NASW Social Work Talks: Recent Episodes
National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
NASW Social Work Talks seeks to inform, educate and inspire by talking with experts and exploring issues that social work professionals care about. Brought to you by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW).
In this special episode for Mental Health Awareness Month, we will delve into the intersection of mental health awareness and social work practice, providing insights into self-care strategies in today's challenging climate. Nick Szubiak, LCSW is the Founder of NSI Strategies, an organization that provides support to integrated healthcare environments.
In this episode of Social Work Talks, we discuss cannabis use and the impact it has on pregnancy and help social workers bring awareness to women who are pregnant and using cannabis. Joining us today is Dr. Roger Zoorob, the Richard M. Kleberg, senior Professor and chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. And we have Dr. Mary Velasquez, Centennial Professor and Leadership for Community Professional and Corporate Excellence, and Director of the Health Behavior Research and Training Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, Steve Hicks School of Social Work.
Grief and trauma are universal experiences and, as social workers, we know these issues will show up in our work, no matter our practice area. Grief is an inevitable part of life—but trauma can make the grieving process much more complex. That’s where the Wendt Center for Loss and Healing comes in. With decades of experience, they provide critical support to individuals and communities navigating the intersection of grief and trauma. Since 1975, the Wendt Center has been a lifeline for people in the Greater Washington area, helping them rebuild a sense of safety and hope after loss, illness, violence, or other trauma. Nationally recognized for their expertise, they offer specialized support to children, adults, families, and communities, helping them heal from life’s most challenging experiences. In this episode, we sit down with Melissa Sellevaag, LICSW, who leads the Wendt Center’s Training Institute, to discuss how mental health professionals and allied workers can increase their capacity and confidence to support those impacted by grief and trauma. Don’t miss this insightful conversation on a critical topic that touches us all.
In NASW’s latest episode of Social Work Talks, sponsored by Illinois Department of DCFS, we converse with the Maryland Office of Public Defenders about their Office of Reentry Services. With the help of social workers on staff, it focuses on helping incarcerated individuals re-enter society—and provides them with resources so they can get a fresh start in becoming productive members of their communities. This is thanks to the help of the Second Chance Act.
Tune in, learn, and share.
For more than 30 years, Rita Soronen, President and CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption has worked on behalf of abused, neglected and vulnerable children, providing leadership for local, state and national efforts working to improve the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. Leading the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, a national, nonprofit public charity, since 2001 and the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption-Canada since 2004, Ms. Soronen works to find forever families for the more than 140,000 waiting children in North America’s foster care systems.
Imagine this scene. You are sitting in your office when a call comes in. A man and his wife are on the line. The wife says she was given your name from someone who thought you could help. Their adult children have not spoken to them for 10 months. They have pleaded, cajoled, and apologized for all past transgressions hoping they can make amends and, yet no amount of remorse can stop the pain of being disconnected. The husband says, “We miss our children. We miss our grandchildren. What can we do?” This scenario is an example of an emotional cut-off. Family disengagement and emotional splinters are trending upward for a variety of reasons. Our special guest, Margaret Otto, LSCSW and co-founder and director of KC Center for Families and Organizational Systems, offers insight regarding understanding the dynamics associated with emotional cut-offs and how they precipitate transgenerational impact.
Wendy Cervantes is the Director of Immigration and Immigrant Families at the Center for Law and Social Policy. In this episode, she and Mel Wilson, NASW's Senior Policy Advisor focusing on social justice issues, discuss what mass deportation would look like under a potential Trump Administration and why such policies are harmful to children and families.
Dr. Judith R. Smith, LCSW is author of the new book, Difficult: Mothering Challenging Adult Children Through Conflict and Change. We chat with her about her research and the impact of having a “difficult adult child” on aging mothers and explore how social workers can best support these parents in navigating both the emotional and practical challenges they face.
Vote ER and NASW on mobilizing for the extremely important 2024 presidential and down ballot elections. It goes without saying that the upcoming election is one of the most important elections in terms of preserving America's democracy since the Civil War. Hopefully, this podcast will be able to share some important information about what is at stake for social workers, and more importantly, what is at stake for the individuals and families that you serve.
In our latest podcast we chat with Relationship Expert, Author and Social Worker Terry Real! An internationally recognized family therapist and best-selling author, Real is dedicated to helping couples build lasting, loving relationships. With a revolutionary approach known as Relational Life Therapy (RLT), Terry equips individuals and couples with the skills needed for deeper intimacy and authentic connections, transforming both their personal lives and their relationships with others.
Dr. Dale Masi is a pioneering social worker renowned for her work in Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs). Dr. Masi, who recently edited the Fifth International EAP Compendium, is Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland, where she taught and directed the Employee Assistance Specialization for 22 years. With 16 books and over 70 articles to her name, Dr. Masi’s expertise spans EAPs, evaluation, and mental health issues. She holds a doctorate from the Catholic University of America and has received prestigious awards, including a post-doctoral research award from the American Association of University Women. A Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Masi has lectured in more than 45 countries and consults globally through her company, Masi Research Consultants, Inc., which serves a diverse range of clients from major corporations to government agencies. Click here for her insights on EAPs and the evolving landscape of workplace mental health.
In this NASW podcast episode of Social Work Talks we examine why it’s Never Too Late to enter the field of therapy. Our host NASW member Elisabeth Joy LaMotte, LICSW chats with chef Karey Swartwout, and political organizer and journalist Dr. Brooke Stroud, now a clinical psychologist, and author Daniel Duane (who today is featured in an article in The New York Times). Today, each discusses why they left past careers to enter the profession of therapy. Listen as they discuss why they leapt, later in life, to a field inhabited by many social workers.
