Social Workers Are Essential - Our Well-Being Is Essential, Too!
Promoting the human rights of social work practitioners to assure their (our) well-being is not a secondary concern; it’s a key aspect of just practice.
View ArticleFundraising Online
This is a PDF of the full text of this title, published in 2006. Although it is obviously out of date, there are many chapters that provide details about techniques and strategies that have relevance...
View ArticleWhat Is Hope?
March 7-13, 2021, marks the celebration of School Social Work Week. With the theme of “Beacon of Hope: School Social Workers – Lighting the Way,” school social workers across the country highlight how...
View ArticleConfessions of a Social Work Leader: I Didn’t Realize Many Social Workers...
It was as if the entire country had just realized racism still existed. As a Black woman and a social worker, I was heartbroken. I could not believe many of my beloved social workers had just barely...
View ArticleLetter to Social Work Students in Their Last Semester
You've worked hard. You can't wait to get paid for doing social work, instead of paying to do social work. But you're terrified that in less than 6 months, you'll be the social worker, not the student....
View ArticleAlways Question Canned Social Work Practice Advice
“Never work harder than the client.” Is there a grain of truth in this helping profession proverb? Perhaps. But it may lead to practice mistakes that we make because we are human. By recognizing these,...
View ArticleSocial Workers, Establish an Essential Support Team (EST) Today
An essential support team can be viewed as a concept that extends beyond self-care routines and one-on-one clinical supervision. An EST may consist of family, friends, classmates, or colleagues. There...
View ArticlePoetry: The Power of Essential Social Workers
The Power of Essential Social Workers - a poem for Social Work Month 2021
View ArticleMake the Future of Social Work Better Than Its Past and Present
I am calling on you to come alongside me in recognizing social work’s role in perpetuating discriminatory practices and creating systemic barriers. I am calling on you to create a future in social work...
View ArticleIncome Support via a County Board of Social Services: An Interview With...
In Brad Forenza's interview with Passaic County (NJ) Commissioner of Social Services, Carol Cuadrado, consider the ways different levels of government work in concert to help meet needs of consumers...
View ArticleWe Are Essential. Spread the Word.
Social workers are essential. But social workers can also be media savvy and continue to elevate our profession by sharing our expertise. We must use appropriate media tools to inform the public,...
View ArticleBack to Basics: 5 Simple Skills for Social Workers
One of the first essential social work skills is so simple, yet so easy to forget. Silence. This and other basic tools are needed for social workers to consistently help clients find stability, let go...
View ArticleThere’s Wisdom in Your Mirror
One essential thing that I want social workers to know is that processing your emotions and experiences is a key feature of becoming a strong clinician. Not doing so will limit your learning curve.
View ArticleCompassion: The Root of Social Justice
I have settled at the conclusion that compassion is the underlying tone of the core values of social work and is, in my opinion, the most essential aspect of being a social worker. To me, compassion is...
View ArticleEvery Beating Heart – The Most Essential Thing I Want Social Workers to Know.
Every beating heart is a heart that needs to be listened to! As social workers, we are so good at this.
View ArticleImproving All for All - Social Workers Must Be Agents of Change
We social workers must work on changing the whole social environment. If we are not actively working to change the social environment through equitable access, policy, and practice, then we are not...
View ArticleStep Away from the To-Do List and Bring Social Work Out of the Shadows
Many of us introverts find it difficult to both give and receive praise. But it’s time to get over it. We have to be willing to have our work step outside of the shadows. We have to be ready to be seen...
View ArticleWorld Social Work Day 2021: Ubuntu and Self-Care
World Social Work Day is the third Tuesday of March. The 2021 theme is “Ubuntu—I Am Because We Are—Strengthening Social Solidarity and Global Connections.” We assert that self-care is integral to and...
View ArticleBody Brokers: An Out-of-Control Perversion of The Affordable Care Act
Body Brokers is an unsettling film that reveals abuses that began to occur after the Affordable Care Act was signed in 2008, requiring every healthcare provider to cover treatment for substance use...
View ArticleTake a Stand, Claim a Seat
As social workers, we will wrestle with the discomfort of injustice's existence until there is resolution. Lean in and embrace your seat at the table, even if that means you will always be sitting in...
View ArticleEssentially Essential: The Wonderful World of Social Work
Reflecting, the most essential thing I have learned in social work school so far is just how essential we are, but also how wonderful a field it truly is.
View ArticleThe Personal and Political Are Essential to Social Work
This is what I desire for my fellow social workers to know: that which is personal and political deserves professional expression in our work.
View ArticleEmbracing Authenticity in the Therapeutic Alliance
As I continue with my social work field placement, I realize that there is a lot still left to learn, but I am confident that showing up as my authentic self is the best way to grow as a social worker...
View ArticleFace the Music
Theories are not the most essential thing I have learned about social work. The most essential thing that I have learned in social work so far is to meet clients where they are.
View ArticleHearing Voices Creates the Change - Social Workers Provide Space for...
The most essential thing for social workers to know is this: It is our duty as social workers to humbly, skillfully, and wholly listen, to advocate, respect, and support individuals in need down paths...
View ArticlePalliative Care Social Work: Bringing Dignity to the Dying
In my opinion, being a social worker boils down to one thing: dignity. Dignity is something we all have a right to but do not always receive. This is what I offer to dying patients as a palliative care...
View ArticleIt Depends
The most essential thing I want the soon-to-be social worker to know is – It Depends! Those are but two little words, but they do have quite the punch in the profession of social work.
View ArticleThe Most Essential Night
His ending marked my beginning, and I carry him with me daily. Your moment may not manifest as mine did. It may be more transient or more remarkable, but a time will certainly arrive when you know...
View ArticleThe Essential Power of Both/And in Social Work
Sometimes it is difficult for humans to do it all on their own. That is where I see social work at play. The most essential tool I have learned to aid in this task is the powerful phrase both/and.
View ArticleIt’s the Little Things
As I think of the skills I possess as a clinical social worker, I have discovered it’s the little things that have lasting impact.
View Article