Social Work E-News 
Issue #181, December 9, 2015
 
 
 
Social Work E-News
 
Editor's Eye
Hello --

Welcome to Issue #181 of the Social Work E-News! Thank you for subscribing to receive this e-mail newsletter, which is brought to you by the publisher of The New Social Worker magazine, SocialWorker.com, SocialWorkJobBank.com, and other social work publications.
 
The holiday season is upon us. Regardless of which holidays or traditions you observe, you see greetings and wishes for happiness and merriment around this time of year wherever you go. I truly wish happiness, joy, love, and peace for you and those around you in this time of year and always. We must be aware, too, that some of us are going through difficult times and that these wishes and pressure to be “happy” can be distressing. Social worker Alan Wolkenstein calls this “The Holiday Triangle”—the time from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. Read what he has to say about it.
 
If you are a December BSW or MSW graduate, sincere congratulations and welcome to the social work profession! It’s exciting to know that YOU and other new social work grads have completed your school work and are ready to get out into the world to do good work. We have a whole section on The New Social Worker website about careers and job search. To get you started, here is an article on preparing your AMAZING social work résumé.
 
If you are looking to enter the real world of clinical social work, check out our newest book and the first under our new The New Social Worker Press imprint, Real World Clinical Social Work: Find Your Voice and Find Your Way by Danna Bodenheimer. Danna was recently interviewed by Jonathan Singer on the Social Work Podcast, where Jonathan says they talked about “…what makes a social worker a clinical social worker, what distinguishes a good from a bad clinical social worker, the one essential thing that all social workers bring to supervision..." and a lot more. Listen to this phenomenal conversation between two social workers. You can also now hear Danna on The Social Workers Radio Talk Show, where she was interviewed last week. Quote from this interview: “You will love your clients. You might hate your clients. But even when you hate them, it’s because you kind of love them.”
 
Real World Clinical Social Work is available in print and Kindle editions now at Amazon.com. Get more info on the book and on Danna Bodenheimer’s new weekly blog at the Real World Clinical section of our website.
 
Get ready! Once again, this coming March, we will host our Social Work Month Project on THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER website. I am looking for essays, poetry, original songs, artwork, and other creative works that present a positive image of social work and what it means to you! Please send submissions to Linda Grobman by February 1, 2016, with the subject line: “Submission: Social Work Month 2016.”  For examples, see our 2015 Social Work Month Series. Questions about what to submit or how? Ask Linda.
 
The Winter issue of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER is coming soon! The Fall 2015 issue is available NOW. Read articles from this issue at http://www.socialworker.com. This is our BIGGEST issue ever, at 44 pages. Highlights of this issue include social workers as proxies, animals and social work, the role of lived experience in social work, legislative field placements, hospice social work, media savvy social workers, tools for your professional social worker toolkit, talking about suicide, end-of-life transitions, homophobia in schools, surviving the first months of graduate school, seven new book reviews, and more.
 
 
Here’s a quick link for immediate download of the PDF edition for Fall 2015: Fall 2015 issue: Quick Download Now
 
You can go to http://www.socialworker.com/Subscribe_to_The_New_Social_Worker and subscribe (free) to receive an e-mail reminder and table of contents of each issue of The New Social Worker magazine when it is available. If you are a subscriber to the E-News (which you are reading now), this does NOT mean that you are automatically subscribed to The New Social Worker magazine. They are two different publications.
 
New ways to connect! The New Social Worker is now on Instagram and Periscope. Look for @newsocialworker to find and follow us.
 
If you like our Web sites, The New Social Worker, and the Social Work E-News, please help us spread the word by using the "Share" button on the right side of this newsletter to share with your friends and contacts. Tell your friends, students, or colleagues to visit us at http://www.socialworker.com, where they can download a free PDF copy of the magazine, become one of our 113,000+ fans on Facebook, and more. If you have a social work-related Web site, please feel free to link to us (www.socialworker.com) and let me know about your site, too, so I can check it out.
 
Until next time,
Linda Grobman, ACSW, LSW
Publisher/Editor
THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER®
 
 
Networking:
 
 
This Month
December marks several observances, including but not limited to:
 
  • World AIDS Day (December 1)
  • International Day of People With Disability (December 3)
  • Human Rights Day (December 10)
 
and more!
 
Words From Our Sponsors

Real World Clinical Social Work: Find Your Voice and Find Your Way
A new book by Dr. Danna Bodenheimer, LCSW, from The New Social Worker Press
ISBN: 978-1-929109-50-0
223 pages
Available now at:
 
"Danna Bodenheimer has written an insider’s guide to clinical social work that doesn’t make the reader feel like an outsider. This book is the clinical supervisor you always wanted to have: brilliant yet approachable, professional yet personal, grounded and practical, yet steeped in theory, and challenging you to dig deeper." Jonathan B. Singer, Ph.D., LCSW, Associate Professor of Social Work, Loyola University Chicago, Founder and Host, Social Work Podcast
 
 
 
What does a life in social work look like? You might look at it as a series of “sideways” stories! “If life were black and white, we’d have no need for social work.” Read Ogden Rogers’ collection, Beginnings, Middles, & Ends: Sideways Stories on the Art & Soul of Social Work. Available on Amazon.com (print and Kindle), Google Play (e-book), directly from the publisher, and other bookstores. Do you know a social worker or social work student who loves to read? This book is a welcome retreat from academic textbooks.
 

