Recovery High Schools: Interview with Lori Holleran Steiker, Ph.D.

[Episode 105] Today's Social Work Podcast is about Recovery High Schools. I spoke with Dr. Lori Holleran Steiker, Distinguished Professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Social Work, and author of the 2016 book, Youth and Substance Use:  Prevention, Intervention and Recovery. We talk about risk factors for addiction, adolescent brain development, how to think about addiction from a biopsychosocial-spiritual perspective, why recovery or sober high schools fit an essential gap in the continuum of care for youth struggling with drugs and alcohol and how you can help to bring one to your community. We end our conversation with Lori making an impassioned plea to join the fight against adolescent addiction.

Download MP3 [50:48]

Motivational Interviewing, 3rd Edition: Interview with Mary Velasquez, Ph.D.

[Episode 84] Today's episode of the Social Work Podcast is about Motivational Interviewing, Third Edition. In today's episode I speak with Mary Velasquez, Ph.D., Centennial Professor in Leadership for Community, Professional and Corporate Excellence and Director of the Health Behavior Research and Training Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Velasquez is a trainer for the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers and has been involved in research that informed the changes to Motivational Interviewing, Third Edition. In today's interview Mary talks about how she became involved with Motivational Interviewing, what has changed and stayed the same in the revised version of Motivational Interviewing, DARN CATS, the four change processes, and how people can experience Motivational Interviewing in less than 15 minutes. 

Proposed Changes in DSM-5: Interview with Micki Washburn, LPC-S and Danielle Parrish, Ph.D.

There’s an old saying, “What’s the fastest way to cure mental illness in an entire group of people? Get rid of the diagnosis.” The proposed changes to DSM-5 get rid of some diagnoses and add others. But that's not all. If you're like me, you have lots of questions about changes to DSM-5. When I posted the question “what would you like to know about the DSM-5” to the Social Work Podcast Facebook page 11 people responded in less than an hour and 20 people responded by the end of the day. So, what did they want to know? Jessica, Shelly, Sandy, Spring, Paul, and Suzannah wanted to know about autism, depression, and personality disorders. Shylah and Jen wanted to know about addictions. Lisa wanted to know what was up with ADHD. Ciarrai and Lyndon posed some great questions about the merits of DSM diagnosis in social work practice.

In today's Social Work Podcast, I speak with Micki Washburn, MA, LPC-S, NCC and Danielle Parrish, Ph.D. about proposed changes in DSM-5. We talked about the cross-cutting dimensional assessment, changes in the organization of the DSM-5, and changes in diagnoses such as ADHD, Asperger’s, Autism, Depression, Substance Use, and personality disorders.  We talked about some of the intended consequences such as greater accuracy for diagnosis, and some of the possible unintended consequences such as loss of funding for diagnostic-specific services.  We end with some thoughts about social work’s role in the new DSM.

Update: DSM-5 was published on May 27, 2013. Social work licensure exams in the USA (ASWB) required DSM-5 starting in 2015.

The Wisdom To Know the Difference: Interview with Eileen Flanagan

Eileen Flanagan

We've all heard the Serenity prayer. Even if you don't know what it is called, you'll recognize it by the first few words... "God grant me the serenity..." The serenity prayer is synonymous with Alcoholics Anonymous and 12-step programs that have transformed the lives of hundreds of millions of people. And it is only 25 words and three lines long.

Download MP3 [29:31]


Most episodes of the Social Work Podcast take huge topics - like stigma, suicide, and cognitive-behavior therapy, and try to distill them into 30-minute overviews. Today's podcast flips that on its head. Today we're spending over thirty minutes to unpack 25 words. My hope is that listeners learn something about the Serenity prayer - something that they can incorporate into their social work education or practice. In today's social work podcast, I spoke with Eileen Flanagan, author of the award winning book, The Wisdom to Know the Difference: When to Make a Change-and When to Let Go Her book was endorsed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. She holds a B.A. from Duke and an M.A. from Yale and teaches at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. You can read more about her work at her website, http://www.eileenflanagan.com.

