Embracing Therapeutic Complexity: Interview with Patricia Gianotti, Psy.D.

[Episode 138] Today's episode is an interview with Dr. Patricia Gianotti, Academic Director of The Institute for Advanced Psychotherapy at Loyola University Chicago. Patricia and I speak about the neurobiology of shame, why depth work is important, and how to think about human complexity in a therapeutic context. She emphasizes the impact of attachment failures on a person's sense of self and the role of shame in therapy. She explains the concept of loyalty contracts and how they shape individuals' beliefs and behaviors. She underscores the power of psychodynamic techniques in uncovering and addressing these dynamics. Throughout the conversation, she highlights the hope and resilience that can be found in therapy.

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The Institute for Advanced Psychotherapy at Loyola University Chicago offers a yearlong certificate program for licensed professionals, aimed at enhancing clinical skills through an integrative training method. The program incorporates advances in trauma and neuropsychological research within a framework rooted in attachment theory. Participants engage in onsite residencies that last three full days each, featuring hands-on training by nationally acclaimed faculty. In between residencies, distance learning continues through monthly 90-minute case consultation meetings and bimonthly live webinars. The program is approved for CEU Credit by the APA and NASW, and awards a total of 72 credit hours. To learn more, please visit https://www.luc-iap.com/

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

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Social Work Superheroes: Interview with John Vassello, MSW

[Episode 112] Today's episode of the Social Work Podcast is about the parallels between social workers and superheroes. I spoke with John Vassello. John is the Associate Director of Field Education and Admissions in the Binghamton University Department of Social Work. He also serves as the Continuing Education Coordinator.

John and I talk about an innovative approach to marketing the University of Binghamton's social work program AND the buzz he creates at conferences and recruitment events, all with squishy little superhero stress dolls.

John connects the dots between superheroes (origin stories, secret identities, costumes, code of ethics, and more) and the life and times of social workers.

Although John is not the first to talk about the social worker as a superhero (see Dean Anna Scheyett's excellent 2015 TED Talk on Social Workers as Superheroes), he is the first to create an action figure that brings to life so many aspects of social work.

You can purchase a complete set of the Social Justice League superheroes, all proceeds funding Binghamton social work student scholarships, here: bit.ly/SocialJusticeLeague.


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2019 Update: Newest superhero: The Scholar

Engaging People At Risk for Suicide: Interview with Dana Alonzo, Ph.D.

[Episode 111] Today's episode of the Social Work Podcast is about engaging people who are suicidal into professional mental health services. I spoke with Dr. Dana Alonzo from Fordham University. We talked about some of the reasons why people might not want to seek professional mental health services when they are suicidal, and some of the things that mental health professionals do to make it hard for folks to want to stay in treatment. Dana sees this as a problem of engagement. She described the process of how she developed her intervention and what it entails. She ends with some tips on how to improve engagement in treatment for anyone, regardless of suicide risk.



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If you’re feeling suicidal, please talk to somebody. You can reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255; the Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860; or the Trevor Project at 866-488- 7386. Text “START” to Crisis Text Line at 741-741. If you don’t like the phone, consider using the Lifeline Crisis Chat at www.crisischat.org.

Becoming a Clinical Social Worker: Interview with Dr. Danna Bodenheimer

[Episode 99] Today’s episode of the Social Work Podcast is about becoming a clinical social worker. My guest, Dr. Danna Bodenheimer, is the author of Real World Clinical Social Work: Find Your Voice and Find Your Way published by New Social Worker Press.


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In today's interview Danna and I talk about what makes a social worker a clinical social worker, what distinguishes a good from a bad clinical social worker, the one essential thing that all social workers bring to supervision, and the role of narcissism, observing ego, transference, counter-transference and the real relationship in clinical social work. We end with a discussion of money and how social workers need to earn enough so they can be present with their clients.

@socworkpodcast Holy #99 podcast. LOVED Danna Bodenheimer's interview. Buying the book ASAP. Thank you.

— Lyndsay (@Wilshawl) November 10, 2015

The Challenges and Rewards of Collaborative Community-Based Research for Social Change: Interview with Corey Shdaimah and Sanford Schram

[Episode 82] Today’s episode of the Social Work Podcast is about how to balance the demands of doing good research with the passion that practitioners and advocates have for addressing the social problems that face their communities. My guests are Corey Shdaimah and Sanford Schram, authors of Change Research: A Case Study on Collaborative Methods for Social Workers and Advocates published in 2011 by Columbia University Press.

In today’s Social Work Podcast, Corey and Sandy distinguish between Participatory Action Research (PAR) and Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and talk why they use PAR rather than CBPR in their work with communities. They give examples of how challenging it is to actually do PAR. They talked about the need to bridge the gap between research and practice and how that was one of their motivations for writing their text, Change Research. Throughout our conversation Sandy and Corey bring up lots of ideas that are perfect discussion points for research classes, both at the masters and doctoral level.

Social Workers in Court: Interview with Allan Barsky, JD, MSW, PhD

[Episode 76] In today’s interview, Allan and I talked about what it means for a social worker to be “court ready,” especially for social workers whose jobs do not typically involve going to court. We talked about the difference between forensic social workers and social workers who have to appear in court. Allan talked about the difference between client confidentiality and client privilege, between being a witness and an expert witness, and between preparing for legal proceedings and disciplinary proceedings. He gave some pointers on how social workers should respond to a subpoena. I asked him about what for many clinicians is the most stressful part of going to court - examination and cross-examination. We talked about how social workers can prepare for it, including some strategies for dealing with “tough questions” during a cross-examination. We ended our conversation with Allan providing some resources for social workers who want to know more. If you want to find additional references and resources, as well as a transcript of my conversation with Allan, please go to the Social Work Podcast website at socialworkpodcast.com. If you want to join the conversation about clinicians in court, go to our Facebook page at Facebook.com/swpodcast. If you’re on Twitter, you can follow the podcast at twitter.com/socworkpodcast. And now, without further ado, on to Episode 76 of the Social Work Podcast: Social Workers in Court: Interview with Allan Barsky.

Developing Treatment Plans: The Basics

[Episode 11] In this podcast I cover the basics of problem definition, developing goals and measureable objectives as well as identifying interventions and strategies. The key to good treatment planning is making sure that there is a clear and logical relationship between your assessment, problem formulation, goals, objectives and interventions.
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Transcript