Current Social Work Trends

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I stumbled onto a blog post/article while looking up some of the current trends in social work. The link to the original post is below. But it caught my eye.
http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/the-important-role-social-workers-play-in-mental-health-1214157
I think this article really speaks to people who want to get into the profession who aren’t enrolled in the educational requirements or licensing requirements yet.
When I wrote my admission essay for my MSW program, I talked a lot about some of social work’s key values. I focused on self-determination, social justice, and dignity. One of my main topics was the feminization of poverty, which I do not believe gets nearly enough attention in just basic awareness campaigns. You can link so many issues to the feminization of poverty, such as pay equity, non-subsidized child care, comparable worth, child support, and economic support services.
As someone with an MSW and an advanced practice license, mental health is still an increasing but also still developing issue in the field. When you combine mental health with trauma or the ways in which people react to crises, there are several varying beliefs or intervention techniques among professionals. We are seeing a lot of hot button issues surrounding trauma-informed care, crisis intervention, and institutionalization. (Note: I love words that end in -zation)
In a future post, I will further discuss what I have been researching and interviewing other professionals about in regards to reactions to client traumas and crisis events.
However, one topic I have really focused my attention on is addiction and prescription drugs in relation to the correctional system. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am working on getting my Substance Abuse Counselor certifications (SAC-IT/SAC). And I currently volunteer in a peer support group for formerly incarcerated adults on and off DOC supervision. Prescription drugs are a very big business in the prison system, as is addiction. Since the 1970’s, the US has been trying to move away from institutionalization. However it does not appear that way when focusing on incarceration rates.
The WI DOC’s 2015-2017 budget is just over $1.2 billion.
(page 14 in pdf below)
http://doc.wi.gov/Documents/Web/About/DataResearch/Budget/Final%20Biennial%20Budget%20request-091514.pdf
And in the additional document below, WI’s current prison population is just over 22,000 inmates. The capacity however is around 16,000.
http://doc.wi.gov/Documents/WEB/ABOUT/DATARESEARCH/NOTABLESTATISTICS/FRIDAYREPORTS/fri_12_18_2015.pdf
So we are seeing some definitive needs when it comes to community support programs and agencies that keep people out of the prisons and remain in the community.

Practicing Patience

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Sometimes it is hard to be patient when working on finding a career. Today was a hard day. However, this blog is something positive in my pursuit. I stay on track with the issues needing to be addressed in social work and advocacy.
Today I also spent time reviewing my plan to get my SAC-IT & SAC certificates. Each requires a year committment of courses. I also have to stay on top of my social work continuing education training hours.
As the day ends, I rebound into positivity for a new week.
I can fall on my writing or photography or play the piano to get recharged with creativity. I can settle down and continue reading my next “to read” book, ‘Eat that Frog’.
I’m going to go through my nightly affirmations and go to bed.

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Hometown Hero: Praising Service, Forgetting the Veteran

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I nominated my younger brother for the local news’ Hometown Hero weekly segment.  In my letter to the TV station I briefly touched on his military service.  The bulk of my nomination was in trying to get him some recognition for all of the voluntary community service he has been doing for the last two years.  The news station had a different angle that they wanted to follow as far as military service.  My brother is involved in a lot of social service programs that assist community members and veterans.

It turned out to be another example of praising a soldier and forgetting a veteran.  I dare say my brother has done more for his country serving the local community than his ten months in Afghanistan.  Some people want all the credit, usually the ones that do very little.  Others want none of the credit.  I come from a family that tries to stay away from recognition.  We do not speak aloud or often about our community services but we all do serve in the community.

Can we attempt to recognize and reward service after military careers have ended?  If veterans only get medals and recognition from yesteryear how are we as a nation supposed to keep them alive?  If every day you were thanked and recognized for something you did ten years ago?

I guess this is my social work advocate coming out.  Looking once again at the limits, at the dead ends.  Everyone needs to feel needed and supported but at the present moment for present actions.  And how can you ignore how much effort someone puts in for the betterment of others over themselves?  My brothers and I come from parents who have taught us to speak up and speak out for everyone, not just ourselves or our own needs and desires.

APPLETON, WI (WFRV) This week’s Hometown Hero was inspired to join the U.S. Marine Corps following the 9-11 attacks. .

Source: Hometown Hero: Alex Feest – Story | WeAreGreenBay

Carb Cycle

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I am on my second week of carb cycling. I am doing a dry run to see how my body responds. In May 2014 I weighed 154 pounds. I dedicated myself to lose weight using the MyFitnesspal app as a food diary and macro tracker. In July 2015 my weight went down to 130 pounds!
In January 2015 I began weightlifting. I began with bare bar squats and bench presses. I am now at a 200 pound deadlift, a 195 pound squat, and a 135 pound bench press as PRs.
I have maintained my weight near 134 for much of the year.
I am planning on competing in the Fox Cities Showdown in Oshkosh at the end of April 2016. Since losing weight and gaining muscle, i have gained confidence and a sharper sense of dedication.
I may not have the best physique for only lifting one year but I’m going to work as hard as I can to be ready to step on that stage on April 30th.
I love what weightlifting has done to my body image, the way I present myself to others, and how my inner confidence has improved. When people look at me, I no longer think they are looking at my scars but instead my gains!

