Editor's Eye

Hello --

 

 

 

Until next time,

Linda Grobman, ACSW, LSW

Publisher/Editor

THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER®

 

 

 

 

• Black History Month
• American Heart Month
• Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month
• African Heritage and Health Week (February 1-7)
• World Cancer Day (February 4)
• National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (February 7)
• National Donor Day (February 14)
• National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (February 21-27)

 

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

JOB SUMMARY: The primary purpose of your job position is to assist in planning, organizing, developing, and directing our facility’s social service programs in accordance with current federal, state, and local standards, guidelines and regulations, our established policies and procedures, and as may be directed by the Administrator, to assure that the medically related emotional and social needs of each resident is met/maintained on an individual basis.  

QUALIFICATIONS:  

 

Contact: Joel Vargas, joel@sierracare.com

Phone: 559-539-1100 

Fax: 559-539-1200

http://www.sierracare.com 

 

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Featured Excerpt

 

 

The rewards of being a social worker are numerous, powerful, and life affirming. Whether we are helping individuals or promoting social change, our profession provides opportunities for intellectual stimulation, emotional gratification, and the development of competence. Although the benefits continue to expand over a lifetime, there are also challenges social workers face that can create stress, disillusionment, “compassion fatigue,” and even burnout (Adams, Boscarino, & Figley, 2006; Lammert, 2013; Newell & MacNeil, 2010; Smullens, 2012; & Wharton, 2008). These obstacles take many forms and can present problems for beginning workers and experienced practitioners alike.  

 

This was my own experience after being a social worker for almost 20 years. With the best of intentions, I accepted a job that turned out to be a very poor fit for me, and it took a toll on my health and well-being. After leaving this position and moving on to a much more suitable job, I was left with a residue of symptoms that would not dissipate on their own. These included anxiety, difficulty sleeping, irritability, restlessness, and a general sense of hypervigilance and physical tension. The support of colleagues, family, friends, and a wonderful therapist helped tremendously, but this was not enough. I needed something more. In particular, I needed to learn a way to calm down, relax, and soothe myself more effectively. 

 

What I found was a program focused on reducing stress and fostering relaxation, healing, and resilience based on the practice of mindfulness (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program [MBSR], Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Healthcare, and Society, U. MA Medical Center, Shrewsbury, MA). The lessons I learned from this experience have subsequently influenced every aspect of my career as a social work practitioner and educator, as well as my personal life. It has been my greatest privilege to share what I have learned with fellow social workers, students, and clients alike. Here’s hoping that these lessons will also be meaningful to you.

 

Mindfulness is the practice of paying close attention to what we are experiencing in the present, both inside our bodies and minds and in the external world (Kabat-Zinn, 1990, 1994, 2012; Nhat Hanh, 1975; Rosenberg, 1998; Santorelli, 1999). It is a conscious effort to be with whatever is going on right now, without judging or criticizing what we find. In each moment, mindfulness invites us to be awake, aware, and accepting of ourselves. It also allows us to slow down the hectic pace we often keep and to attend to our lives more fully. 

 

The practice of mindfulness is integral to our efforts to reduce stress and to increase our capacity to cope (Kabat-Zinn, 1990). Although mindfulness is best learned and reinforced through sustained and regular practice, many mindfulness-based strategies can be incorporated into daily life activities at any time (Boyce, 2012; Burdick, 2013; Fralich, 2013; Stahl & Goldstein, 2010). Practicing these techniques will not prevent stress completely or take it away when it occurs, but doing them with care and attention on a regular basis can help us manage more effectively. Here are several to consider.

 

 

Read the rest of this article, including 10 mindfulness lessons, at:

 

 

Read more articles from the Winter 2016 issue of The New Social Worker. A few highlights:

 

 

Bonus: Check out our recent web-exclusive articles:

 

 

News & Resources

 

Do you know about #macroSW? There is a Twitter chat every Thursday night on some aspect of macro social work. Recent chats focused on social workers and politics, grand accomplishments of social workers, and more. You can find upcoming chats listed on The New Social Worker's events calendar. For complete details about #macroSW, including who the sponsors are, resources for educators, details of upcoming chats, FAQs, and chat archives, see the MacroSW website (http://macrosw.com/).

 

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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

VISIT OUR SITES

www.socialworker.com