Dr. Michael Kaufman, MSW, PhD., author of the new book, Doing Good & Doing Well: Inspiring Helping Professionals to Become Leaders in Their Organizations, has managed countless crises that have needed quick, level-headed thinking and tough decisions delivered with empathy and heart. Board chair of Premier Education Partners he has seen other helping professionals, including social workers, do the same thing. In his book, Dr. Kaufman shares the lessons he has learned throughout his 30-year career and uses anecdotes to illustrate the pointed discussions to inspire social workers by realizing that their specific characteristics, distinct aptitudes, and mindsets as servant leaders have already prepared them to work in the C-Suite.
We sit down with Mary Cosimano, LMSW, Director of Guide/Facilitator Services at the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research to discuss psychedelic assisted therapy and what social workers should understand about this area of practice.
Jasmin Saville, RN, MPH, MSSW, is whole health and equity director for Amerigroup, a health insurance and managed health care provider that covers older adults, low income families, state and federally sponsored beneficiaries and federal employees in 26 states. Saville talks about how she combined social work and nursing, why public health care could be a good career choice for social workers, and what it is like being a woman of color in the field.
As of April 20, 2024, recreational use of marijuana has been legalized in 24 states, three U.S. territories, and Washington, D.C. But how have marijuana reforms affected Black and Brown populations that were heavily impacted by marijuana criminal prosecutions before legalization? NASW Senior Policy Adviser Mel Wilson sits down with Maritza Perez Medina, director of the Office of Federal Affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance; Chelsea Higgs Wise, executive director of Marijuana Justice; and Marvin Tolliver, a therapist at the Radical Therapy Center, to discuss this important issue.
Social Work Instructor Dr. Thalia Anderen, MSW, RCSW, LCSW, and Social Work Talks Podcast Host Lorrie Appleton, LCSW, dive into the concerning trend of student-initiated confrontations (SIC) in universities. With over 20 years of experience as a therapist, Anderen's research sheds light on the impact of these behaviors on both educators and the field of social work. These confrontations in universities are often exacerbated by a lack of guidance and support by institutional administration, as well as inadequate training with respect to SIC and classroom management. Discover how universities can better support professors and enlighten students regarding the impact their classroom behaviors may have on their careers.
During Social Work Month 2024, the University of Kentucky College of Social Work is celebrating with the campaign "Social Work is Everywhere." The college is seeking to raise awareness that social workers help millions of people each day and work in a variety of settings, including many people may not be aware of such as sports and financial planning. NASW CEO Dr. Anthony Estreet sits down with Dr. Jay Miller, dean of the University of Kentucky College of Social Work, to talk about the campaign and the importance of promoting the profession.
Gun violence remains a serious public health issue in the United States. About 46,000 Americans died due to gun violence in 2023, with half using guns to die by suicide. The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is a partner with Brady, a campaign to end our nation's gun violence epidemic. In this episode of NASW's Social Work Talks podcast, NASW Policy Advisor Mel Wilson talks to Kelly Sampson, senior counsel and director of Racial Justice at Brady, and Colleen Creighton, senior director of End Family Fire at Brady, to get the latest news on the organization's campaign.
Mirean Coleman, LICSW, director of clinical practice at the National Association of Social Workers, talks about a new regulation that will allow clinical social workers to bill for Health Behavior Assessment and Intervention (HBAI) Services. Learn why this development is so important for social workers.
White Ribbon VA is a national call to action to eliminate sexual harassment, sexual assault, and domestic violence across the Department of Veterans Affairs by promoting a positive change in culture so that the actions outlined in the pledge become the organizational norm. NASW and other mental health organizations have partnered with White Ribbon. In this episode we talk about the importance of White Ribbon VA with Dr. Bridget Truman, associate director of the Prevention and Management of Disruptive Behavior at the Veterans Central Office, Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention in Asheville, NC; Doctor Angela Lamson is a professor at East Carolina University and a representative of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy; and Doctor Carole Warshaw, MD, director of the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma and Mental Health and a representative of the American Psychiatric Association.
Rachel Forbes, MSW, Associate Professor of the Practice of Social Work and Western Colorado MSW Program Director at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work, and Kelly Smith, DSW, founder and the director of the Institute of Social Work and Ecological Justice, and a social work instructor at Columbia University and the Adelphi University, discuss what social workers can help communities deal with environmental issues. They are editors of the newly released NASW Press Book, EcoSocialWork, Environmental Practice and Advocacy.
JC Hall, MSW, LCSW, is a hip hop therapist and school social worker in the South Bronx, New York. He works at a high school there, where he is the Hip Hop Therapy Studio Program Director.
JC says that hip hop saved his life. He talks about his mentor, the late Dr. Edgar H. Tyson, and how he turned his love of hip hop and working with youth into a career that he loves.
The U.S. Census Bureau found that 38 percent of South Bronx residents live below the poverty line.
The students JC works with in the South Bronx use this genre of music as a form of self-expression. Hip hop helps them to share their stories and provides a sense of belonging and empowerment, helping them navigate through their daily challenges.
See the show notes for related resources
EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) is a form of psychotherapy designed to alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories. What do social workers need to know about EMDR?
Deany Laliotis, LICSW, is an internationally recognized trainer, consultant, and psychotherapist who teaches EMDR therapy using a relational approach to treating complex trauma. She is the founder and director of The Center for Excellence in EMDR Therapy.
Visit the show notes for more info.
In Maui, more than 115 people have died after wildfires struck in early August. Some 1,000 people remain missing, and the death toll is expected to rise as recovery and identification efforts continue.
