind to bring information and links to health insurance plans into one place to make it easy for consumers to learn about and compare their insurance choices.  HHS' Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (OCIIO) worked to define and collect detailed benefits and premium rating information from insurers across the country, and starting October 1, 2010, consumers will also be able to find information about health insurance options such as:

 

 

More than 225 insurance companies have provided information about their individual and family plans for more than 4,400 policies, including policies in every state and the District of Columbia.  Consumers can search for and compare information on plans available to them based on their age, gender, family size, tobacco use, and location.   

 

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Connect with other social workers online! THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine and the National Association of Social Workers have teamed up with the Social Work Forum to bring you SocialWorkChat.org, an online community of social workers offering twice-weekly online real-time chats on a variety of topics. The chats are held on Sunday and Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. Eastern Time. Susan Mankita is the manager of SocialWorkChat.org.

 

 

Registration is free! Chats are at 9 p.m. Eastern Time and will last about an hour. Check regularly for chat topics or sign up for e-mail reminders.

 

Go to http://www.socialworkchat.org to register and participate in the chats and other features of the site.

 

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Money Magazine has released its Top 100 Jobs in America, and social work is on the list.  At #71, social work received a quality of life rating of A for “benefit to society,” but only a D for “low stress.” Social work has a 10-year job growth of 22% for 2008-2010.  Read the full listing here: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestjobs/2010/full_list/index.html

 

 

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YOU DESERVE CREDIT! Now you can get it. Keep up with your profession (and get credit for it) with THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER.

 

THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER has partnered with CEU4U (http://www.ceu4u.com/tnsw) to provide online testing, so you can receive continuing education credit for reading your favorite magazine. Take THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER courses or ANY courses at http://www.ceu4u.com/tnsw and automatically receive a 15% discount.

 

Continuing education credit is available for selected issues of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER (2 hours/credit per issue).

 

All of these issues can be downloaded free of charge in PDF format at: http://www.socialworker.com/home/menu/Downloads/

 

 

 

Go to http://www.socialworker.com/home/menu/Continuing_Education_Program/ for complete details on THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER’s Continuing Education Program.

On Our Web Site

 

The Fall issue of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER is available now!  The Fall 2010 issue is available to download in PDF format at:

 

 

THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER’s Web site at http://www.socialworker.com includes the full text of many articles from past issues of the magazine. The current issue is featured on the site’s main page. Past issues can be found under “Magazine Issues” in the right column of the page. For selected full-text articles from issues prior to Spring 2006, click on “Feature Articles Archive” on the left side of the page. The magazine is also available for FREE download in PDF format.

 

Individual articles from the Fall 2010 issue now online include:

 

 

 

In addition to the free PDF and Web versions of the magazine, the 2010 issues are now available in PRINT at http://newsocialworker.magcloud.com!  Order them today!

 

Our online discussion forum/message board is a place for open discussion of a variety of social work-related issues. Join in our discussion at http://www.socialworker.com (click on the “Forum” link).

 

 

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The Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics is a free, online, peer-reviewed journal published by the publisher of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER. It is published twice a year, in full text, online at: http://www.socialworker.com/jswve

 

The Fall issue is coming soon!  The Spring 2010 edition is available online now at:

 

This is a special edition on social work research ethics.  It is also the first edition in a new PDF format.

In Print

White Hat Communications, publisher of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine and the Social Work E-News, has published several books about social work. These books make great gifts (for graduation or other occasions) for yourself, or for your friends, students, and colleagues in social work!

 

Briefly, those currently in print are:

 

DAYS IN THE LIVES OF SOCIAL WORKERS: 54 Professionals Tell Real-Life Stories From Social Work Practice (3rd Edition), edited by Linda May Grobman

 

MORE DAYS IN THE LIVES OF SOCIAL WORKERS:35 Real-Life Stories of Advocacy, Outreach, and Other Intriguing Roles in Social Work Practice, edited by Linda May Grobman

 

DAYS IN THE LIVES OF GERONTOLOGICAL SOCIAL WORKERS: 44 Professionals Tell Stories From Real-Life Social Work Practice With Older Adults, edited by Linda May Grobman and Dara Bergel Bourassa.

 

THE SOCIAL WORK GRADUATE SCHOOL APPLICANT’S HANDBOOK: The Complete Guide to Selecting and Applying to MSW Programs (2nd Edition), by Jesus Reyes

 

THE FIELD PLACEMENT SURVIVAL GUIDE: What You Need to Know to Get the Most From Your Social Work Practicum, edited by Linda May Grobman

 

We also publish books on nonprofit management. Want to start your own agency? Check out THE NONPROFIT HANDBOOK: Everything You Need to Know to Start and Run Your Nonprofit Organization (5th Edition), by Gary M. Grobman.

 

 

All of our books are available through our new secure online store at:

 

You can also download our catalog in PDF format at:

VISIT OUR SITE

www.socialworker.com

 

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