And now, on to Episode 61 of the Social Work Podcast: The Wisdom To Know the Difference: an Interview with Eileen Flanagan.

Prochaska and DiClemente's Stages of Change Model for Social Workers

[Episode 53] Today's podcast is on Prochaska and DiClemente's (1983) Stages of Change Model. This model describes five stages that people go through on their way to change: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance.
The model assumes that although the amount of time an individual spends in a specific stage varies, everyone has to accomplish the same stage-specific tasks in order to move through the change process (Prochaska & Prochaska, 2009). There is an unofficial sixth stage that is variously called "relapse," "recycling," or "slipping" in which an individual reverts to old behaviors. Examples include having a beer after a period of sobriety, or smoking a cigarette a year after quitting. Slipping is so common that it is considered normal. Social Workers are encouraged to be honest with clients about the likelihood of backsliding or reverting to old behaviors once the change process has started, not because we expect our clients to fail, but because it normalizes the experience and takes away some of sense of failure and shame.

Sex Addiction: Interview with Chris Wolf

[Episode 24] Sex addiction has been defined as "engaging in persistent and escalating patterns of sexual behavior despite increasingly negative consequences to self and others" (Ewald, 2003). In today's podcast I talked with Chris Wolf, a licensed marriage and family therapist and a certified sex addiction counselor. She received her masters in counseling psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and trained with pioneering sex addictions researcher, Patrick Carnes. She currently works at Gateway Rehabilitation Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has a private practice where she works with primarily with couples dealing with sex addiction. Our interview covered a broad range of topics, including how sex addiction is similar to and different from substance use addiction, common characteristics of sexually addicted clients, basic skills and competencies clinicians need when working with sexually addicted clients, and some resources for further study or learning.

Download MP3 [52:22]


As with the podcast with Jody Bechtold on pathological gambling, this interview is intended to be an overview and introduction to the topic of sexual addiction. It is not intended to be used as a substitute for supervision or clinical training.

How to Become a Nationally Certified Gambling Addictions Counselor

In this podcast, the last of four on pathological gambling, I speak with Jody Bechtold, LCSW, NCGC-II, PC about the process for becoming a nationally certified gambling addictions counselor. Jody compares the national certification process with the process to be designated as "competent" to treat pathological gambling in the state of Pennsylvania. If you are interested in becoming nationally certified, you might want to listen to the podcast a couple of times, as there are a number of steps in the process.


Download MP3 [27:53]


This series on pathological gambling includes the following podcasts:

1. What is Pathological Gambling? [11:43]
2. Treatment of Pathological Gambling [27:00]
3. Thinking Like a Pathological Gambler: Illusions of Control / Chance vs. Skill [8:54]
4. How to Become a Nationally Certified Gambling Addictions Counselor [27:53]

Update

• August 2007: Jody passed her exam and is officially a Nationally Certified Gambling Counselor (NCGC-1). Congratulations Jody.
• July 2007: Watch Jody on an investigative report about pathological gambling in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on local news station WPXI.
• June, 2012: Journal of Social Work Education publishes Jody's article on graduate education and gambling: 
• Engel, R.J., Bechtold, J., Kim, Y., & Mulvaney, E. (2012) Beating the odds: Preparing graduates to address gambling-related problems. Journal of Social Work Education, 48, 321-335. doi: 10.5175/JSWE.2012.201000128.