The fires are especially heartbreaking for Hawaiians; more than 2,000 acres have burned in Lahaina, the historic town and the onetime capital of the former kingdom.
We speak with NASW Hawaii chapter Executive Director Sonja Bigalke-Bannan, MSW, LCSW, about the devastation, loss of life, and how social workers in Hawai'i are coping while helping others.
We speak with David A. Wilkerson, PhD, MSW, and Liam O’Sullivan, MA, NQSW, co-editors of "Social Work in an Online World: A Guide to Digital Practice" (NASW Press, 2023).
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person social work service delivery was dramatically interrupted. The field continues to experience a shift toward modern technology-mediated forms of delivery. "Social Work in an Online World" addresses this shift and charts the changing landscape from analog to digital practice.
David A. Wilkerson, PhD, MSW, is an associate professor and director of the Office of e-Social Work Education and Practice at Indiana University School of Social Work in Indianapolis.
Liam O'Sullivan is CEO of Care Alliance Ireland, an award-winning alliance of more than 95 nonprofit organizations supporting family caregivers in the Republic of Ireland.
Purchase "Social Work in an Online World" from NASW Press at https://www.naswpress.org/product/53673/social-work-in-an-online-world
Our host for this episode is NASW member Elisabeth Joy LaMotte, LICSW, founder of the DC Counseling and Psychotherapy Center and author of "Overcoming Your Parents’ Divorce."
Visit the shownotes for resources: https://www.socialworkers.org/News/Social-Work-Talks-Podcast/EP104-Social-Work-in-an-Online-World
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/jJz8gMHiMnA
Christine Gilchrist, LCSW, is a specialist in suicide in prevention and in helping those who are survivors of suicide. She speaks about how she and other social workers help people who are grieving after losing a loved one to suicide.
Visit the show notes for related resources.
American children's mental health is worsening. Young people and their families are dealing with the emotional impact of inflation, social injustice, mass violence, and grief related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In this episode, we talk about the problematic decline in children’s mental health in the United States, and what social workers can do to help.
Our guests are Gary Pettengell, co-founder and CEO of ECINS (Empowering Communities with Integrated Network Systems) and Kimberly Matias, LCSW, a school social worker in the Providence (Rhode Island) public school district.
Visit the show notes page for related resources.
We speak with Mary Marden Velasquez, PhD, and Anna Mangum, MSW, MPH, about National Partnerships to Address Prenatal Alcohol and other Substance Use and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, the Centers for Disease Control grant that began October 2023 in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin.
Our host for this discussion is NASW member Lorrie R. Appleton, LCSW.
Visit the show notes for related resources.
We speak with Dr. Charles Daniels Jr, PhD, MDiv, LICSW , co-founder and CEO of Father’s Uplift in Dorchester, Massachusetts.
Fathers' UpLift provides mental health counseling, coaching, advocacy, and resource support to assist fathers with overcoming barriers — including racism, emotional, traumatic, and addiction-based barriers — that prevent them from remaining engaged in their children's lives.
Dr. Daniels has spent the last decade providing therapy to Black men, helping them overcome the effects of toxic masculinity, racism, and oppression. He has taught at Harvard University and Simmons University and has appeared on numerous television and radio programs.
Visit the show notes for related resources.
We speak with Dr. Allison Werner-Lin about genetics and family life.
Dr. Werner-Lin is Associate Professor at the School of Social Policy and Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research addresses the intersection of genomic discovery and family life. Her work is among the first to explore the psychosocial challenges unique to women and men of reproductive age who carry a genetic mutation that confers elevated risk of cancer.
Dr. Werner-Lin has held multiple training grants to build and evaluate interdisciplinary educational programs in oncology, genome-based health literacy, and health care social work practice.
Our host for this discussion is Elisabeth Joy LaMotte, LICSW.
See the show notes for related resources.
We speak with Christina Erickson, MSW, PhD, about environmental justice.
Dr. Erickson is professor and chair of the social work department at Augsburg University. She is author of “Environmental Justice as Social Work Practice,” (Oxford University Press, 2018) and “Spanked: How Hitting Our Children Is Harming Ourselves” (Oxford University Press, 2022).
She co-developed the environmental studies program at Augsburg and teaches the course Environmental Justice and Social Change. She is the director of Augsburg's BSW program and has directed Environmental Studies. She was on the national working group to develop the Curricular Guide for Environmental Justice in 2020.
Visit the show notes for resources:
We speak with Shreya Bhandari, PhD, LISW, editor of the NASW Press book “South Asians in the United States: A Guide for Social Workers and Other Helping Professionals.”
Dr. Bhandari is professor and director of social work, Purdue University Northwest. She is also alicensed clinical social worker with her own private practice. Her research focuses on violence against women, specifically domestic violence. She has worked in the area of domestic violence and mental health for about two decades as a researcher, educator, and practitioner.
You can buy a copy of "South Asians in America" on the NASW Press website.
You can watch this conversation on YouTube and leave a comment or question there.
Sleep is as essential to human well-being as food and air. Poor sleep habits and sleep deprivation can have negative effects on our physical and mental health. Further, racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to get insufficient sleep than their white counterparts.
Jessi Pettigrew, MSW, LCSW, is a PhD candidate at the Graduate School of Social Work at Colorado State University. Working with clients, Jessi became curious about the intersection of sleep and mental health. She explains why social workers should be concerned about sleep health, even if they aren’t working in a clinical setting.
Visit the show notes for resources
Michael H. Eversman, PhD, MSW, is the author of "Identifying Moral Panic: The Discourse of Fear in Social Policy" from NASW Press. This book uses historic and contemporary moral panic episodes — periods of exaggerated public fear triggered by high-profile incidents linked to feared social groups — to show how political discourse and stereotyping lead to policies that maintain social inequalities.