Cutting Chunks out of a Manuscript

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I like to think of myself as an organized person. However, when beginning the manuscript for my novel, I just sort of started writing without a plan. I was in graduate school at the time and was one of the only people that didn’t have an internship when everyone else would come to class and complain about the stress of work, classes, and internship responsibilities. I eventually fought against the school to get an internship, rather than follow their advice of waiting an entire year to restart a flawed process. I had to get a civil rights lawyer to scare them into compliance, it was a very long stressful process.
Anyways, that was over two years ago and I’m still trying to get through the endless “tell” sections I wrote previously. In a novel, you want a balance of show and tell. Showing is description through character dialogue and interaction; whereas telling is describing things as the all knowing narrator.
I just recently had to cut out big chunks of a chapter that I really liked but it doesn’t really lead the reader through the story line. I have to do the same thing with other chapters that follow but I am less hesitant about the process because I know that my story will be better off. The beginning chapters have all been edited and added on to. I participated in a Novel Boot Camp online, put on by an editor, Ellen Brock (ellenbrockediting.com). But to give you a sense of where I am in the process, the chapter I had to cut chunks out of took up pages 23-30 out of 140! I am pretty much at the 50,000 word mark but I know that I need to be at least at 80,000 to really consider it complete.
Whenever I go back and make changes to my manuscript, I watch a YouTube video about Dustin Lance Black’s writing process. When I finish the first rough draft, I will follow the techniques Black follows.

A Character’s Dream

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SONY A200 Appleton, WI 2014
Sony A200 Appleton, WI 2014

It’s December 14th 2015, eleven days until Christmas and we have an abundance of rain but not a flake of snow.  I love this photo because it is where the characters in my novel live.  White pelicans litter this small bit of the Fox River every year and some of them stay late into the season.

Getting Back to the Roots of Social Work

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The La Crosse Area Family Collaborative officially launched back in September.

Source: “http://www.wxow.com/story/30736637/2015/12/13/la-crosse-area-family-collaborative-adds-social-workers-to-neighborhoods”

La Crosse, WI is putting social workers into community neighborhoods as community resources. In my work with minorities and people who need assistance locating beneficial services in the community, this a a great thing to see. It is so challenging sometimes to see how many people do not know that resources in the community exist and specifically for their specific needs.

Most of the people I went to school with are now in private agencies that do not necessarily fulfill the roots of social work and address community needs. I find it very rewarding to be able to volunteer my time to community groups that address economic support, and hunger, and mental health services. I am glad that people are bringing social work back in to areas of the profession that have all but vanished. Such is the case with medical patient advocates. I wanted to be a patient advocate at a children’s hospital because I was a long-term patient in a hospital and there were not enough advocates for the needs of children and their families. When I graduated with my MSW, patient advocate jobs were virtually eliminated. Now you see patient advocates as phone operators in insurance company customer service centers.

You empower people when you allow them to tell their story. Then you provide them the tools to change. It is their choice in how they respond to being given the info and the tools they need but when they know where to go and how to acquire it, you have empowered them to improve their situation.

Do Things Happen for a Reason?

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I am guilty of using the phrase, “Things Happen for a Reason” liberally. However, it is part of having an external locust of control (psychology talk). Since taking over more control of my life, I have used it less and less. I have had people look up to some of my successes in life, so people have asked me about my motivations and perspectives. It wasn’t until someone really challenged my idea of “reason” in a brutally honest way that I began to contemplate how I could keep using such a phrase. A friend and coworker of mine asked me in response of my line, “things happen for a reason” whether their was some higher purpose for the suicide of their cousin. In the moment I floundered and stuck to my belief in a preordained fate.

It wasn’t until I saw an article link on Facebook that really demanded my attention to address the counter arguments. I couldn’t get it out of my mind, for days. The link is below.

http://www.timjlawrence.com/blog/2015/10/19/everything-doesnt-happen-for-a-reason

One thing that has also changed my locust of control recently was taking control of my body and my health. After graduate school, I spent one year losing twenty pounds slowly and in a healthy manner. Then I began weight lifting to build my physique and gain even more confidence. In taking control of my body and being so determined to follow a plan, I opened up new opportunities for myself. I am much more conscious that I help control my current circumstances.

When I try and sell myself in a job interview, I tell them that I listen to understand rather than to respond. This is true, because I have learned that people do not need advice when they are grieving, they need your presence.

People don’t often understand what trauma does to you. For me, anger is in everything that I write. I have used anger as fuel and to propel my passion to advocate for others. My poetry is very angry and dark and raw. I believe in writing dangerously and being able to connect to the emotions of others in similar situations