Tuesday, December 11, 2018

The Special Commission on Macro Practice: Interview with Dr. Darlyne Bailey and Dr. Terry Mizrahi

[Episode 121] In today's episode of the Social Work Podcast, I speak with Dr. Darlyne Bailey and Dr. Terry Mizrahi about the Special Commission on Macro Practice.  We talk about how their social work experiences led them to co-chairing the Special Commission, the relationship between case and cause, moment and movement, and process and product. We talked about the false dichotomy between micro and macro practice, and that there is nothing wrong with focusing your energies on one or the other. We ended the episode with a call for the social work profession to focus energies on increasing the percentage of macro-concentration social work students to 20% by 2020.



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Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Using simulation to teach holistic competence: Interview with Marion Bogo and Toula Kourgiantakis

[120] Today's episode of the Social Work Podcast is an interview with Marion Bogo and Toula Kourgiantakis from the University of Toronto Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. We talk about using simulation in social work education. In Episode 94, I spoke with Marion and Mary Rawlings about simulation as part of standardized clinical examinations (OSCE).

Today's interview focuses on how simulation can be used to teach holistic competence. They talked about how in the late 2000s, they recognized that there were several problems with the existing model of teaching students practice skills. Their solution was to simulate real-world problems so that students could practice specific skills, get feedback, and improve their practice. In today's episode,  Marion and Toula detail the steps necessary for creating simulations, how they involved field supervisors in the development of client simulations, the iterative nature of improving the simulations over time, and an innovative approach to help students learn knowledge and skills through practice and feedback they call "Practice Friday".

Download MP3 [29:24]

Monday, April 16, 2018

Helping the Suicidal Person: Interview with Stacey Freedenthal, Ph.D., LCSW

[Episode 119] Today's episode of the Social Work Podcast is an interview with Stacey Freedenthal, Ph.D., LCSW about her book, Helping the Suicidal Person: Tips and Techniques for Professionals

I was excited to talk with Dr. Freedenthal because she's come up with 89 tips and techniques that you can start using right away with suicidal clients.

In today’s episode, we talk about five of them:

Tip #10 – Embrace a Narrative Approach: “Suicidal Storytelling”
Tip #35 – Know When and Why to (and not to) Pursue Hospitalization
Tip #36 – Know Why not to Pursue Hospitalization
Tip #64 – Incorporate a Hope Kit
Tip #88 – Propose a Letter to the Suicidal Self


Dr. Freedenthal has been a faculty member at the University of Denver School of Social Work since 2005 and maintains a private practice. She’s the creator of the massively popular blog, SpeakingOfSuicide.com, and her writings have appeared in academic journals and media outlets like the New York Times. You can find her on Twitter @SFreedenthal

Download MP3 [32:24]

Sunday, March 18, 2018

Self care for Social Workers: Interview with Erlene Grise-Owens, Justin “Jay” Miller, and Mindy Eaves

[Episode 118] In today’s episode, I talk to Erlene Grise-Owens, Justin “Jay” Miller, and Mindy Eaves, the editors of the TThe A-to-Z Self-Care Handbook for Social Workers and Other Helping Professionals, published by The New Social Worker Press. My guests debunk some self-care myths and they share some of the guidelines about making self-care a practice.  My guests not only talk about what self-care is and is not, but they also model it. We talk about SMART self-care plans, about how being active is not the same as being athletic, about how personal self-care requires professional self-care and that professional self-care affects organizational wellness and that organizational wellness affects professional self-care.

If you like what you hear, check out their book The A-to-Z Self-Care Handbook for Social Workers and Other Helping Professionals, published by The New Social Worker Press. If you want a deeper dive into self-care, Erlene and Jay are doing a webinar for the New Social Worker magazine: Self-Care Wellshop™: Foundations & Fundamentals on March 21, 2018.


Download MP3 [51:56]


Monday, March 5, 2018

Happy Social Work Month 2018

[Episode 117] Hey there podcast listeners, Jonathan here.  It is March 5th, 2018 and that means we’re on day 5 of #SWMonth 2018.

For the past 4 years, since 2014, The New Social Worker Magazine has celebrated Social Work Month by publishing inspired and insightful reflections.  One of the things I like best about the poems, essays, and reflections at socialworker.com is that they are great for sharing with folks that might not understand what social workers do. Linda Grobman, the social work pioneer and award winning publisher of New Social Worker gets some of the profession’s best known or most profound thinkers to share their wisdom as part of this series.

This year I was honored and humbled to receive an invitation from Linda to submit a short piece for Social Work Month. True, the invitation was addressed to “Dr. Brené Brown, University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work,” but nevertheless I accepted. Linda is such a good sport that she didn’t have the great daring to rise strong and tell me that I had received the invitation by mistake. And I kinda feel bad that if there isn’t a contribution from Brené this year it is basically my fault. But, I mean, what are you gonna do? Opportunities like this don’t come around often.

Linda publishes a new piece every day during social work month at socialworker.com. You can read my contribution, Open Letter to Social Work Professors Who Love Social Work Month, starting today. You can also hang out for another 15 seconds and hear the recorded version, which I did with Linda’s full support. So, check out the New Social Worker website and their excellent Facebook group, SW Podcast Facebook group will have lots of goodies this month, as will NASW and your favorite social work organizations. Ok. Here’s my piece (please click on this link to read essay: Open Letter to Social Work Professors Who Love Social Work Month).

