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Dorothy Stenehjem is a member:
Organizations support those grieving during holiday season
Wicked Local Falmouth (MA)
Dorothy Drew Stenehjem, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist based in Falmouth who also works as a psychiatric clinician at McLean Hospital in Belmont, agreed. “Grief is like your thumbprint,” she said. “It’s not like anyone else’s, and there’s no prescribed way to go through it. It’s a unique experience.” Stenehjem referenced Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung’s theory that grief is the result of an injury to one’s spirit which requires “the necessity of stillness” rather than an obligation to heal within a certain time frame. “We live in a culture that doesn’t have an efficient language to discuss grief,” she said. “We’re not trained in it, so we tend to ignore it. Many of the messages tell us to keep busy and carry on, to go to the holiday party instead of staying home by yourself. While there’s some psychological wisdom to that, being able to be with the stillness is often what grief really requires.”

Corey Crutchfield is a member:
Holiday Stress can lead to Blue Christmas
The Dunklin Democrat (MO)
Christmas preparations can become overwhelming. Shopping, mailing cards, decorating inside and outside, and planning family gatherings can all contribute to holiday stress. “People tend to get sad or feel down during holiday time,” said Corey Crutchfield,MSW, LCSW, CCJP, therapist at FCC Behavioral Health in Poplar Bluff. “There is a diagnosis for holiday stress,” informed Crutchfield. “It used to be called seasonal affect disorder or SAD, now it’s just depression with a seasonal pattern.”

Danielle Forshee is a member:
Why The Holidays Can Be The Best Time To Go Through A Breakup
Refinery29
Being around your support system after a breakup is one of the major ways to get through it, according to Danielle Forshee, PsyD, LCSW, a relationship therapist in New Jersey and New York. “When you’re surrounded by family and friends, and people who care about you, you have a distraction,” she says. For many people, family serves as their main support system, but it can also be friends or other relatives who love you unconditionally, Dr. Forshee explains.

Deirdre Ashley is a member:
Dierdre Ashley: Reducing your stress keeps the season sane
Jackson Hole News & Guide (WY)
What tends to happen this time of year, at least with me, is it all comes down to the wire with holiday plans. It is almost like I create my own stress. While the holidays can be full of wonderful things, they can also be attached to huge expectations, which likely leads to disappointment. Life is already busy, and holiday tasks and activities can make it more so. So what is the best way to reduce your stress through the season?

Angela Gunn is a member:
What Women Wish Their Partners Understood About Their Sexuality
Bustle
Unfortunately, communicating about sex is not the norm in our culture. This can leave many people in the dark about their partners’ preferences, desires, and needs. Women’s sexuality in particular is often either not talked about at all or discussed based on stereotypes, like that women are more emotional or less visual. So, if women’s partners knew what was really going on in their heads […] they might be surprised. Angie Gunn LCSW, Sexuality Expert at Talkspace, tells Bustle that due to poor sex education, many people remain in the dark about their partners’ bodies and desires.

New bill would require all police precincts to have social worker on staff
New York Daily News
All city police precincts would have to be staffed by a social worker under a new bill that will be introduced in the City Council this week. Councilman Mark Treyger (D-Brooklyn) is sponsoring the legislation, which would require a licensed clinical social worker on duty 24 hours a day. “Many times police precincts come across individuals who have social and emotional needs. Precincts don’t have the capacity to deal with those kinds of issues,” Treyger said. “I don’t want those individuals falling through the cracks.” A social worker could come in handy when a parent gets arrested and someone has to figure out who will take care of their kids, or when a neighborhood resident comes in to report a problem that does not amount to a crime, he said.