Eversman emphasizes social work's social justice mission and the need to stay vigilant amid structural inequalities rooted in labeling and otherism, enabling readers to recognize the patterns of moral panic discourse in our culture.
Dr. Eversman is associate professor in the Department of Social Work at Rutgers University–Newark.
You can purchase "Identifying Moral Panic" at https://naswpress.org/product/53667/identifying-moral-panic.
Deborah M. Figart, PhD, and Ellen Mutari, PhD, are the authors of "Economic Well-Being: An Introduction" from NASW Press. In this episode, we discuss this groundbreaking book, which makes the study of economic life accessible, applicable, and exciting.
NASW member Elisabeth Joy LaMotte, LICSW, hosts this episode.
Visit the show notes for related resources.
You can also watch this interview and leave your comments on YouTube.
Dr. Kyla Liggett-Creel talks with us about her work to support young people who squeegee car windshields at intersections in Baltimore. She outlines why squeegee workers have been a divisive topic in the city, and discusses her work to get their voices heard.
Dr. Liggett-Creel is an associate clinical professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work. She leads The Collaborative: A Healing Centered Community, which partners with community groups, grassroots organizations, governmental organizations, universities, and non-profits to address equity and violence prevention in Baltimore City.
Read the show notes to learn more and find related resources.
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Ann Steiner, PhD, is a certified group psychotherapist, licensed marriage and family therapist and consultant in private practice for 30 years. She is creator of “Therapist's Professional Will™: Guidelines for Managing Planned and Unplanned Absence.” She pioneered the creation of the therapist’s professional will and has published over 20 articles on the subject.
Dr. Steiner talks about why you need a professional will, and how to create an emergency response team to manage your practice in case something happens to you.
Our host for this episode is NASW member Elisabeth Joy LaMotte, LICSW, founder of the DC Counseling and Psychotherapy Center and author of "Overcoming Your Parents’ Divorce."
Visit the show notes for related resources.
In February 2021, the Myanmar military staged a coup that overthrew the democratically elected government. Since then, the killing of civilians in Myanmar has increased.
In response, Jue Jue Min Thu, a licensed social worker from Myanmar now based in Hawai'i, created Jue Jue's Safe Space, to support mental health for the Myanmar community.
Visit the show notes page for related resources.
Yvonne M. Chase, PhD, LCSW, ACSW, will begin her three-year term as NASW president on July 1, 2023.
Dr. Chase is an Associate Professor at the University of Alaska, Anchorage. She’s also an NASW Social Work Pioneer, and a long-time champion of NASW.
We talk about some of her experiences as a social worker; why she's passionate about social work and about NASW; how the organization has changed over time; and what she envisions for her tenure as NASW's President.
Visit the show notes to learn more about Dr. Chase's work.
We speak with NASW member Kristen Lee, Ed.D., LICSW, about overcoming fear and learning to take risks.
Monique Bingham, MSW, is NASW's 2022 Emerging Social Work Leader. She works as a mental health therapist at the Anti Recidivism Coalition, which works to end mass incarceration in California.
Ms. Bingham’s own father was incarcerated when she was a child and released when she was an adult. She has produced a documentary, “Unchained Scholars,” about formerly incarcerated social workers.
Read the show notes for resources.
Social worker Caitlin Ryan, is founder and executive director of the Family Acceptance Project. She talks with us about how her organization has worked for 20 years to help families support their children who are LGBTQIA2S+ and how social workers can also do this work.
We speak with Will Frances, Executive Director of NASW's Texas chapter about the aftermath of the horrific mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Schools should be safe, supportive havens for students and staff. What can be done to stop the epidemic of mass shootings across the country?
Visit the show notes page for related stories
In this episode, we talk about how social workers can talk to harder-to-reach special populations about vaccines and use motivational interviewing to inform people about vaccines. Our guests are NASW Mississippi Chapter Executive Director and Special Populations Coordinator Gwen Bouie Haynes and Mary Velasquez, professor and director of the Health Behavior Research and Training Institute at the University of Texas at Austin.
NASW and the NASW Foundation are partnering with the Health Behavior Research and Training Institute at The University of Texas at Austin Steve Hicks School of Social Work on Connect to End COVID-19, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded initiative to support social workers and their clients in informed vaccine decision-making.
Our guest Suzin Bartley, is executive director at The Children's Trust, an organization working to stop child abuse in Massachusetts. Their programs partner with parents to help them build the skills and confidence they need to make sure kids have safe and healthy childhoods. Read the show notes for related resources.
The limited Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) waiver, which is a short-term opportunity for borrowers to seek student loan forgiveness through Oct. 31, 2022.
Our guest is Lindsay Clark, Director of External Affairs at Savi, a company that helps student loan borrowers discover and understand repayment and loan forgiveness options.
Read the show notes to learn more.
Guests Kyle Temple and Rio Bauce talk about how social workers can help people who are LGBTQIA+ overcome addiction to substances. Kyle Temple, LCSW, is Senior Director, Stonewall Project at San Francisco AIDS Foundation.
Rio Bauce is on track to graduate in May 2022 with a master's in social work from California State University - East Bay.
Read the show notes to learn more and get related resources.
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NASW members Chelsea Laliberte and Jimmy Salyers talk about how the pandemic has exacerbated the addiction crisis in the United States. Read the show notes for related resources and to learn more about our guests.
Learn about "Connect to End COVID-19," an initiative that helps social workers and their clients to make informed decisions about life-saving vaccines, with guest Anna Mangum, NASW's Deputy Director of Programs. Visit the show notes for more resources.
