Social Work Pioneer

Hey there podcast listeners Jonathan here. I am humbled and honored to let you know that I have been selected as one of 25 Social Work Pioneers for starting the first podcast by and for social workers. The NASW Social Work Pioneers® program celebrates some of the most influential social workers in the nation. 

My bio on the Social Work Pioneers page: https://naswfoundation.org/Our-Work/NASW-Social-Workers-Pioneers/NASW-Social-Workers-Pioneers-Listing.aspx?id=950

There is no way I would have been considered for this prestigious honor had it not been for you, the long time devoted listeners of the social work podcast. You have welcomed me into your morning and evening commutes, bus rides to class, your workouts, and wherever you learn on the go. 

When I started the podcast in 2007, I hoped that a handful of social work students would find my summaries of practice theories useful. I handed out social work podcast bookmarks and gave workshops at social work conferences to let folks know what a podcast was. Fifteen years later, episodes have been assigned to hundreds of thousands of students and downloaded millions of times. There are now dozens of social work related podcasts all around the world, including Dave Niven's Social World Podcast from the UK. Mim Fox and Ben Joseph in Australia have been doing amazing work with co-construction of podcast episodes. And of course, Shimon Cohen's Doin the Work Podcast right here in the USA. 

I want to thank the folks who nominated and wrote letters of support including social work pioneer Linda Grobman, publisher of the New Social Worker magazine. Jennifer Luna, who you'll hear from in a forthcoming episode about building your social work brand and who interviewed me 14 years ago for the one-year anniversary of the Social Work Podcast. And Allan Barsky, social work professor at Florida international University whom I've had on the podcast several times talking about ethics and social work. To learn more about this year's inductees into the social work hall of fame, you can go to NASW's website or search NASW social work pioneers. 

Again, thank you for all of your support throughout the years. I'm truly honored. But don't think this means I'm going away. I have a bunch of really exciting episodes coming out this year. Thanks for listening.

Download MP3 [04:11]

The Emotional Lives of Teenagers (Part 2): Interview with Lisa Damour, PhD

[Episode 135] Today’s episode is the second of a two-part series with Lisa Damour about her 2023 book, The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents. In today’s episode, Lisa and I talk about how decades of research on the gender binary can provide insight into the emotional lives of adolescents across the gender spectrum. We talk about intersection of race and gender. We end our conversation talking about how it is important to help teens express their emotions, but perhaps more important to help them regain control. 

In Part 1, we talked about the difference between adolescent distress and adolescent mental illness, how the COVID-19 pandemic made it more difficult for parents to distinguish between normative adolescent distress or pandemic-related mental health concerns. She talks about the most destructive myth that is out there about adolescent mental health and what we as parents, professional and a society can do about that. Along the way Lisa shared some practical tips about to manage a teenage meltdown, a story about swimming pools, and she encourages us to think critically about the research that is being done on adolescent mental health and how the news media is portraying adolescent distress.   

Download MP3 [34:38]

The Emotional Lives of Teenagers (Part 1): Interview with Lisa Damour, PhD

[Episode 134] Today’s episode is the first of a two-part series with Lisa Damour about her 2023 book, The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents. In today’s episode we talk about the difference between adolescent distress and adolescent mental illness, how the COVID-19 pandemic made it more difficult for parents to distinguish between normative adolescent distress or pandemic-related mental health concerns. She talks about the most destructive myth that is out there about adolescent mental health and what we as parents, professional and a society can do about that. Along the way Lisa shared some practical tips about to manage a teenage meltdown, a story about swimming pools, and she encourages us to think critically about the research that is being done on adolescent mental health and how the news media is portraying adolescent distress. 

In Part 2, we’ll talk about how decades of research on the gender binary can provide insight into the emotional lives of adolescents across the gender spectrum. We’ll talk about intersection of race and gender. We’ll end our conversation talking about how it is important to help teens express their emotions, but perhaps more important to help them regain control.

Download MP3 [31:38]

Eliminating the ASWB exam from the Illinois LSW law: Interview with Joel Rubin, MSW, LSW, ACSW, CAE

[Episode 133] Today's episode of the Social Work Podcast is an interview with Joel L. Rubin, MSW, LSW, ACSW, CAE about the legislative process that NASW-IL went through to eliminate the requirement that BSW and MSW graduates from accredited social work programs in Illinois had to take the ASWB licensing exam in order to get their LSW. 

Joel has served as the Executive Director of the 5,000 member Illinois Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) since October of 1999. 

He shares the story about how and why the legislation changed. We talked about how the legislative process works, from connecting with other social workers online about pressing issues, to reaching out to NASW staff and volunteer board members, supporting prospective legislative candidates, meeting with your elected officials and how NASW state chapters serve as a resource for social workers and legislators.

Download MP3 [27:33]

Loving someone with suicidal thoughts: Interview with Stacey Freedenthal, PhD, LCSW

[Episode 132] Today's episode of the Social Work Podcast is an interview with Stacey Freedenthal, Ph.D., LCSW about her book Loving Someone with Suicidal Thoughts: What Family, Friends, and Partners Can Say and Do (New Harbinger Publications, 2023). Stacey and I talk about how she drew on her personal and professional experiences to write a book for families, friends and parents of someone who is suicidal. She talks about why and how families can create support teams, when and why it might not be appropriate to reach out to others, and how to navigate reaching out even when the suicidal person doesn't want you to. We talked about how to find support on social networks like Facebook. She talks about how friends and family can feel manipulated by a suicidal loved one, even if the suicidal person isn't being manipulative. Throughout the interview, Stacey speaks to families AND social workers. 

