Julita Peniston. Photo courtesy of Royal Gazette.

Cheers to the Royal Gazette in Bermuda for this profile of National Association of Social Workers member Julita Peniston, who is using drug abuse and other counseling skills she learned in the United States to help clients in her native Caribbean country.

Peniston, LMSW, earned a master’s degree in social work from the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service. She interned at adult drug counseling services in New York City.

“That was an eye-opener, coming from Bermuda and going to Brooklyn,” she said.

Peniston is a counselor at Bermuda Youth Counselling Services. Peniston said she must take a different approach working with Bermudians because the culture is different from the United States. 

It takes longer to gain the trust of Bermudians, who tend to be more private than Americans about personal issues such as drug abuse.

You can learn more about how social workers help people battle drug and alcohol addictions at NASW’s consumer Website “Help Starts Here.” To go to the Addictions section, click here.