Top Topics: The New Social Worker’s 2025 Most-Read Articles

A Thank-You Note to Our Valued Readers and Friends

by Linda May Grobman, MSW, ACSW, LSW 

     Year number 32 of The New Social Worker is a wrap! THANK YOU for spending this year with us.

     I started the magazine in 1994 as “the magazine for social work students and recent graduates.” It evolved into “the social work careers magazine.”  In this 32nd year of 2025, The New Social Worker published 74 articles (including this one). These included our ongoing columns and blogs on self-care, social work ethics, technology, movies, and book reviews, as well as numerous submitted articles on a variety of topics related to social work career development, practice, education, field placement, and more. We sent out a call for submissions for Social Work Month 2025, resulting in a series of 15 entries. Once again, we collaborated with the University of Iowa on the National Poetry Contest for Social Workers, publishing the three winning entries. 

Most-Read Articles Published in 2025 by The New Social Worker Magazine

     Every year, when I review our past year to put these posts together, I get a feeling of excitement and pride. I am excited and proud of our regular columnists Allan Barsky, Gina Griffin, Erlene Grise-Owens, and SaraKay Smullens, who contribute so much to this publication and to the social work profession. I love the diversity of contributors, including social work students at all levels, recent graduates, seasoned practitioners, and social work educators. I know from experience the amount of vulnerability it takes to send one's work to an editor, wondering and hoping and waiting to find out if it will be accepted! And I, as editor of this publication/website, truly feel honored to have the opportunity to consider each submission and to bring many of them to life here. (NOTE: We get many more submissions than we are able to accept.) I feel a sense of joy about the variety of topics and the creativity displayed in those published.

     And now...here are our most popular articles (based on number of online page views) of those we published in 2025, reflecting a sample of the important issues you have been reading about this year. I have organized the list this year by topics, providing the top piece for each. Click on the title to read each article. The most-read articles are:

Self-Care

Self-Care A-Z: Self-Care and Political/Social Activism 

by Erlene Grise-Owens, LCSW, MSW, MRE

     Regardless of context and role, social workers are ethically compelled to engage in activism. In this era, we must attend to self-care and activism as complementary in crucial and intentional ways. Published April 2025.

Technology

Social Work Tech Talk: Misogyny Online 

by Gina Griffin, DSW, MSW, LCSW

     Misogyny hurts everyone. And it is often up to social workers to wade into these areas and to help the community work its way back to healthy emotional regulation. Published September 2025.

Ethics

Ethics Alive! Ethical Responses to Conflict With Our Social Work Colleagues

by Allan Barsky, JD, MSW, PhD

     How should aggrieved social workers respond when they believe that a colleague has behaved unprofessionally, rudely, or incompetently? The NASW Code of Ethics suggests that we should treat our colleagues with respect. Published April 2025.

Practice

The “Benefits” of an Eating Disorder: What Social Workers Need To Know

by Mary Anne Cohen, LCSW, BCD

     Why do people hold on to their eating disorders? Understanding the “benefits” of having an eating disorder can help clinicians better understand why their clients are reluctant to get better. Published February 2025.

Field Placement

Waves of Connection: Creative Engagement Through Ocean-Themed Therapy in Dementia Care

by Bonnie (Zhi) Dong

     I didn’t begin this placement with a polished toolkit. I started with curiosity, nerves, and a willingness to learn, to grow, and to risk. Reflections on a placement using ocean-themed therapy in dementia care. Published November 2025.

Education & Credentials

Navigating Micro-Trained Social Work Students Successfully Through Macro Practicums

by Jennifer Withrow. DSW, MSW

     When students first arrive in a macro placement, many find it difficult to connect concepts ingrained through micro practice and academia and apply them to a macro approach. A macro client is not one person, but rather a cohort, agency, or community. Published August 2025.

Careers

Heart, Healing, and Hustle: A Career in Medical Social Work

by Vincent Luong, MSSW, LICSW, ACSW, CCM, SUDP

     Medical social workers walk alongside people during their most vulnerable moments, offering support, clarity, and compassion. It requires heart, healing, and, without question, a healthy dose of hustle. Published July 2025.

Film Reviews

Film Review: A Real Pain Exposes Isolation and Trauma Through a Two-for-the-Road Dramedy

by SaraKay Smullens, MSW, LCSW, DCSW, CGP, CFLE, BCD

     A Real Pain gently addresses myriad examples of intergenerational trauma that run the gamut from a lack of self-respect to self-loathing, leading to an inability to connect with others and the devastation of failed relationships. Read our review. Published January 2025.

Book Reviews

Book Review: The Black Therapist’s Guide to Private Practice and Entrepreneurship 

Reviewed by LaToia Carter, DSW, LMSW

     The Black Therapist’s Guide to Private Practice and Entrepreneurship is a powerful, step-by-step resource for Black therapists who aspire to launch, build, and sustain a private practice or business ownership in behavioral health. Read our review. Published July 2025.

Social Work Month

Overall: Social Work Month Project for 2025: Thank You for Your Compassion and Action

     Social Work: Compassion+Action. THANK you for your vital work in challenging times, every day, every month. Please spend Social Work Month with us at The New Social Worker. Follow us all month (March 2025) to celebrate the social work profession. Published March 2025.

Top Social Work Month Entry: The Compassion of My Foster Mother—The Late Mrs. Ruth Alexandra Cox 

by Silas W. Kelly, LMSW

     I went from being left out on a stoop in Brooklyn, and feeling worthless and abandoned, to being rescued and healed. Social work initiated the rescue, and my foster mother, the late Mrs. Ruth Alexandra Cox, was the healer. Published March 2025.

PLUS...

Where Can I Find ALL 74 Articles for 2025?

      I am always thrilled to see which articles have made it onto our Top Articles list. I also believe EVERY one of the 74 articles published this year is worthy of recognition! Want to see what else you may have missed? Click these links for each monthly issue for 2025:

Moving Into 2026

     As we close out 2025, I want to take this time to thank each and every one of YOU, our valued readers. I admire the important work you do every day, as well as your commitment to learn and grow in your social work skills, knowledge, and career. I also want to shout out to our advertisers for their support of this publication and the social work profession. I appreciate you so much.

     In 2026, The New Social Worker will bring more to guide you in your social work career. I wish you a happy, healthy, meaningful holiday season and new year. I look forward to seeing you in our 33rd year.

Warmly and with much respect,

Linda