Crisis behind closed doors
NJ.com
Calls to domestic violence hotlines initially dropped last spring before spiking. The number of temporary restraining orders fell as the courts closed, and the number of domestic violence complaints filed decreased in 2020. Social workers and advocates knew that tens of thousands of people in the state were potentially victims of domestic violence, but social distancing measures had built new obstacles that forced them to find new ways to reach those in need.

Ahmanise Sanati is a member, and NASW-CA board member:
Books Behind Bars Initiative Aims to Create Sustainable Libraries
Knock LA
Ahmanise Sanati, now the Mental Health Clinical Supervisor for the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, has worked at the jail for over a decade. For the past 10 years, she’s been bringing books to her incarcerated patients who otherwise do not have access to reading materials in the jail. It wasn’t until she took time off for a broken foot and came back six weeks later to discover all her books were gone that she realized how needed the books really were.

Unarmed police alternative initiatives picking up steam in Massachusetts
Boston Herald
“The passage of this bill will support empowerment of local communities… by connecting those in crisis to community supports, rather than meeting them with control and force,” said Rebekah Gewirtz, executive director of the Massachusetts chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, who helped author the bill debated in the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security last week.

Linda Reitzes is a member:
7 Ways Therapists Personally Deal With Burnout
Huffpost
Speaking of disconnecting from technology, many therapists default to going outside as a remedy for anxiety and burnout. “Getting out into nature — even in New York City — is a big part of my burnout strategy,” said Linda Reitzes, a licensed clinical social worker based in New York. Reitzes couples this with just a few minutes of mindfulness meditation or even just deep breaths of fresh air.

Beth Litchfield is a member:
Venturing Out Again? How to Adjust to a Post-COVID Life
Healthline
How did we become anxious? It’s not just about falling out of habit, although that’s a part of it. “Maybe we are all just more aware of how vulnerable we are now,” Beth Litchfield, LICSW, a social worker in Massachusetts who specializes in helping people cope with everyday life, told Healthline. “We became conditioned through this time to see our vulnerability in a way we may never have before.”

1. Aaron Guest is a member:
   Social Worker Safety
   Professional Safety
   The safety of social workers in practice has long been a concern of the social work profession. In the U.S., the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), the largest and oldest professional organization for social workers, has been involved in safety for these professionals. The NASW supported research in the field (Ringstad, 2005) and developed the “Guidelines for Social Work Safety in the Workplace” (NASW, 2013). These guidelines provide specific recommendations for safety in the context of social work practice. Three principles shape the guidelines.

Nicole Carter is a member:
Sacramento therapist praises Simone Biles for focusing on mental health
abc10.com
Gymnast Simone Biles is perhaps the most recognizable face in the Olympics. But Biles made headlines Tuesday, not for medaling but for choosing to withdraw from the games citing her mental health. Nicole Carter, a Sacramento therapist and licensed clinical social worker, weighed in on Biles’ move. “The biggest thing she did for all athletes is she said, ‘You have a choice to choose you,’” Carter said.

Stella Zweben Samuel is a member:
8 to 3: How to help your teen navigate body image anxiety amid the pandemic
The Los Angeles Times
But the opposite is true, she said. Parents should normalize these struggles by relaying to their kids that how we look changes over time, and that this is inevitable and natural and OK, said Stella Zweben Samuel, a licensed clinical social worker in Encino who works with teens.