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Amanda Butler is a member:
Why we need to stop pressuring teens to act like adults
Aleteia
“Growing up is tough no matter what time you’re growing up in,” acknowledged Amanda Butler, a clinical social worker and therapist specializing in children and adolescents. “There’s so much to process and if the process is rushed, it can create a lot of stress and confusion mentally and emotionally and physically.” For example, Butler explained, a teen being “asked to take on a role that they’re not developmentally ready for … Taking on an adult persona or an adult schedule.” Obviously, this varies from teen to teen since some are equipped to handle more than others. But the important thing is for parents to be aware of their kids’ limits.

Can Bad Men Change? What It’s Like Inside Sex Offender Therapy
Time Magazine (cover story)
Cheryl, a clinical social worker, and Jennifer, a licensed professional counselor, oversee the weekly meetings in the bungalow. They have worked with both victims and perpetrators for almost 20 years. They do not have to accept all referrals from the state—-and they say there are certain men they simply won’t treat, such as those who repeatedly prey on children, and seem unwilling to change. But they say that by the time most of their patients leave therapy, they are equipped to take responsibility for their actions, to understand what led them to commit their crimes and, finally, to empathize with their victims. “Working with these men and watching them change actually gives me hope for all men,” says Jennifer. “Because if people can’t change and grow, well, then what are we going to do with all these bad men in the news, with all the bad men who are still out there?”

Kathryn Falbo-Woodson is a member:
6 reasons why you need to talk about Netflix’s ’13 Reasons Why,’ suicide with your tweens, teens
WRAL
Kathryn Falbo-Woodson, a clinical social worker and president of the board of directors of the N.C. chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, said she’s happy the show is forcing conversations about teen suicide, but she’s hopeful the second season deals with the topic in a more thoughtful way. The foundation worked with Netflix on the second season and helped create a downloadable discussion guide about it. “That’s the silver lining to this,” said Falbo-Woodson, who is based in Charlotte and watched the first season with her own son. “While the first season wasn’t exactly the way we would have wanted it to go out, the silver lining is it’s putting the issue on the table so that we can have informed conversations with other parents and with our teenagers. That is a good thing.”

Macie Smith is a member, and president-elect of NASW-SC:
[Video] Bullying Major Problem In Senior Care Centers
ABC-Columbia
Gerontologist Dr. Macie Smith said it is like real housewives, but this time, the real residents of Senior living homes. Places where you hope your loved ones are safe but instead they might be facing bullying from other residents. “Especially the women in the nursing home. They can be mean girls,” Dr. Smith said. Dr. Smith said she had a client who was depressed and crying a lot– something her family said was out of the ordinary. Turns out, her client was being bullied.

Will Francis is government relations director for NASW-TX:
Licensing crisis kept thousands of behavioral health workers sidelined
KXAN
“We’ve been crying out for years, saying our boards are broken. They’re underfunded, they’re inefficient, they’re a barrier to the practice of mental health in Texas,” said Will Francis, the government relations director for the Texas Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. Francis’ group testified and provided lawmakers background on the problems social workers were having with the licensing unit during the Sunset process.

Betty Cooperstein is a member:
OneInForty promotes cancer awareness among Ashkenazi Jews
The Jewish Advocate
Oneinforty is a family mission. Lauren’s husband Robb Corduck serves as board president; her father Bob serves as the organization’s treasurer and financial adviser; and her mother Betty Cooperstein, LICSW, a social worker, offers counseling to anyone considering gene testing or who has been diagnosed with a BRCA gene mutation or related cancer. The chance of having a mutated BRCA gene for men and women of Ashkenazi ancestry – those with at least one Ashkenazi grandparent – is 1-in- 40. In the general population, the chance is about 1-in-400.

Alison Stone is a member:
Long-Term Couples Are Embracing This Unusual Trend — And It Might Just Be Worth A Try
mindbodygreen.com
It’s 2018, and when it comes to relationships, many people are coming around to the “whatever floats your boat” mindset. But an increasingly popular trend has many people scratching their heads: A good chunk of older adults who are partnered are now “living apart together.”… Alison Stone, LCSW, adds that she can see why LAT is a particularly attractive option for older adults, the ones embracing it the most. “It seems that most of the couples in these arrangements are in a phase of their life where marriage and/or living in the same home is less relevant than it might be for younger couples,” she explains. “For older couples, being together can take on many different forms, and in some ways offers more flexibility than a younger couple in a traditional partnership. There are plenty of ways to get your needs met in a loving relationship without living together.”

Lynn Zakeri is a member:
Facebook stalking and phone spying: When self-sabotage becomes a quiet addiction
Chicago Tribune
“There are women who will say, ‘If he’s going to cheat on me, it is what it is’ and others who will say, ‘I always want to know where he is,’” says Lynn Zakeri, a licensed clinical social worker in the Chicago area. The right response would be “I’m going to ask him about it. But thus far, I trust him,” she says.

Cara Maksimow is a member:
Working From Home Might Take A Toll On Your Mental Health
HuffPost
More and more people are choosing to work from home either part time or full time. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 22 percent of employed people worked from home at least some of the day in 2016. And while the idea of sending emails from your kitchen table sans pants might sound appealing, it’s not a perfect setup. There are significant advantages and disadvantages to opting out of the office, particularly when it comes to your mental health. Cara Maksimow, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist, told HuffPost many people choose to work from home in search of a better work-life balance, since remote working can “lessen some of the pressures that go along with going into an office every day.” Think: commuting, working under a manager’s supervision or attending meetings.

Natalie Andrews is a member:
Officials hope much-hyped drug can slow state’s opioid crisis, but is it worth the costs?
Chicago Reader
Rural Illinois is also faring poorly. In Whiteside County, about 120 miles west of Chicago, the situation got so bad a few years ago that Natalie Andrews reached out to Alkermes for help. A licensed clinical social worker and the director of the Sinnissippi Centers, one of the few mental health clinics in that part of northwestern Illinois, Andrews and her colleagues found themselves at the forefront of the growing crisis. Visits to the Emergency Room related to opioid or heroin overdoses leapt by 90 percent in Whiteside County between 2010 and 2015, Illinois Department of Public Health records show. She was ready to listen to anyone with ideas. Drug reps from Alkermes were happy to oblige, Andrews recalls.
 “All of the sudden they came out and they were going everywhere, it seems like,” Andrews said in an interview. “You know, they went to the jail, they went to every treatment provider and that.”