Resources

National Council on Problem Gambling: http://www.ncpgambling.org/

• Joanna Franklin, ncpgambling@aol.com

Pennsylvania Council of Compulsive Gambling: http://http://www.pacouncil.com/

• Jim Pappas, ccgofpa@aol.com

Ohio Council on Problem Gambling: http://ohiocpg.org/

• Frank Harvey, OCPG@msn.com

National Testing Corporation for the NCGC exams: http://www.ptcny.com/clients/NGCCB/
The following is an example of costs associated with becoming a certified gambling counselor:

Costs (average / minimum)Supervision from Ohio ($100 / call) = $200National Exam (NCGC-1) = $175 (NCPG member)National Membership = $75NCGC-1 Application = $17530 credits – training (avg $100ea) = $500 (unless free trainings)Total: = $1125 

APA (6th edition) reference for this podcast:

Singer, J. B. (Host). (2007, June 11). How to become a nationally certified gambling addictions counselor [Episode 20]. Social Work Podcast. Podcast retrieved Month Day, Year, from http://socialworkpodcast.com/2007/06/how-to-become-nationally-certified.html

Thinking Like a Pathological Gambler: Illusions of Control / Chance vs. Skill

In today's podcast, the third of four on pathological gambling, Jody Bechtold, LCSW, NCGC, PC talks about two concepts that are central to understanding the thinking of the pathological gambler: Illusions of Control and Chance vs. Skill.


Download MP3 [8:54]




This series on pathological gambling includes the following podcasts:

1. What is Pathological Gambling? [11:43]
2. Treatment of Pathological Gambling [27:00]
3. Thinking Like a Pathological Gambler: Illusions of Control / Chance vs. Skill [8:54]
4. How to Become a Nationally Certified Gambling Addictions Counselor [27:53]

Update 

• July, 2007: Watch Jody on an investigative report about pathological gambling in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on local news station WPXI.
• June, 2012: Journal of Social Work Education publishes Jody's article on graduate education and gambling: 
• Engel, R.J., Bechtold, J., Kim, Y., & Mulvaney, E. (2012) Beating the odds: Preparing graduates to address gambling-related problems. Journal of Social Work Education, 48, 321-335. doi: 10.5175/JSWE.2012.201000128.

References

• Benhsain, K, Taillefer, A. & Ladouceur, R. (2004). Awareness of independence of events and erroneous perceptions while gambling. Addictive Behaviors, 29, 399-404.
• Ladouceur, R. (2004). Perceptions among pathological and nonpathological gamblers. Addictive Behaviors, 29, 555-565.

APA (6th edition) reference for this podcast:

Singer, J. B. (Host). (2007, June 5). Thinking like a pathological gambler: Illusions of control and chance vs. skill. [Episode 19]. Social Work Podcast. Podcast retrieved Month Day, Year, from http://socialworkpodcast.com/2007/06/thinking-like-pathological-gambler.html

Treatment of Pathological Gambling

Today's podcast is the second in our four-part series on pathological gambling. I talk with Jody Bechtold, LCSW, NCGC-II, PC about treatment basics for clinicians who work with pathological gamblers. We'll start with a quick overview of crisis intervention and then move into some of the assumptions and techniques of the treatments with the most empirical support in the treatment of pathological gamblers - behavior and cognitive therapy. We end with a brief overview of some challenges that can arise during the treatment of pathological gambling.


This interview targets practicing clinicians or students in clinical courses. If you are not familiar with the approaches discussed in this podcast, you can find more general overviews of crisis intervention, behavior therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy on the Social Work Podcast website. Disclaimer - this podcast is intended to be a general overview of treatment approaches, rather than a clinical training. If you are currently working with, or intend to work with people with gambling addiction, proper education and training is essential. In the fourth part of this series, Jody and I talk about some of the requirements for obtaining the NCGC-1 - the national certified gambling counselor certification. 