 Dr. Freedenthal is an associate professor at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work, and a psychotherapist in private practice. She lives in Denver, CO, with her husband and their collection of cats.

 

Download MP3 [32:54]

 

So, so great to talk w/@socworkpodcast today abt my book Loving Someone w/Suicidal Thoughts. We had a rich conversation abt different things friends & family experience, like fear & guilt, *feeling * manipulated, secrecy vs. getting support, hope & recovery, & also how to help. pic.twitter.com/H3oZ2MAvOL

— Stacey Freedenthal (@SFreedenthal) October 1, 2022

Feedback Informed Treatment: Interview with Scott D. Miller, Ph.D.

[Episode 131] In today's episode, I speak with Scott Miller, Ph.D. about how we can use feedback to improve client outcomes. Scott is one of the developers of Feedback Informed Treatment, or FIT - an "empirically supported, pantheoretical approach for evaluating and improving the quality and effectiveness of behavioral health services. It involves routinely and formally soliciting feedback from clients regarding the therapeutic alliance," client outcomes, and using that information to improve services (https://centerforclinicalexcellence.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/FIT-what-is-it-2020.pdf).  

Scott

Download MP3 [49:02]

Self-care and Cultural Humility in the 2021 NASW Code of Ethics: Interview with Allan Barsky, MSW Ph.D.

[Episode 130] Today’s episode is about the 2021 revision of the NASW Code of Ethics to include self-care and cultural humility. To unpack these two new additions, I spoke with Allan Barsky, Professor of Social Work at Florida Atlantic University and former Chair of the National Ethics Committee of the National Association of Social Workers. 

Bio [CV]

Allan Barsky received his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto Faculty of Social Work, his MSW from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Yeshiva University, and his Juris Doctor from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. His teaching and research interests include social work practice theory and skill development, pedagogy, conflict resolution, professional ethics, and substance abuse. His book credits include Ethics and Values in Social Work (Oxford University Press), Clinicians in Court (Guilford Press), Conflict Resolution for the Helping Professions (Oxford University Press), Interprofessional Practice with Diverse Populations (Greenwood), Successful Social Work Education: A Student’s Guide (Cengage), and Alcohol, Other Drugs and Addictions (Cengage). Dr. Barsky was awarded the “Distinguished Teacher of the Year” by CDSI students in 2005 and 2020, the “Researcher of the Year – Scholarly and Creative Works” by FAU in 2007, and FAU Scholar of the Year in 2020. Dr. Barsky chaired the National Association of Social Workers “Code of Ethics Review Committee” (2016-2017) and was awarded NASW’s “Excellence in Ethics Award” (2015).

Download MP3 [33:40]

The Power of Podcasting in Social Work Education

[Episode 129] Today’s episode is about the Power of Podcasting in Social Work Education. Shimon Cohen, founder and host of Doin' The Work: Frontlines of Social Change, and I read the article we wrote for New Social Worker Magazine about podcasting for social work education, taking a few detours along the way to explain what is on the written page. 

We talk about how to integrate podcasting into assignments and class discussion, and highlight the use of podcasts as a way of addressing systemic inequities. For the transcript of our episode, please check out our article at: https://www.socialworker.com/feature-articles/technology-articles/power-podcasting-social-work-education/

To download the Winter 2021 issue, go to: http://www.socialworker.com/magazine/digital-edition/the_new_social_worker_digital_issues and click on "Winter 2021." To download the full-color print issue, go to http://newsocialworker.magcloud.com

Download MP3 [39:43]

Religion and Spirituality in Social Work: Interview with Holly Oxhandler, Ph.D.

[Episode 128] Today's episode of the Social Work Podcast is a conversation with Dr. Holly Oxhandler (https://hollyoxhandler.com/). 

I speak with Holly about the definitions of religion and spirituality,  similarities and differences in religious and spiritual affiliation between social work professionals and their clients, how to address religion and spirituality in practice, and her experience as the co-host of the CXMH podcast (www.CXMHpodcast.com).  

Download MP3 [45:05]

Both/And or Either/Or: Social Work and Policing

[Episode 127]. Today’s episode is the audio recording of a Facebook Live discussion that happened on Tuesday, July 14, 2020 called Both/And or Either/Or: Social Work and Policing. Following the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 and countless other Black people by police over the past 200 plus years, two perspectives have emerged about social work's role with law enforcement. To be sure, these perspectives have been articulated for years. But in the midst of the largest and most sustained period of protests against systemic racism and support for Black Lives, these two perspectives gained particular traction after social work leaders published opinion pieces on Medium.com. The either/or perspective, articulated by UCLA social work chair Laura Abrams and University of Houston social work Dean Alan Dettlaff in a June 18, 2020 open letter to NASW and Allied Organizations, argued that "social work can either continue to invest in and collaborate with police OR affirm that #BlackLivesMatter." This letter was signed by over 1,400 social workers (full transparency, I was one of the signatories) and delivered to NASW. The Both/And perspective was articulated in a Medium.com post on June 30, 2020 by Darlyne Bailey, Charles E. Lewis, Steve Burghardt, and Terry Mizrahi. They argued that "we need to break from binary slogans of 'defunding' and replace them with a transformative platform tied to  reinvesting in social services, training guardians not warriors, and ending all forms of racial injustice in law enforcement, sentencing, incarceration, parole and probation." 

Download MP3 [1:00:49]