Guest SaraKay Smullens, MSW, LCSW, DCSW, CGP, CFLE, BCD, is a certified group psychotherapist and family life educator, and author of NASW Press publication, "Burnout and Self-Care in Social Work." Visit the show notes to get related resources.
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Sherry Gaba, LCSW, speaks with us about co-dependency, love addiction, and toxic relationships. Gaba is a psychotherapist, life coach, and certified recovery coach based in California. She is author of "The Law of Sobriety" and "The Marriage and Relationship Junkie," and host of The Love Fix podcast. Visit the show notes for resources.
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Guest Steven Miller speaks with us about infertility and mental health. He holds a master's in psychology and is earning his MSW at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He sits on the Mental Health Professional Group at the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM).
See the show notes page for related resources.
Taslim van Hattum, MSW, MPH, Senior Director of Practice Improvement at the National Council for Behavioral Health, speaks with us about how social workers can help clients stop smoking or vaping.
Read the show notes to get related resources
Episode sponsor: ECINS
We speak with Kristina M. Whiton-O'Brien, MSW, LICSW, Director of Partnerships at Vot-ER, a nonpartisan nonprofit that helps to provide patients the opportunity to register to vote.
See the show notes for related resources.
We speak with Kelly Bruno, MSW, president and CEO of National Health Foundation in Los Angeles, Calif. Bruno helped to create recuperative care program in response to hospitals’ illegal practice of patient dumping — the failure to make continued care arrangements when releasing homeless patients from the hospital.
Visit the show notes for related resources.
We speak with Rick Miller, a clinical social worker in private practice in Boston and on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Rick is founder of the nonprofit Gay Sons & Mothers. His publications include "Mindfulness Tools for Gay Men in Therapy" and "Unwrapped: Integrative Therapy with Gay Men and the Gift of Presence."
We speak with Dawn M. Hobdy, LICSW, NASW's Vice President, Ethics, Diversity and Inclusion, about the 2021 updates to the NASW Code of Ethics.
The 2021 update includes language that addresses the importance of professional self-care. Moreover, revisions to Cultural Competence standard provide more explicit guidance to social workers. All social workers should review the new text and affirm their commitment to abide by the Code of Ethics.
Visit the show notes for resources.
Our guest is Lesli Suggs, LICSW, President and CEO of The Home for Little Wanderers, a Boston-based organization that helps build stable lives and hopeful futures for children who are abused, neglected or at-risk.
Visit the show notes page for resources.
We speak about how to stop anti-Asian violence and hate with Janlee Wong, MSW, who was Executive Director of NASW's California chapter for over 25 years.
See the show notes for related resources.
We speak with Dr. Jill Harrington, DSW, LCSW, creator and co-editor of "Superhero Grief: The Transformative Power of Loss," which provides practical ideas for promoting healing through modern superhero stories.
Kelley Bonner, LCSW, MA, is a burnout expert and wellness advocate. Her company, Burn Bright, helps high-achieving professionals prevent burnout through mindfulness and self-care. For 15 years, Kelley has worked with individuals, groups, and organizations to provide tools to reduce stress, enhance wellness, and strengthen workplace culture.
Darryl Webster, MSW, LICSW, a long-time school social worker and author of “I Think I’m Going Crazy: Proven Strategies for Managing Stress, Overcoming Anxiety and Depression,” speaks with us about dealing with stress during the pandemic and beyond.
In this episode, we speak with Matt Anderson and Gerri Matthews are social workers who use film as a way to advocate for people and causes they believe in.
George Anderson, is a is a board-certified diplomate in psychotherapy, and author of author of "Gaining Control of Ourselves," among other works.
See show notes for resources and a transcript.
Elisa Nebolsine, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker specializing in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). She's the author of "The Grit Workbook for Kids." We speak with her about why grit and resilience are so important, and how parents and social workers can help kids develop these important skills.
See the show notes for a transcript.
We speak with Dr. Anthony Estreet, LCSW-C, and Walter Palmer, JD, about why we need more Black male social workers, and how we can support people looking to enter the profession.
Visit the show notes to learn more about our guests.
This episode is sponsored by the University of Louisville, offering a CSWE-accredited, highly-ranked MSSW program 100% online. Learn more at louisville.edu/online.
Learn about White Ribbon VA, a campaign of the Veteran's Administration (VA) to eliminate sexual harassment, sexual assault, and domestic violence in VA health care settings and in communities.
Sharea Farmer, LCSW, has years of success in helping clients recover from anxiety, depression and low self-esteem. We speak with her about why self-care and community building are so important for Black and brown people in this time of heightened anxiety.
See the show notes for resources.
Dale A. Masi, PhD, LCSW-C, CEAP, is Professor Emeritus at University of Maryland and author of "The History of Employee Assistance Programs in the United States." She talks to us about the social work roots of EAPs.
Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) offer resources to help individuals address personal issues that may be affecting their work performance, health and emotional well-being.
See the show notes
Anxiety, fear, grief, boredom, anger and depression are triggers for emotional eaters. Add a pandemic, and you have a perfect storm for people struggling with eating disorders. People without eating disorders are also struggling.
We speak with Mary Anne Cohen, director of the New York Center for Eating Disorders. She's author of "Treating the Eating Disorder Self: A Comprehensive Model for the Social Work Therapist."
See the show notes for resources, and please leave us a review!
In July 2020, Mildred "Mit" C. Joyner, DPS, MSW, LCSW, started her three-year term as NASW's President. We talk with her about her vision for the association in the midst of a global pandemic and a reckoning around racism.
