Practice
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Beyond “Always” and “Never”: Honoring Client Complexity in Assessment Design
There is a disconnect between clients’ lived experiences and our assessment tools. Absolute response options like “always” and “never” force clients to compress the beautiful complexity of human experience into oversimplified categories.
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The Intake Is Already an Intervention: Rethinking First Contact Through a Neuroaffirming Lens
The very first questions we ask shape whether a neurodivergent client feels seen, pathologized, or quietly misread before therapy even begins. Intake is already an intervention—let’s make sure it’s a liberating one.
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How Social Workers Can Support Parents of Children Who Have Been Sexually Abused
CSA affects not just children but entire family systems. Parents or caregivers often carry unseen wounds. Their ability to process emotions, communicate clearly, and support their children can deeply shape recovery outcomes.
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Rethinking Permanency for Teenagers and Young Adults
Reunification with biological families is ideal, but in cases in which that is not possible, adoption and guardianship both provide teenagers and young adults with options for stability, provision, and mentorship.
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Reimagining Self-Care
Self-preservation serves as a bolder approach in my efforts at honoring my human self in a profession that calls for compassionate giving of ourselves. Finding this balance is crucial and not always easy.
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Vocational Rehab Is Social Work: Change Agents Empowering Individuals With Disabilities To Work
Vocational rehabilitation is not a detour from social work. It is a powerful, specialized lane within it. Social workers, are trained to meet people where they are and walk with them toward where they want to go. In VR, we get to do that every day.
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Seeing the Footprints of Social Work in the Fight Against Addictions
Every effort to make lives more meaningful, happier, and freer is connected to the value system of social work. In social work, there is no such thing as small or big—every action that empowers is significant.
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Combating Burnout: Analysis and Strategies for the Well-Being of the Social Work Community
Addressing burnout in the social work community requires a multifaceted approach that bridges individual and systemic change. Only through intentional actions can the profession flourish, ensuring that practitioners are supported and valued.
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A New Path for Dementia Care: The Transformative Potential of the CMS GUIDE Model and Its Impact on the Social Work Profession
The GUIDE Model is structured to address the complexities of dementia by promoting integrated care approaches that foster better communication among healthcare providers, caregivers, and families.
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Self-Determination: The Beauty, the Frustration, and the Necessity of Letting People Shine (or Not)
Self-determination is messy, frustrating, and beautiful. It’s about giving people—including yourself—the freedom to make mistakes, take risks, and ultimately, shine in their own way.
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How Childhood Trauma Shapes the Work and Lives of Social Workers
The legacy of childhood trauma is complex, but it is not immutable. As social workers, we have the opportunity to confront and heal our own wounds, breaking the cycles of trauma that have shaped us.
Putting POETRY Into Practice
April is National Poetry Month. What, you might ask, does that have to do with me and my social work practice? Social worker/poet Jane Seskin illustrates how three poems can reveal thoughts and feelings that might have gone unseen and untouched.
The “Benefits” of an Eating Disorder: What Social Workers Need To Know
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.
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Rest Therapies To Reduce Seasonal Affective Disorder Symptoms
Rest therapies offer a holistic approach to managing Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), enhancing client well-being, promoting self-care, and providing coping strategies.
Community Empowerment Through Mutual Aid
Historically, mutual aid groups target the most vulnerable and disenfranchised members of society. This idea of helping people who are excluded from governmental or institutional resources was once considered “radical” or even “anarchist.”
Giving Non-Advice: Fostering Independence and Resilience in Social Work Clients
Excessive advice-giving doesn’t belong in the therapy room. As a new social worker, you will need to resist the temptation a dozen times a day to pack clients full of your fresh therapy knowledge.
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Analogies for Engagement: Potty Training for Emotions
An analogy to potty training can show children and their caregivers that emotions can also be felt in the body, and addressing these emotions early on can help with early management to lessen the risk of a crisis.
Preventing the Preventable: What Can We Do About Suicide?
Suicide rates have been on the rise since the emergence of COVID-19. Although some suicides will not be prevented, society can focus on preventive measures such as providing space and support for those who are struggling and choose to live.
Supporting Families With Sickle Cell Disease: A Guide for School Social Workers
Supporting students with sickle cell disease (SCD) requires a comprehensive approach that addresses their academic, emotional, and social needs. School social workers can implement strategies to build a nurturing environment for students.
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School Social Worker: Canary in the Coal Mine of Public Education
I am a school social worker, a canary in the coal mine of public education. I see the collective strain on school staff, but I also envision the way forward.
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