Victor Armstrong is a member of NASW-NC:
The importance of culturally-relevant training in mental health care
WFAE
For the past nine weeks, WFAE’s series “Fractured” has been exploring problems with North Carolina’s mental health system. Inequities in the system include disparities in access and quality of care. People of color often face barriers when seeking treatment. We’ve invited Vic Armstrong to discuss this issue. He’s the former director of the Division of Mental Health for North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services and a former vice president of Behavioral Health for Atrium Health. Now he’s the director of Soul Shop for Black Churches. It provides culturally-relevant training for pastors and lay leaders in dealing with suicide.

Anthony Estreet is CEO of NASW:
Social Workers on Frontlines of the National Mental Health Crisis Need Your Support
Future of Personal Health
Social workers are on the frontlines of this mental health tsunami. Social work is one of the fastest-growing professions in the United States, and more than 120,000 social workers work in mental health or treating people with substance use disorders, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.According to a recent public opinion survey from Ipsos, 1 in 6 Americans say they or a family member have been helped by a social worker. The most common setting where Americans are meeting social workers is in mental health, the survey said. And happily, 81% of the survey respondents said the social worker improved the situation.

Ohio city rewrites abortion ban, advocacy groups end lawsuit
The Hamilton Spectator
The lawsuit by the National Association of Social Workers and the Abortion Fund of Ohio argued that the law, passed in May 2021, represented an “extraordinarily broad” infringement on the constitutional rights of due process and free speech. The groups’ lawyers at the ACLU of Ohio and Democracy Forward further alleged the ban violated Ohio’s home-rule provisions. The city of Lebanon, in southwest Ohio, opted to revise the law rather than defend it in court. Enforcement had been placed on hold while that work took place.

Steven Goings is a member of NASW-CA:
Anti-LGBTQ+ backlash is happening not just somewhere else, but locally. We need to step up.
Monterey County Weekly
It took longer than I expected, but the anti-LGBTQ+ backlash I predicted several years ago is undeniably here. As I write this, the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ rights advocacy group, has just declared anational state of emergencyfor LGBTQ+ Americans. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in state legislatures around the country has increased tenfold in the last five years. A whopping 491 bills have been introduced in just the first half of 2023.

Katherine Compitus is a member of NASW-NYS:
Vegans Suffer From Stigma
Psychology Today
People who identify as vegan are often severely stigmatized and may find themselves rejected by mainstream society. Despite a rise in vegan-identifying celebrities (Joaquin Phoenix, Woody Harrelson, Jessica Chastain), people often have stereotypical ideas about what a vegan looks like and how a vegan should act. When I asked my class of graduate students who they picture when I say the word “vegan”, they said “a young, white woman, a hippie, with great skin who is middle-to-upper class but she is always feeling angry.” So, we started breaking down these stereotypes, one by one.

Theresa Nguyen is a member of NASW-CA:
A step-by-step guide to finding a therapist
NPR
And if your finances are tight – say if you’re on Medicaid, or you selected an insurance plan with a narrower network of doctors to save on premiums – you may find it’s harder to make an appointment with a new therapist compared to other health care providers. With all that said, Theresa Nguyen, chief research officer at Mental Health America, says it’s important to consider your personal fit with a therapist, as well as the cost. “It’s such an intimate experience. It’s unlike finding any other doctor,” she says.

Kevin Polky is a member of NASW-IL:
Inspiring 815: Therapist educates Stateline schools on suicide awareness
WREX
Kevin Polky made it his mission to make an impact in the mental health field close to 30 years ago. Now, he has organizations across the Stateline, including “Shatter Our Silence,” a philanthropic effort to educate students, faculty and staff at local schools on suicide awareness. “So we didn’t know for sure what we needed to do, we just knew that we needed to raise the awareness and educate individuals on the factors that lead to young adult suicide,” Polky said. 

Cheri Davies is a member of NASW-NYS:
Congressman Tonko holds roundtable on Alzheimer’s disease as Baby Boomers age into elder care
The Leader-Herald
Cheri Davies attended the roundtable and is a caregiver to her husband, who is in his 50s and is living with Alzheimer’s. She lives with her husband in Monroe, Orange County. Smith-Boivin said, when she told the couple that one of the recently approved drugs would cost them $52,000 annually, plus an infusion fee, Davies’ husband broke into tears. “I’m a licensed clinical social worker in New York. I am very well-informed,” Davies said, “and the fact is that any other drug you take, you can look at the side effects and you can make a decision. In this case, we’re now without that. And every single day that goes by is a day that he gets worse.”

Michele Felder is a member of NASW-NYC:
How to Tell if Your Partner Is ‘Negging’ You
Giddy
Negging is harmful and should not be tolerated in a relationship regardless of how often the behavior occurs, according to Michelle Felder, L.C.S.W., a licensed clinical social worker and the founder and CEO of Parenting Pathfinders in New York City. “The underlying goal is to influence a person’s emotions and behavior in a way that makes them feel bad about themselves, which are hallmarks of emotional abuse,” Felder said

Ken Page is a member of NASW-NYS:
The Difference Between Introvert & Extrovert Personalities, According To Experts
Mind Body Green
And relationship therapist Ken Page, LCSW echoes this point, previously telling mindbodygreen that while extroverts gain energy from social interaction, “introverts expend energy in social situations,” adding that “recharging” by themselves helps them to build that energy back up.

|   Leave A Comment