Visit the show notes to learn more about Dr. Joyner.
In this special episode, NASW’s Senior Policy Consultant Mel Wilson is interviewed by Andy McClenaghan on Let’s Talk Social Work, a podcast from the British Association of Social Workers Northern Ireland.
Many of our colleagues around the world have been following the developments in the United States around racism and violence against people who are Black. So Mel shared what’s been happening, and what we’re doing here to push for real change and social justice.
Visit the show notes for resources.
Chad Dion Lassiter, MSW, is Executive Director at the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC), and president of the Black Men at Penn School of Social Work, Inc., at the University of Pennsylvania.
We speak with him about America's racism pandemic, and how the social work profession can best move forward through it.
See the show notes for related resources.
We speak with Carla Monteiro about how the coronavirus pandemic is changing how social workers approach treatment for substance use disorder. Carla is a member of NASW's Massachusetts chapter, and is president of the Cape Verdean Social Workers Association.
Visit the show notes for resources and a transcript.
NASW CEO Angelo McClain, PhD, LICSW, speaks about how NASW national and chapter staff are mobilized and increasing our efforts in the face of the American pandemic of racism.
See the show notes for resources.
We speak with Martha Rodriguez, LCSW, service manager of recovery at Broward County Public Schools in Florida. Ms. Rodriguez also works at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., which was the site of a mass school shooting in 2018.
Pat Spencer, LCSW, talks about implementing teletherapy in her social work practice during New Jersey's stay-at-home order.
See the show notes for related resources, and if you like this episode, please leave us a review!
In early March, we spoke with NASW-Texas chapter Executive Director Will Francis, LMSW, and Government Relations Director, Alison Mohr Boleware, LMSW, about what the immigration crisis looks like in their state. Then the coronavirus health crisis hit North America, so we spoke with them again in April to see how things changed.
See the show notes for related resources and a transcript.
Rosanelly Garcia is a trauma social worker in the emergency room at Mount Sinai Hospital in Chicago. She speaks with us about what it's like right now, working in the ER during the coronavirus pandemic.
Read the show notes for related resources.
Lindsay Brine is a former educator and current social work student at New York University. She speaks about supporting older New York City residents through social distancing and the coronavirus pandemic.
Note: This interview was recorded March 20, 2020.
See the show notes for related resources.
We speak with NASW member Kristen Lee, Ed.D., LICSW, about how social workers can practice self-care during the coronavirus pandemic.
Lee is a professor of Behavioral Science at Northeastern University, and is the author of "Mentalligence" and "Reset." She has more than 20 years' experience as a clinician, educator, researcher and parent.
Karen Zilberstein is a psychotherapist and author of "Parents Under Pressure: Struggling to Raise Children in an Unequal America." She's also clinical director of the Northampton, Mass., chapter of A Home Within, a national non-profit devoted to providing pro bono therapy to foster care youth and alumni.
NASW member Arthur Strock, Ph.D., is a founder of the International Association for the Study of Dreams and author of "Live By Your Dreams: Heartwarming Stories About Dreams and What They Tell Us."
Dr. Strock holds advanced degrees in psychology and clinical social work. He talks with us about dreams and how they can be used to improve our lives.
Heather Burzynski, MSW, APSW, SAC-IT, works as a clinical social worker with the Green Bay Police Department. She talks about the benefits of having a social worker embedded within a police department.
The hard-working members of the podcast team take a few moments to reflect on the topics we covered in 2019, what we're working on for 2020, and to give thanks to our listeners and our amazing guests.
Head to the show notes to see photos of our 2019 guests and a transcript. If you liked listening to NASW Social Work Talks this year, please leave us a review in Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners.
We speak with Raymond Monsour Scurfield, DSW, LCSW, ACSW, author of "Faith-Based and Secular Meditation: Everyday and Posttraumatic Applications" (NASW Press, 2019).
This NASW 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient is professor emeritus of social work at The University of Southern Mississippi, Gulf Coast. His work focuses on the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in combat veterans and disaster survivors.
See the show notes for resources and a transcript.
Elizabeth B. Strand, PhD, LCSW, Director of Veterinary Social Work and Associate Professor, University of Tennessee, talks about the need for veterinary social workers and why she loves her work.
See the show notes for resources and a transcript. Love this episode? Please leave us a review in Apple Podcasts!
Megan Fenyoe, LCSW, is an Air Force veteran, host of the Blonde Bombshell podcast, and author of "You Are Enough: 5 Steps To Move From Struggle to Strength." Her work focuses on how the mind affects well-being, and how individuals can move from struggle to strength.
See the show notes for resources and a transcript. And if you like this episode, please leave us a review in Apple Podcasts.
In this episode, we speak with Ruth Glenn, President & CEO of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, is a domestic violence advocate and survivor.
She was in Washington, DC, presenting at NASW's 2019 virtual forum, "Addressing Domestic Violence Through the Social Work Lens."
See the show notes for resources and a transcript.
We talk to Jean E. Balestrery, PhD, MA, MSW, LICSW, about what social workers need to know about how dementia effects indigenous peoples.
Dr. Balestrery is an interdisciplinary scholar whose research aims to improve health and social service outcomes particularly for marginalized communities. She's co-editor and author of "Indigenous Peoples and Dementia: New Understandings of Memory Loss and Memory Care" (UBC Press).
See the show notes for resources, and if you like this episode, please leave us a review in iTunes!
Our guest Michael Wilkins, LCSW, is therapist at the Center for Trauma & Resilience in Denver. We speak with Michael about his work bringing yoga and breathing techniques to inmates in Colorado.