 
 
 
Advertise With Us
 
If you would like to reach our audience of 40,000+ social workers and others interested in social work with information about your program or social work-related product, please contact Linda for information on advertising in THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER, the Social Work E-News, or on our website at SocialWorker.com.

 
Job Corner
 
 
Find jobs for new grads and experienced social work practitioners at http://www.socialworkjobbank.com, THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER’s online job board and career center.
 
 
If you or your agency are hiring social workers, don’t forget to post your jobs on SocialWorkJobBank.com. Please check the SocialWorkJobBank “products/pricing” page for job posting options and SPECIAL offers. 
 
Job seeker services are FREE—including searching current job openings, posting your confidential résumé/profile, and receiving e-mail job alerts. Please let employers know that you saw their listings in the SOCIAL WORK E-NEWS and at SocialWorkJobBank.com.
 
There are 1,076 jobs currently posted on SocialWorkJobBank.com. Check it out today.
 
Featured Excerpt

Scars on Healing Hands: The Role of Lived Experience in Social Work
 
Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from the Fall 2015 issue of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER. Read the full article at:
 
by Jennifer Gerlach, MSW

“Why do you want to be a social worker?” That was one of the first questions I was asked by a staff member at the state hospital that had taken me on as a practicum student. The person asking was a security guard. I reached into my naïve, likely still developing brain and found an answer: “I want to help people.” His response sounded more practiced. “You’re going to find out that a lot of people don’t want help.” I smiled politely and left the conversation at that. 
 
What I didn’t say was that I knew this defiance very well, and that I also knew it to be partially false. Before going to college, I had already had interactions with more helping professionals than I could count. I spent a good deal of time dodging their questions, their advice, their “recommendations,” and above all, them. I saw them as agents of society, or agents of my parents. I didn’t think they could help me. I didn’t trust them to help me. Still, on my own I was hurting. I desperately wanted help. There were people whose kindness eventually reached me. I realized the power of that kind of help, and it is what I have made my mission to give back. I am in recovery from a mental health condition. That is my reason for wanting to help. 
 
My story is unique to me. However, the tradition of the once injured moving forward to give back is not. The prodigious psychiatrist Carl Jung reflected this in his archetype of the “Wounded Physician” (Jung, 1951) or Healer, which was described as an individual who has struggled—particularly in health—who has returned to help those still hurting (Benziman, Kanni, & Ahmad, 2012). He wrote of these healers as learning from their own experiences to relate to the suffering of a fellow human being and to guide a partnership in treatment (Jung, 1951). In ways, Jung himself could be called a wounded healer. He sometimes spoke of visions and may very well have walked through some of his own challenges (Dunne, 2000). With this intimate knowledge of the mind, he was able to contribute an abundance of health-giving perspectives. 
 
Mental health surveillance research suggests that as many as 25% of Americans may live with some kind of mental health condition (Reeves et al., 2011). By these statistics alone, it can be estimated that among those represented include a number of individuals in the helping professions. Indeed, in a survey of personal statements by potential social work students, quite a number indicated a personal experience in their reasons for choosing social work as a profession (Regehr, Stalker, Jacobs, & Pelech, 2001). 
 
Formal education, reading, and practice can grant insight into an array of elements related to mental health and the needs of individuals living with mental health conditions. Still, what cannot be taught by ordinary means are the intimate details of how it feels. Without having walked through extreme states of mind—such as psychosis, mania, and panic—social workers can at best learn from second-hand testimony of what these look like from the inside. Social workers and other “helpers” who have had experiences such as these have access to this less common understanding, and a number of these individuals have done fantastic work. Among those most notable helpers who have overcome overwhelming difficulties is Dr. Kay Redfield-Jamison (1997), a psychologist who has studied and written about Bipolar Disorder, and who also lives with the challenge herself.
 
Beyond this, social workers who have had contact with systems of care hold a degree of knowledge of how it feels to seek out services. An understanding of what can make the mental health system easier to navigate, specifically for a person living with mental health symptoms, and what can contribute to a stigmatizing, comforting, depowering, or empowering treatment session, can be incredibly useful for service providers.
 
Read the rest of this article at:
 
 
Read more articles from the Fall 2015 issue of The New Social Worker. A few highlights:
 
 
Bonus: Check out our recent web-exclusive articles:
 
News & Resources
 
There's still time to enter the National Poetry Contest for Social Workers!
 
Any social work student, faculty member, or alumnus from a social work program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education may participate in the National Poetry Contest for Social Workers.  The deadline for submission is January 1, 2016. Poems should speak to hopes, dreams, fears, and experiences related to social work.
 