Download MP3 [27:00]

This series on pathological gambling includes the following podcasts:

1. What is Pathological Gambling? [11:43]
2. Treatment of Pathological Gambling [27:00]
3. Thinking Like a Pathological Gambler: Illusions of Control / Chance vs. Skill [8:54]
4. How to Become a Nationally Certified Gambling Addictions Counselor [27:53]

Update 

• July, 2007: Watch Jody on an investigative report about pathological gambling in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on local news station WPXI.
• June, 2012: Journal of Social Work Education publishes Jody's article on graduate education and gambling: 
• Engel, R.J., Bechtold, J., Kim, Y., & Mulvaney, E. (2012) Beating the odds: Preparing graduates to address gambling-related problems. Journal of Social Work Education, 48, 321-335. doi: 10.5175/JSWE.2012.201000128.

References

• Ciarrocchi, J. (2002). Counseling problem gamblers: A self-regulation manual for Individual and family therapy. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
• Ladouceur, R. & Lachance, S. (2006). Overcoming pathological gambling: Therapist guide. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Ladouceur, R., Sylvain, C., Boutin, C & Doucet, C. (2002). Understanding and Treating the Pathological Gambler. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
• McCown, W. G., & Howatt, W. A. (2007). Treating gambling problems. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

APA (6th edition) reference for this podcast:

Singer, J. B. (Host). (2007, May 28). Treatment of pathological gambling [Episode 18]. Social Work Podcast. Podcast retrieved Month Day, Year, from http://socialworkpodcast.com/2007/05/treatment-of-pathological-gambling.html

What is Pathological Gambling?

Today's podcast is the first in our four-part series looking at the DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of pathological gambling. In today's podcast, Jody Bechtold, LCSW, NCGC-II, PC looks at what it is, what it is not, and what are the similarities and differences between pathological gambling and substance use disorders.


Download MP3 [11:43]

Music: Money by Pink Floyd; Viva Las Vegas by Elvis, and Luck be a Lady by Frank Sinatra.

This series on pathological gambling includes the following podcasts:

1. What is Pathological Gambling? [11:43]
2. Treatment of Pathological Gambling [27:00]
3. Thinking Like a Pathological Gambler: Illusions of Control / Chance vs. Skill [8:54]
4. How to Become a Nationally Certified Gambling Addictions Counselor [27:53]

Updates:

• July, 2007: Watch Jody on an investigative report about pathological gambling in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on local news station WPXI. 
• June, 2012: Journal of Social Work Education publishes Jody's article on graduate education and gambling: 
• Engel, R.J., Bechtold, J., Kim, Y., & Mulvaney, E. (2012) Beating the odds: Preparing graduates to address gambling-related problems. Journal of Social Work Education, 48, 321-335. doi: 10.5175/JSWE.2012.201000128.

APA (6th edition) reference for this podcast:

Singer, J. B. (Host). (2007, May 22). What is pathological gambling? [Episode 17]. Social Work Podcast. Podcast retrieved Month Day, Year, from http://socialworkpodcast.com/2007/05/what-is-pathological-gambling.html

Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT)

[Episode 10] In today's lecture I will will focus on some of the key concepts of IPT, the role of the therapist and client, the structure and goals of IPT - specifically focusing on grief, interpersonal role dispute, role transition and interpersonal deficits, and some of the techniques used in IPT. I'll end with a brief discussion of the applications of IPT, its strengths and limitations.

IPT is a time-limited psychotherapy that was developed in the 1970s and 80s as an outpatient treatment for adults who were diagnosed with moderate or severe non-psychotic, unipolar depression. Over the last 30 years, a number of empirical studies have demonstrated the efficacy of IPT in the treatment of depression. Although originally developed as an individual therapy for adults, IPT has been modified for use with adolescents and older adults, dysthymia, bipolar disorder, bulimia, anxiety disorders and couples counseling. IPT has its roots in psychodynamic theory, but differs from the latter in that it focuses on improving interpersonal functioning in the present. It is similar to CBT in its time-limited approach, structured interviews and assessment tools, but also differs from CBT in that it focuses on the client's affect, rather than cognitions, and the development of a more supportive social network. And whereas nearly all CBTs use homework as a standard part of treatment, although Brief ITP (ITP-B) uses homework, regular IPT may not.