Photo courtesy of momlogic.com.

The national Open to Hope radio program interviewed National Association of Social Workers member Sherry Saturno, MSW, DSW, LCSW, about how people struggling with depression and grief can get through the holidays.

Saturno is the clinical director of the Westchester Medical Center Behavioral Health Center in New York. She was also named social worker of the year by the NASW New York/Westchester chapter.

Thanksgiving, Hannukah, Christmas, New Years and Ramadan can be a tough time for people who have lost loved ones, and can actually make them feel anxious and depressed weeks before the holiday arrive.

“The holidays can be such a difficult time for our clients,” Saturno said. “The holidays can actually act as a trigger.”

One thing Saturno suggests is that people who grieve around the holidays should start new traditions that help them move forward but also honor the memory of loved ones.

To hear the full interview click here.

To learn more about how social workers help people deal with loss visit NASW’s “Help Starts Here” Grief and Loss Website by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Talk Therapy TV.

Talk Therapy TV, a cable public access  television program created by National Association of Social Workers member Jacob Berelowitz, hosted an Oct. 9 event in honor of New York state’s first ever Behavioral Health Recognition Month.

The free event was held at New York City’s Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum (Pier 86) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It featured a slate of engaging speakers, including A. Kathryn Power, director of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration’s Center for Mental Health Services, and Jaime Torres, regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

A. Kathryn Power

There was also live music, including performances by Tori Wilson, an 11-year-old singer and songwriter who speaks out against bullying, and Duo of Rock, a music group featuring a man who suffered from substance abuse and his twin sibling who struggled to find help.

“In addition to all of the general excitement at the event, of particular interest to social workers will probably be that NASW-NYC Chapter President Dr. Susan Nayowith, and the Dean of NYU’s School of Social Work Dr. Lynn Videka will be speaking,” Berelowitz said via email.

“Also, there will be free workshops on board the U.S.S Intrepid throughout the day,” he said. “The workshops are eligible for CASAC credits (substance abuse credentialing in New York).”

Jacob, thanks for organizing such a great event!

To learn more about the Behavioral Health Recognition Month Celebration and get a complete list of speakers, entertainers  and workshops, visit the event’s official Website by clicking here. And to learn more about Talk Therapy TV click here.

Rosie. Photo courtesy of ABC.

Cheers to ABC for this article about a Golden Retriever named Rosie, who became the first service dog to help a witness testify in a New York State court.

Rosie calmed a 15-year-old girl in Poughkeepsie, allowing her to testify about being sexually abused for four years. Her testimony persuaded jurors to find a male perpetrator guilty. The main was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

Licensed clinical social worker Lori Stell cared for the young victim and testified for permission to allow Rosie to be with her on the witness stand.

“A lot of time when children have been exposed to trauma or sexual abuse, they have a hard time expressing themselves,” Stella said.

To learn more about how social workers help victims of violence and disasters visit the National Association of Social Workers “Help Starts Here” Family Safety Web page by clicking here.

Daron Reliford, 17, lives in Grandparents Family Apartments with his great-grandmother Evelyn. Reliford was a gunshot victim. Photo courtesy of NYDailyNews.com.

Jeers to New York state for it proposal to cut funding at Grandparent Family Apartments in the Bronx, according to this YourNabe.com article.

The apartments are reserved for grandparents who are raising grandchildren. Social workers provide group counseling sessions, homework assistance, field trips and other programs to keep children away from gangs and drugs.

Proposed state budget cuts would not cause residents to be evicted but eliminate social work programs for the children.

“You’ll have incarceration, I believe, if our kids will be put back on the streets,” said Katherine Martinez, who is deputy director of Presbyterian Senior Services and head social worker at the apartments. “Not having the programs will put them back into harms way.”

Social workers help young people overcome life’s hurdles. To learn more, visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Kids & Families Web pages by clicking here.

Frances Mortensen, 47, a social worker at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Harrison, N.Y., is in critical but stable condition after undergoing surgery on Jan. 19. Police arrested her client, 26-year-old Jamile Wilson.

On Friday LoHud.com posted this follow-up article about steps the National Association of Social Workers is doing to improve safety for social workers. NASW lobbyist Elizabeth Hoffler is quoted in the article.

Q: There have been several news accounts over the last year about social workers assaulted and even murdered while on the job. What can social workers do to remain safe?

The National Association of Social Workers’ Center for Workforce Studies and the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the University at Albany did a survey that found that four out of 10 social workers face personal safety issues on the job. To learn more about that study, click here.