The purpose of the contest is to acknowledge the creative talent of social workers and to draw attention to social work as a profession. “Hosting the national poetry contest here in Iowa City is a natural extension of what the School of Social Work has been doing for decades," says faculty member Mercedes Bern-Klug, a founder of the poetry contest. "We have a 23-year track record of offering a Creative Writing Seminar for social workers, and the University of Iowa is known as the 'writing university.' Iowa City is a UNESCO City of Literature. Writing is in the air."
 
There is no cost to enter the contest. One submission per social worker is allowed. Entries will be judged by a panel of social workers, writers, and poets. The top three submissions will be awarded cash prizes and all submissions that meet the requirements will be published in an electronic chapbook on the UI School of Social Work website and in THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine.
 
Rules for submission
  1. Only students, faculty or alumni from United States CSWE accredited social work programs may participate in the contest.
  2. There is no cost to enter.
  3. Only one submission is allowed per person.
  4. All entries will be judged by a panel consisting of social workers, writers, and poets.
  5. The deadline for submissions is January 1, 2016, by 5:00 pm.
  6. The poem must be no more than 15 lines (not including the title) and can be either an existing work or new. To fit on the page of the chapbook, lines should be about 60 characters each, in size 12pt.
  7. An excerpt from a longer poem will be considered if it can stand alone.
  8. Poems will be judged on quality of writing but also for accessibility and suitability for public display before a general audience.
  9. If reprint permissions are required, please get permission prior to submitting your work.
  10. Poems must be submitted online. No paper or e-mail submissions, please.
For more information or to submit a poem, please see: http://clas.uiowa.edu/socialwork/resources/creative-writing-social-workers
 
 
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Calls for Proposals and Nominations
 
Network for Social Work Management annual conference proposals—Deadline December 15, 2015
 
National Association of Social Workers national conference proposals—Deadline December 31, 2015
 
School Social Work Association of America Award Nominations—Deadline January 15, 2016
 
 
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Write for THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER
 
I am seeking a limited number of articles for THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER website. Is there an issue that you are passionate about that corresponds with an upcoming “awareness” month, week, or day? This is a good way to identify a topic for a timely article.
 
Our style is conversational and educational, and web articles typically run 500-750 words. We want positive articles that social workers can use to help them advance in their careers.
 
I also welcome submissions of poetry, photographs, illustrations, artwork, videos, audio, and other creative work depicting social work and related topics.
 
Please contact Linda Grobman, editor/publisher of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER, at: lindagrobman@socialworker.com
 
Submit articles to Linda Grobman with a subject line that says “Submission—(insert title or topic of submission). Attach your submission as a Word file.  Please include in this file: title of submission, your name as you want it to appear with your article, body of your submission, a brief bio about yourself.  I will then review your submission and let you know if I need anything else or if it is accepted for publication.
 
 
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National Crittenton Foundation Releases Adverse Childhood Experiences Survey Toolkit for Providers


The National Crittenton Foundation (TNCF), in partnership with ASCEND at the Aspen Institute, introduces a comprehensive adverse childhood experiences (ACE) survey toolkit to equip human service providers with the tools and tips needed to administer the ACE survey. TNCF developed the ACEs Survey Toolkit for Providers based on the implementation of the ACE survey with participating members of the Crittenton family of agencies, which provide services to girls and young women affected by violence, childhood adversity, and the resulting trauma.

The toolkit comes on the heels of a growing body of research on ACEs, which reveals that traumatic childhood events such as abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction can have lifelong implications on health and well-being.

The simple survey, developed during the national study conducted by Kaiser Permanente and the Centers for Disease Control, was created so service providers can administer the ACE survey to support individuals in identifying adverse childhood experiences in their past. In clinical settings, survey results can be used as a starting point for effective treatment planning and to educate recipients of services about the impact of adverse childhood experiences on their health and well-being. For community stakeholders, survey results can help educate public systems partners, policymakers, and funders about how trauma manifests itself in the lives of those who have experienced adversity.

The ACE Toolkit for Providers includes:

  • A sample protocol based on the administration in Crittenton agencies;
  • Top 20 tips for administering the ACE survey in your agency;
  • and case studies and testimonials from these survey administrations.

The Toolkit is available for download from:
 
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, holidays, or other occasions) for yourself, or for your friends, students, and colleagues in social work!
 
We also publish books on nonprofit management. Want to start your own agency? We have a book for that.
 
 
HOW TO ORDER
 
All of our books are available through our secure online store at:
 
Most are also available at Amazon.com.
 
You can also view and download our catalog in PDF format.
 
Reminders
Quick Link: Fall 2015

Download Fall 2015 issue now
  
VISIT OUR SITES

www.socialworker.com
 
 

IN THIS ISSUE
This Month
Words from Our Sponsors
Job Corner/Current Job Openings
Featured Excerpt
News & Resources
On Our Web Site
In Print
Reminders
NEWSLETTER NECESSITIES
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ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER
 
THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER® SOCIAL WORK E-NEWS is published by:
White Hat Communications (publisher of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER® magazine and THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER® ONLINE)
P.O. Box 5390
Harrisburg, PA 17110-0390
Linda Grobman, Editor
lindagrobman@socialworker.com
http://www.socialworker.com
 
 
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