Craig Knippenberg is a member:
What To Do With Kids At Home On Coronavirus Break For Who Knows How Long (Without Losing It)
Colorado Public Radio
“Even for parents who love hanging with their kids, you can only take so much family time before you start to get stressed,” says Craig A. Knippenberg, a licensed social worker who has provided child and family counseling services in Metro Denver for more than 35 years and the author of Wired and Connected: Brain-Based Solutions To Ensure Your Child’s Social and Emotional Success. “It’s ok,” he says. “This is a parenting experience to which we are all trying to adjust. Just do your best until the coronavirus runs its course.” Knippenberg typically recommends that parents try to be 80 percent consistent with their parenting strategies. However, this will be one of those times when you will need to let some things go.

Seven women who changed social work forever
Oxford University Press Blog
We celebrate National Professional Social Work Month each March. The theme for Social Work Month in 2020 is Generations Strong. This is a great opportunity to look at the lives of pivotal figures in the history of social work and social welfare. The seven women discussed below made important contributions to people’s lives and to social work as a profession. Their lives also reflect environmental assaults, such as socioeconomic disenfranchisement, racism, sexism, classism, and other toxic issues that continue to plague vulnerable communities. The following biographical sketches represent the positive impact of social workers, social justice advocates, and other helping professionals over the last century.

Libraries are often on the front line of homelessness and mental illness. FIU social workers enlist to help
Florida International University News
Today, the library system is consistently working with patrons who experience issues such as homelessness, mental illness, substance abuse, food insecurity, education needs and parenting needs. While librarians do an amazing job in stepping up to assist, the assistance needed by these patrons often rises to the level of needing professional social services assistance. To help serve these populations, the School of Social Work at FIU’s Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work has partnered with the Southeast Florida Library Information Network (SEFLIN) to provide patrons in the Miami-Dade Public County Library System (MDPLS) a program that will bring much needed social services to the libraries.

Letter to the editor: Social workers — generations strong
Northwest Georgia News
March is the month we recognize and celebrate the social work profession. Social workers can work as politicians, advocates, healthcare workers, mental health counselors; they work in hospice, child welfare, education, and the list goes on. Social workers help individuals, families, communities, and create positive change on the national level.

[Audio] FSU College of Social Work uses arts and athletics to inspire Big Bend Youth
Florida State University News
For the ninth year, the Florida State University College of Social Work hosted the CSW Arts & Athletics Program, a free-of-charge, after-school program aimed at fostering positive youth development in Tallahassee.

GUEST COLUMN: Celebrate Social Work Month
Wicked Local Norton
March is Social Work Month. This year, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) has declared the theme “Social Workers: Generations Strong,” which honors social workers’ positive contributions over generations. The theme creates awareness of the 700,000 plus social workers across the nation who help individuals live their lives to their fullest potential and shape society for the better.

Ruth Brandwein is a member:
Social Work Month in March spotlights the positive impact of social workers over generations
The Parsons Advocate
Then there are social workers who have worked for decades for the betterment of society and, in some cases, are still going strong. One is Ruth A. Brandwein, who received an NASW Lifetime Achievement Award for her work advocating for children, the homeless, women and people of color.

Maria Baratta is a member:
Self-care matters more in stressful times
MNN
Whether it’s knitting or reading, playing with your dog or doing crossword puzzles, take a break from working or watching the news. “Self-care means identifying what you enjoy doing and what’s fun for you and make a serious effort to integrate it into your day or, at the very least, your week,” New York clinician Maria Baratta, Ph.D., L.C.S.W., writes in Psychology Today. “Make it a habit to plan something to look forward to everyday and that doesn’t have to be complicated.”

Nicole Sbordone and Victoria Woodruff are members:
You’re Rich. I’m Not. Can We Still Be Friends?
Rewire
It’s important to be open with your friends if an activity is out of your budget. “You could just say that you’re wanting to watch your spending and so maybe activities can be at people’s houses, rather than out at restaurants or coffee shops,” said Nicole Sbordone, a licensed clinical social worker. “People usually understand when we’re wanting to be financially healthy and smart.”

Lisa Schab is a member:
How to Manage Intense Emotions in the Moment
PsychCentral blog
It can be hard to know how to handle your emotions when they’re so intense. After all, most of us weren’t taught this skill. But thankfully, it is a skill that you can learn—regardless of your age or past experience. For insight, we turned to Lisa M. Schab, LCSW, a licensed clinical social worker and author of 18 self-help books and workbooks, including her newest book Put Your Feelings Here:  A Creative DBT Journal for Teens with Intense Emotions. Below, Schab shared several actionable strategies for managing any intense emotion in the moment.

Kaitlin Kindman is a member:
Is Working Remotely Making You More Depressed and Lonely?
Rewire
Listen to your gut and pay attention to your emotions. Heightened feelings of anxiety or depression may indicate you’re not getting the social connections you need. “I’d recommend paying close attention to decreases in one’s mood or general sense of well-being as an alarm bell that signals needing to reach for more connection,” said Kaitlin Kindman, a Los Angeles-based licensed clinical social worker.

Christine Reed is a member:
[Video] Feeling anxious about coronavirus? You are not alone
KPRC
If you are feeling an increase in stress and anxiety during this time, you are not alone. How do you know if you are dealing with anxiety? What can you do? “It’s absolutely common for people to feel anxiety over something like this,” said Christine Reed, a licensed clinical social worker. “This has been named a worldwide pandemic, and just those words can sound awfully scary.”

Kathie Supiano is a member:
‘It’s kind of scary’: Utah experts share how to fight anxiety from the COVID-19 pandemic
KSL.com
Kathie Supiano, associate professor at University of Utah College of Nursing and a licensed clinical social worker, agrees that being truthful with children about what’s going on — and why they should do things like wash their hands more — is important. And while many normal children’s activities are canceled, Supiano said it’s also important to remember they still need fun.

Aaron Gilbert is a member:
Stuck at Home? Here’s How to Spend Less Time Wallowing in Existential Dread
Boston Magazine
Whereas some may see this as the tip of an unnerving spiral into anxiety, it actually might be a good thing. Aaron Gilbert, licensed clinical social worker and founder of Boston Evening Therapy, tells me the time is a great opportunity to get to know yourself better. “We’re not very good at the idea of being alone,” he says. “It makes people nervous.” He says to view this time as an opportunity to rely on your own strength and the fact that we don’t always need to be entertained or externally validated.

Jim Fitzsimmons is a member:
Social services agency responds to disease spread
The Northern Virginia Daily
The Shenandoah County Department of Social Services remains on its own to respond to the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19 as the agency cares for some of the neediest residents. The Shenandoah County Social Services Board held a special meeting Friday to hear from Director Carla Taylor about the department’s response efforts even as the situation changes. Board Chairwoman Karen Walton and member Jim Fitzsimmons attended the meeting. Walton is a registered nurse and Fitzsimmons is a licensed clinical social worker.

Helen Harris is a member:
Spotting Major Depression in the Grieving
Next Avenue
In some cases, grievers may struggle with more profound and complicated grief that can signal depression. In a recent interview, Helen Harris, a licensed clinical social worker and associate professor at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, explained one major difference: With normal grief, the intensity of the physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual responses fluctuates and gradually subsides. But complex loss, Harris says, (which includes experiences such as sudden or violent death, multiple losses in a relatively short time frame, death with an unresolved relationship, suicide and other trauma-related deaths) can result in complicated grief, where the depth of these responses intensifies over time rather than fluctuating or decreasing, and may eventually develop into “clinical depression.”