Social Workers Deserve More
The Daily Kos
Finally, if you can afford it I suggest you join the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). In addition to the extra perks is the fact that there are other disciplines that perform similar tasks as we do, but no one has heard of them. The fact that we have a strong lobbying force on capitol hill has made our profession more visible. Almost everyone has either been involved with a social worker or at least knows what they are. The NASW has facilitated this process.

[Video] Lack of male friendships could affect health
CBS This Morning
Studies show that people with good social connections are healthier and happier. But Author of “Buddy System: Understanding Male Friendships” Geoff Greif [professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work] and Glamour Magazine Editor-in-Chief Cindi Leive tell the “CBS This Morning” co-hosts, men are not always able to make those connections.

[Video] Gun owners may face mental health screenings in Maine
USA Today
Bill Donahue, a social worker in Bangor, is concerned that a proposed mental health database for gun owners in Maine may provide people with a sense of “false security.” He says accessibility to treatment is much more important.

Visit with a Social Worker
Lantana Living
When Highland Village resident Marnie Grodzin visited the Children’s Advocacy Center for Denton County (CACDC) 12 years ago to donate some of her son’s toys, she never imagined she would eventually be chairing the American Eagle Harley-Davidson Annual 2014 Champions for Children Gala.  As a new volunteer for CACDC, and a Lantana mother, I had the opportunity to interview Marnie, a community social worker about her experiences as a volunteer spanning more than a decade.

Child services out to build trust, bust misconceptions
Recordnet.com
Nosy. Judgmental. Baby snatcher. It wasn’t a flattering list that formed when a social worker asked a group at a community meeting what words or phrases it would associate with the San Joaquin County department commonly known as Child Protective Services. If Terry Hanson, 23, had been asked that question before, he said he would have said “evil people trying to take my child.” Now, it’s a different story, he said. “You guys saved my life.”

L.A. County reaches tentative deal with striking social workers
Los Angeles Times
After days of strikes, Los Angeles County and its social worker employees reached a deal Friday to end the labor action by reducing caseloads, one of the last sticking points to signing a contract with a union that represents 55,000 county workers.

Searingtown Students Participate in Bully/Violence Prevention Program
New Hyde Park Patch
Herricks elementary schools social worker Mrs. Cheryl Finkelstein, with her puppet Bobby, recently visited all the kindergarten classes at Searingtown School during the month of November to teach a bully/violence prevention program entitled Caring Kids.

Social media catapults an entrepreneur on the world stage
CNBC
My blog intertwines personal stories with ideas learned from my days in graduate school (I received a Master of Social Work degree with a concentration in clinical psychology). Every post is created to share an anecdote from my life and offer psychology/behavior modification techniques that can change the way a person thinks and acts.

Beat the holiday blues through a variety of activities
TheSpectrum.com
Popular music isn’t always a great source of wisdom, but in at least one case, Elvis got it right: There is such a thing as a “Blue Christmas.” “The holiday blues are absolutely real,” confirmed Jaime Bacon, a licensed clinical social worker at Intermountain Psychiatry and Counseling in St. George.

Veterans’ treatment addresses both mental illness, substance abuse
The Columbus Dispatch
Columbus has a team of seven or eight people that includes doctors and social workers who have been specially trained, said Jimmy Portner, the program’s coordinator. The team may learn about potential clients because they’ve been hospitalized with mental-health or substance-abuse problems, or because other doctors have referred them, or because the patients are on the Franklin County Municipal Court’s special veterans docket.