The Evolution of Social Work
Social Justice Solutions
Following the end of World War II, efforts were made to enhance the professional status of social work. The Council on Social Work Education was formed in 1952. The National Association of Social Workers was created in 1955 to further the professional status of social work. Various social work groups and organizations that had already been established throughout the country consolidated to form this new association. Simmons School of Social Work alumnus Dr. Helen Rehr was one of the NASW’s National Center for Social Policy and Practice’s founding members and served as its first treasurer.

The Workout That’s Getting Vets Through the Home Stretch
NationSwell
Two programs, Yoga Warriors International and Yoga for Vets, are tag-teaming to help veterans’ healing efforts by using the proven millennia-old practice — both during and after their service. Lucy Cimini started Yoga Warriors back in 2005, training certified yoga instructors how to focus their classes for veterans suffering from PTSD. Cimini is based in Boston, but travels around the country holding weekend-long seminars for instructors looking to get certified in the program, which is approved by the National Association of Social Workers.

War vets, kids scarred by gangs help each other
SCTimes
The idea for Urban Warriors came from a prison meeting five years ago between two brothers, Eddie and Gabriel Bocanegra.… (Gabriel) Bocanegra turned his life around after serving 14 years in prison. He’s working on his master’s degree in social work at the University of Chicago. He’s also co-executive director of youth safety and violence prevention at the YMCA of Metro Chicago, where he focuses on the psychological impact of brutality on kids in gang-ravaged communities. “Just because we don’t see an injury doesn’t mean an injury doesn’t exist,” he says. “How do we better understand why they’re doing what they’re doing?”

Iris Cohen Fineberg is a member:
What to tell children about a parent’s cancer
Daily Herald
Iris Cohen Fineberg, president of the Association of Oncology Social Work, said that trying to protect your children by keeping the problem from them isn’t the best approach. “They sense tension, they sense fear, they sense anxiety, but if they don’t have anyone communicating about that, then they’re sensing it but they don’t know what to make of it, which can be scary, too,” she said. And if they find out from someone else, that can break their trust in their parents.

Rae Freed is a member:
Turning “Oy” into “Joy”
San Diego Jewish Journal
Since with each day the pile of weathered boards and rolls of bamboo seemed to be receding farther and farther into the depths of my garage, and wondering if others might be having a similar problem, I sat down to interview a psychologist. “A lack of motivation and apathy could be a sign of depression,” said Rae Freed, a clinical social worker in private practice in Los Angeles who sees patients of all ages. Depression could show itself through “a lack of energy, fatigue, in difficulty in making a decision or lack of focus.” As we talked about the social component of the sukkah – inviting over guests – Freed suggested that potential sukkah builders might think the effort requires “too much energy to participate in a social interaction.”