Michael is a yoga instructor, an ultra-marathon runner, and is certified in auricular acupuncture. Michael helps clients attain skills that enable them to experience an active lifestyle as a means to better physical and mental health.
See the show notes for resources and a transcript. And if you like this show, please leave us a review!
Our guest Jonathan B. Singer, Ph.D., LCSW, is an associate professor of social work at Loyola University Chicago and a licensed clinical social worker who specializes in working with children and families. He hosts the award-winning Social Work Podcast, and is author of multiple publications, including "Suicide in Schools: A Practitioner's Guide to Multi-level Prevention, Assessment, Intervention, and Postvention."
See show notes for resources and a transcript. And if you like this episode, please leave us a review in iTunes!
NASW CEO Angelo McClain, PhD, LICSW, speaks with Mary Jo Monahan, CEO of the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) about efforts to increase social work practice mobility.
See show the notes for resources and a transcript. And if you like this episode, please leave us a review in iTunes!
Clawbacks are when an insurance company requires a provider to return money they’ve been paid in the past. Clawbacks can occur months, or even years, after the service has been provided.
Rebekah Gewirtz, MPA, Executive Director of NASW’s Massachusetts Chapter, speaks with us about how her chapter is fighting against clawbacks in her state.
NASW member Debra Walsh Keane talks about why libraries need social workers, the kinds of services library social workers provide, as well as the rewards and challenges of the job.
Debra is the social work coordinator for the Jefferson County Public Library in the Denver area. She’s also a member of the Public Library Association’s Social Work Task Force.
See the show notes for resources and a transcript. And if you liked this episode, please leave us a review in iTunes!
Ellen Kahn is a social worker and Director of the Children, Youth and Families Program at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). We speak with her about HRC's work to serve youth who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer.
See the show notes for resources and a transcript. If you like this episode, please leave us a review in iTunes!
Animals provide some of our most reliable, uncomplicated and valued relationships, which contributes to our health and well-being. Philip Tedeschi, LCSW, is Clinical Professor and Executive Director of the Institute for Human-Animal Connection at the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Social Work. We speak with Professor Tedeschi about the benefits of animal-assisted interventions in social work.
See the show notes for resources and a transcript. If you like this episode, please leave us a review in iTunes!
Martha Gonzalez-Cortes is Senior Vice President of Community Investment at Kalamazoo Community Foundation in Michigan. She has a deep working knowledge of immigration policy issues, and a passion for finding systemic solutions to challenges faced by immigrant and refugee families.
We speak with her about immigrant children in the United States who have been separated from their families, and what can be done to put an end to this inhumane practice.
See the show notes for resources and a transcript. And if you liked this episode, please leave us a review in iTunes!
Athena Viscusi, LCSW, is a Psychosocial Care Specialist at Doctors Without Borders. She's directed mental health programs in Haiti, South Sudan, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Myanmar, and Palestine. She's hired, trained and supervised local workers in refugee camps and worked with clients in cholera and Ebola treatment centers.
Prior to this, she was a community mental health provider in Washington, DC. She worked with immigrants and refugees, at a domestic violence shelter, and a homeless outreach and substance abuse treatment program. She also directed a gang intervention program that provided services to youth and their families.
Allison Peeler, LMSW, believes social workers need to drop the outdated story of "underworked and unpaid" and to redefine the way they view themselves and their earning capabilities.
See show notes page for resources.
Valerie Arendt, MSW, MPP, discusses why it's so important for social workers to negotiate their salaries. Arendt is the Executive Director of NASW's North Carolina Chapter.
See the show notes for resources, and please leave us a review on iTunes!
Suze Orman is a New York Times best-selling author and smart money expert. She hosted the award-winning “Suze Orman Show” on CNBC for 13 years. Her books include "Women & Money," “The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke” and “The Courage to be Rich.”
We spoke with her about balancing working in a helping profession and taking care of yourself first.
See the show notes for resources and if you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review!
Social work has the highest debt-to-salary ratio of any profession. Robert Schachter, DSW, LMSW, describes how social workers in New York City advocated for pay equity in one of the highest cost-of-living cities in the country.
Dr. Schachter served for 27 years as the Executive Director of the NASW New York City chapter.
Michael Sinclair, MSW, PhD, assistant professor at Morgan State University School of Social Work, often gets questions about pay from his students. Dr. Sinclair talks to us about why the social work pay landscape looks the way it does, and what can be done to change that.
This is the first in our series of episodes about social work salaries as part of Social Work Month 2019.
See show notes for resources. And if you enjoyed this episode, please leave us review on iTunes!
Susan Munsey, LCSW, founded GenerateHope, which provides innovative programs for young women and teens who have survived the trauma of sex trafficking. Munsey is a trafficking survivor herself, and she's passionate about rescuing and rehabilitating women and educating people on this issue.
Please see the show notes for resources
Sean Erreger, LCSW, MSW, is a clinical case manager for children and youth at the New York State Office of Mental Health. He believes that for social workers who work with teens, striving to understand the social media that their clients are using is part of cultural competency.
For related resources, see the show notes
Mike Langlois, MSW, LICSW, is author of "Reset: Video Games & Psychotherapy." He is a gamer-affirmative therapist whose work focuses on gaming, social media, and the impact of social networks on relationships. Langlois encourages us to change our perspective of gaming and to understand that they can be very social in nature.
See show notes for resources
Zander Keig, MSW, LCSW, is a clinical social work case manager on the U.S. Navy Medicine West Regional Transgender Care Team. He's a U.S. Coast Guard veteran and co-author of three books and several journal articles. He is also a transsexual man who transitioned in 2005.