Here is a round up of this year’s “Social Worker of the Year” award news stories. Click on underlined headline to go to the news story. And if you see a story on a “Social Worker of the Year” that is not included please email Greg Wright at gwright@naswdc.org:

Meghan Baker, NASW Texas Chapter
University of Houston’s Meghan Baker named Social Work Student of the Year in Texas

Courtney Cook, Northwest Florida Chapter of NASW
Cook named social worker of the year

Michael Corrigan, Northeast Florida Unit of NASW
Jacksonville City Councilman is “Social Worker of the Year”

 Richard Coslow, NASW Indiana Chapter
Business People

Jean Dresley, Shreveport (Louisiana) Chapter of NASW
Community briefly: Social workers plan awards banquet

Debbie Gudenkauf, Kansas Association of Social Workers
State award honors MVHS social worker

Deborah Haliczer, Illinois
Two social workers earn honors

Eileen McNulty, Connecticut
City Youth director wins state accolades

Toni Peabody, NASW Indiana Chapter Region 7
UIndy instructor named regional Social Worker of the Year

 Donna Saskowski, Western Division of the New York State Chapter of NASW
Genesee ARC Chief Named Social Worker of the Year

Sherry Saturno, Westchester, New York Division of NASW
Edgemont director named Social Worker of the Year

JoAnn McCachern Swart, North Carolina Chapter of NASW
Castle Hayne woman named state’s social worker of year

Lucrecia Suárez, Oregon Chapter of NASW
Faculty members Lucrecia Suarez and Jessica Ritter honored by the National Association of Social Workers Oregon Chapter

Cole Weeks, NASW Hawaii Chapter
Family advocacy manager named social worker of year

Carol Zanon, Chico Chapter of NASW
Oroville social worker honored for her work with the homeless

Cheers to the Shoreview Press for their article on a new book by National Association of Social Workers member, writer and social psychologist John Andreozzi.

Andreozzi’s book, which can be read by scholars and layman alike, looks at the principles, prejudices and promises of American immigration.

The book, “The Italians of Lackawanna, N.Y.: Steelworkers, Merchants and Gardeners,” puts a spotlight on second-generation Italian Americans who grew up in Lackawanna, which was home to the largest steel plant in the world at the turn of the 20th century.

To read the full article click here.

Social worker Leslye Abbey MSW says she was drawn into doing film documentaries by supernatural powers.

Abbey was visiting the Pine Ridge American Indian reservation in South Dakota about 15 years ago and running around taking photos when an Oglala Lakota Sioux elder noticed her and said she should record his people on video. In fact, he said a spirit from a higher plane passed the message to Abbey through him.

What he said stirred something in Abbey, 67, a clinical social worker who runs a practice in North Bellmore, N.Y.

“I knew at that point I had no choice — I would go around shooting,” said Abbey, who is also a member of the National Association of Social Workers. “I took a course at a school of visual arts to learn how to use my camera — I didn’t know how to do anything.”

That chance meeting in South Dakota has led to a bustling, award-winning documentary career for Abbey. She has traveled throughout the United States and in Canada, Mexico, South America, Asia and Africa, recording little-known, indigenous cultures.

“I think I am enlightening and educating people to different cultures, to different situations,” she said. “I really like to focus on the indigenous people because they are the most ignored — just dismissed is probably the best word to use.”

Her documentaries include “Angels of the Basin,” a look at Louisiana’s French-speaking Cajun culture; “The Return,” a film about an N’Deup healing ceremony in Senegal; and “Bayou Landfall,” a documentary on the impact of Hurricane Katrina on Louisiana’s Houma Tribe. She also touches on more quirky subjects, including the film “Cindy the Tattoo Maven.”

“Bayou Landfall” won the 2006 Alan Fortunoff Humanitarian Award. And “Angels of the Basin” snagged the Best Historical Documentary in the 2007 New York International Independent Film And Video Festival.

Abbey is continuing to juggle projects. Next year she is planning to release “Rosey at 100,” a documentary about artist, feminist, and nurse Rosey Kramer Meyers.

 She is also working on another documentary that examines aging — a profile on Catherine Papell, a founding member of the Association of Advancement of Social Work with Groups Inc.  and an NASW member.

Abbey, who grew up in Manhattan, is surprised her life turned out the way it did. Her mother died before she was nine years old and she was raised alone by her father. Abbey became a teen mother and dropped out of high school before changing her life. She got a GED, attended the New York Institute of Technology, and eventually a masters in social work at  Adelphi University in Long Island.

“I always had a sense I had to survive and change my life,” she said.

Now she says she has no intention of giving up her passion of combining documentary filmmaking with social work.

“This is what I believe life is about,” she said. “It’s about how many experiences you have and the meanings behind them.”

Here’s an excerpt from that article:

“This is, in a word, irresponsible. OMRDD should have a fully qualified person dedicated to inspecting its facilities, or hire qualified private inspectors. Even in a hiring freeze, the state allows the filling of jobs essential to public safety.”

Q: Are you being required to do more duties than social work due to budget cuts?

David Semo. Photo courtesy of The Record.

Kudos to The Record for this Q&A article with David Semo, director of pupil services at the North Colonie School District in the Albany, N.Y. area.

Semo manages speech therapists, psychologists, special education teachers and guidance counselors in the school district. He said his job can be challenging but is rewarding because he helps students, including those with special needs, succeed academically.

For more information on how social workers help children in schools visit the National Association of Social Workers “Help Starts Here” Schools and Communities Web page.

“Not only was I coming back home to something that was emotionally good, but my skills are appreciated and needed here, so that sounded like a wonderful match,” said Sandra Hamilton, who said the stipend encouraged her to return to the region to practice social work.

Mark Goldsmith

Goldsmith’s Getting Out and Staying Out program uses social workers:

“Staff members and “coaches” help the young men with basic life skills, as well as setting up job interviews, getting their GED, signing up for vocational training and entering substance-abuse programs if necessary. A director of social services and several social-work interns help the men navigate psychological and family issues as well.”