Editor's Eye

 

 

 

 

and more!

 

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.

 

Job Corner

 

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Inpatient Therapist-LPC-LCSW  

Windsor, Missouri

Full Time  

 

Job Description:  

 

Job Responsibilities:  

                                                                                     Job Requirements:  

If interested, please e-mail Casey McCartney: mailto:mcmccartney@pbhc.org

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Featured Excerpt

 

I first met Joe when I was consulting at a hospital. The Family Medicine resident asked me to see Joe with him because the options for care were becoming less and less, and he felt unskilled as a new physician in training with this very uncomfortable and anxiety provoking experience. I was introduced to Joe as the Behavioral Sciences Educator, and Joe said he didn’t need a shrink, but he needed a way out of this cancer. He said that his cancer was “impossible to control” and he was expected to make some difficult decisions about his future: nursing home, hospice—but returning home was probably not possible. There wasn’t much more the hospital could provide. Joe and the doctor had a few days to think this through, but since the resident was uncomfortable doing this alone, he asked me to be part of the conversations. Little did I suspect how much of Joe’s life I would be part of and share, and for how long I would think about him.

 

We met, the three of us, for some grueling and tough talks. We also asked the hospice nurse to join us for a session, and Joe’s questions became more and more intense as she explained the concept of hospice and said the word “death.” I remember even now, how the word filled the room with an eerie intensity that brought tears to the doctor’s eyes. Joe was speechless as the word sunk in. I heard him almost whisper, “I am going to go to hospice to die. What do you think, Professor?" I waited a moment and then said that how he felt was really more important and valuable than what I felt. But if he really wanted to know, I felt a sense of sadness. 

 

 “You are right Professor,” he responded. “I feel sad, and scared, and very hopeless.”

 

There were lots of other professionals who made a steady stream in and out of Joe’s room: other physicians such as the oncologist, a hospitalist, an attending physician; many residents and students of medicine and nursing; and of course the hospice nurse. Joe told me that all these people seemed to stem his loneliness, except at night when he would feel lonely and fearful and isolated from the world. He would wake up out of a sound sleep, shaking, and almost out of breath. We dubbed this fear and anxiety “night visitors,” uninvited, unannounced, and unheralded. I decided to share about myself and said that when I had been diagnosed with cancer and had a bad prognosis, these same “visitors” came to me at night. I would also wake up terrified and oftentimes weep from the sense of being so alone and isolated from others, even though there were always others nearby. I was fearful for my life and future. Joe said nothing, and there was a quiet in the room that lasted and lasted. 

 

Finally, he spoke. “I am glad you told me. It must have been hard to do.” It was.

 

Energy between us picked up after that. We began discussing deep breathing, imagery training, and basic meditation. I related that mindfulness techniques were frequently helpful for me, and for many I had worked with, and I knew it would be helpful for him. Joe just took to all this. He said it was like learning a new language to help him deal with his life, and now his death.

 

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

 

 

 

NACSW announces its 2016 Graduate Student Paper Award, with the winning paper to be published in Social Work & Christianity and the author to receive an Award Honorarium of $500.

 

The purpose of this Award is to encourage and recognize excellence in scholarly work by a graduate student on issues related to the ethical integration of Christian faith and professional social work practice and other professional concerns that have relevance to the Christian tradition.

 

NACSW is issuing a call for proposals from current MSW and Ph.D. students regarding projects for which they would like to submit papers in consideration for this Award.

 

Proposals must be submitted by January 31, 2016. The Student Paper Award Committee of the editorial board will review proposals and authors of proposals that show significant promise of meeting the award criteria will be encouraged to submit completed manuscripts by July 31, 2016. Completed manuscripts will be anonymously reviewed by the Student Paper Award Committee and the Award decision and notification will be made by September 15, 2016. The winning paper will be published in the Spring 2017 issue of Social Work & Christianity and the Award formally presented at the following NACSW Annual Convention. Strong papers that do not win the award will be considered for possible publication in subsequent regular issues of the journal.

 

Proposals should provide a concise overview of project and its relationship to the ethical integration of Christian faith and competent professional social work practice and scholarship. They should include a clear explanation of the proposed topic or research question, the methodology used to address the question, and the intended contribution to social work scholarship and practice. Proposals should be no longer than 400-600 words and should be submitted by email attachment to David Sherwood, Editor, Social Work & Christianity, david@sherwoodstreet.com.

 

See the full Call for Proposals.

 

 

 

 

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.

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.

 

 

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

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