Download MP3 [6:33]


APA (6th ed) citation for this podcast:

Singer, J. B. (Producer). (2018, March 5). #117 - Happy Social Work Month 2018 [Audio Podcast]. Social Work Podcast. Retrieved from http://www.socialworkpodcast.com/2018/03/swmonth2018.html

Thursday, January 11, 2018

Social media and gang violence: Interview with Desmond Patton, Ph.D.

[Episode 116] Today's episode of the Social Work Podcast is about social media and gang violence. It is about 8 million tweets, cyberbanging, and using social media to get a 360-degree view of someone’s life. It is about the amazing research of Dr. Desmond Patton.

Dr. Patton's research uses qualitative and computational data collection methods to examine how and why gang violence, trauma, grief, and identity are expressed on social media and the real world impact they have on well-being for low-income youth of color.

Desmond and I spoke in January of 2017. He unpacked the complex relationship between gang banging and cyberbanging – a term he and his colleagues coined back in 2013. We also talked about how social workers can think about the relationship between social media and youth. Desmond encourages us to think of the online world as a new social environment that social workers need to understand. He questions existing agency policies that prohibit social workers from interacting with clients on social media and asks if those are empirically-sound policies. And one of the things that I love the most about Desmond’s work is that he combines the rich understanding that comes from qualitative research and the cutting edge insights that can come from analyzing big data.

  Download MP3 [29:29]

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

2018 NASW Code of Ethics (Part 3): Interview with Allan Barsky, JD, MSW, PhD

[Episode 115] Today's episode of the Social Work Podcast is the third of a three-part series on the 2018 National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics. I spoke with Allan Barsky, JD, MSW, PhD (whom you might remember from Episode 78 on social work ethics and Episode 76 about social workers in court).

In today's episode, Allan and I talked about 1.06(g) – professional affiliations and the removal of the word “disability."  Allan talks about the difference between baseline standards – don’t have sex with your clients, and aspirational standards – the ideal world in which, for example, we will always be promoting social justice. We talked about section 1.15 – disruption in electronic communications. We ended with a discussion of resources, such as the free NASW webinar on changes to the 2018 NASW Code of Ethics, and ways that you can provide feedback about things that you like or don’t like about the 2018 NASW Code of Ethics. Allan encourages people to be involved in the many online discussions of ethics. He encouraged folks to read and write articles for the Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics and other sites.


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Friday, January 5, 2018

2018 NASW Code of Ethics (Part 2): Interview with Allan Barsky, JD, MSW, PhD

[Episode 114] Today's episode of the Social Work Podcast is the second of a three-part series on the 2018 National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics. I spoke with Allan Barsky, JD, MSW, PhD (whom you might remember from Episode 78 on social work ethics and Episode 76 about social workers in court).

In today’s episode, Part 2, Allan and I talk about Section 1.05, cultural competence and whether online communities fall under the ethical standard of cultural competence. Allan mentions the NASW 2016 Standards and Indicators for Cultural Competence.  A few minutes later I mention the 2017 NASW, ASWB, CSWE, & CSWA Standards for Technology in Social Work Practice, and feedback that the Tech Standards and the 2018 Code of Ethics painted technology as problematic. Spoiler alert: Allan disagreed. All of the NASW Practice Standards & Guidelines can be found on the NASW website.  We talk about section 1.04(e), knowing the laws in your jurisdiction and the one where your client lives and how that affects practicing across state lines with or without technology.

In Part 1, episode 113, we provided a historical overview of the NASW Code of Ethics and discusses why the NASW Code of Ethics was revised for 2018. Then, Allan and I talk about Section 1.03, Informed Consent, and specifically subsection “i” which has to do with electronic searches.

In Part 3, episode 115, we talk about 1.06(g) – professional affiliations, and the removal of the word “disability”. We talk about 1.15 – disruption in electronic communications. We end Part 3 with a discussion of resources for folks who want to learn more about the NASW Code of Ethics, and ethical issues in social work practice.


Download MP3 [23:27]


Wednesday, January 3, 2018

2018 NASW Code of Ethics (Part 1): Interview with Allan Barsky, JD, MSW, PhD

[Episode 113] Today's episode of the Social Work Podcast is the first of a three-part series on the 2018 National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics. I spoke with Allan Barsky, JD, MSW, PhD (whom you might remember from Episode 78 on social work ethics and Episode 76 about social workers in court). In Part 1 we provide a historical overview of the NASW Code of Ethics and discusses why the NASW Code of Ethics was revised for 2018. Then, Allan and I talk about Section 1.03, Informed Consent, and specifically subsection “i” which has to do with electronic searches.

In Part 2, episode 114, we talk about Section 1.04(e) knowing the laws in your jurisdiction and the one where your client lives and how that affects practicing across state lines with or without technology.  We also talk about 1.05, cultural competence.

In Part 3, episode 115, we talk about 1.06(g) – professional affiliations, and the removal of the word “disability”. We talk about 1.15 – disruption in electronic communications. We end Part 3 with a discussion of resources for folks who want to learn more about the NASW Code of Ethics, and ethical issues in social work practice.

Download MP3 [27:00]