His peers at the NASW California chapter named him Social Worker of the Year in 2018. He is chair of NASW's National Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues.
See the show notes for resources
Our guest Santo D. Marabella, MBA, DSW (a.k.a., The Practical Prof®) is an author, playwright, filmmaker, speaker and educator. He's the author of "The Lessons of Caring: Inspiration and Support for Caregivers."
Dr. Marabella talks about the lessons he's learned while caring for his aging parents, and how the book can help people in a similar situation.
Read the show notes to learn more
Guest Catherine P. Bradshaw, MEd, PhD, is a developmental psychologist and youth violence prevention researcher. She is editor of "Handbook on Bullying Prevention: A Life Course Perspective," which offers recommendations for prevention and intervention in bullying across the lifespan.
Thanks for listening! Remember, we'd love to hear your ideas for future shows.
Visit the show notes to learn more
Children with disabilities are highly diverse in terms of their health conditions, disability severity, and social environments, yet they share many of the same needs. Many programs and services have been developed to meet these needs.
Our guest, Paula Allen-Meares, MSW, PhD, discusses a recent report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, that identifies the characteristics of effective programs, as well as opportunities for their improvement.
Kristen Lee, Ed.D., LICSW, is a professor of Behavioral Science at Northeastern University, and is the author of "Mentalligence" and "Reset." With more than 20 years' experience as a clinician, educator, researcher and parent, she speaks about her area of expertise: preventing and treating burnout.
A new NASW social justice brief reports that Black youth make up about 14% of the total youth population, but comprise 47.3% of the youth who are transferred to adult court by juvenile court judges.
Guests Mel Wilson, NASW's social justice and human rights manager, and Jeree Thomas, policy director at the Campaign for Youth Justice, discuss this unjust practice.
They encourage social workers to get involved in action-oriented coalitions to make changes in their communities, and to hold their elected officials accountable.
Read the show notes to download the report and for more resources.
Carla Gonzalez is a clinical social worker and domestic violence survivor who leverages her professional skills and uses her platform as Miss U.S. World Elite (among other titles) as a vehicle for speaking out against domestic violence, bullying and sexual assault.
For Brenda Wade, MSW, LCSW-C, CSSW, writing is both a means of self-care both and as a way to explore the challenges that she sees in her work as a school social worker.
Published under the pen name Hunter William, Wade's Charm Town fiction trilogy shines a spotlight on the lives of children and adults in a Baltimore school.
See the EP14 show notes for resources
Opioid addiction has become a public health crisis in the United States. Our guest, David Stoecker, LCSW, is founder and director of Better Life in Recovery. He recommends that we look at the opioid addiction pandemic through a harm-reduction lens, rather than a punitive one. He argues that abstinence is not the only path to recovery and that we need to create healthy communities and to provide recovery support to those who need it.
See Episode 13 show notes for resources
NASW President Kathryn Conley Wehrmann, PhD, MSW, LCSW, talks about her career path and her efforts to support social workers, especially those new to the profession.
NASW Senior Practice Associate Roxana Torrico Meruvia, MSW, talks about Social Work Speaks, NASW policy statements and how members can get involved in the process.
See Episode 11 show notes for resources
In this special episode, our guests weigh in on the crisis currently brewing around immigration in the United States, specifically related to children separated from their families at our southern border.
Our guests are Melvin H. Wilson, LCSW, NASW's Manager of Social Justice & Human Rights, and Guadalupe G. Lara, LMSW, NASW Board of Directors Member-at-Large.
See Episode 10 show notes for resources
Our guests in this episode are Heidi McIntosh, Deputy Director of Programs at NASW; and Julie E. Shroyer, MSW, Senior Policy Advisor at Polsinelli, a top Washington, DC law firm.
We talk about the skills that social workers bring to the table, the importance of social workers participating in the 2018 mid-term elections; and the challenges of advocating for the disadvantage in the current political climate.
With the conference just days away, we speak again with the conference organizers to give you idea of what you can expect, whether you attend in person or virtually.
May is Foster Care Month, so we speak with Matt Anderson and Malissa Flores, two social workers from the Children's Home Society of North Carolina, who partner with public agencies to help kids move from foster care into permanent families.
See Episode 7 show notes for resources
Joan Levy Zlotnik, PhD, ACSW, discusses how public policy is an important part of social work.
See Episode 6 show notes for resources
We speak with Bob Arnold, Director of NASW Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization that supports NASW's educational, research, training and charitable initiatives through a wide range of projects that serve the profession, practitioners and the public.
Visit the Foundation website to learn more
Dawn Hobdy, NASW Director of Ethics & Professional Review, discusses how the Code of Ethics changed, examples of challenges that social workers face, and how NASW is helping social workers meet the challenges they face every day.
See EP4 show notes for resources
Thinking about attending the 2018 NASW National Conference? Raffaele Vitelli, NASW's Director of Professional & Workforce Development, and Richard Loomis, Manager of Conference and Event Planning talk about the planning that makes this event as useful as possible for our attendees.
What are NASW's social justice initiatives right now, and how were they chosen? Mel Wilson, our Social Justice & Human Rights Manager, speaks about the issues that concern us, and that are keeping us busy in the national office and at our local chapters.
See Episode 2 show notes for resources
March is Social Work Month, and we're talking to NASW CEO Angelo McClain about the importance of Social Work Month, NASW initiatives for 2018, and experiences that led Dr. McClain to become interested in the social work profession.
NASW Director of Membership Jennifer Watt welcomes you to NASW Social Work Talks, where we seek to inform, educate and inspire on topics that social workers care about. Launching March 2018, in honor of Social Work Month. Brought to you by the National Association of Social Workers.