Real World Clinical Blog
A Letter to Social Workers for the New Year
Danna Bodenheimer has some thoughts for social workers for New Year 2018. These are not exactly resolutions - more a sharing of myths that she refuses to continue to subscribe to, some goals, and a mantra. Happy New Year! Read more
Real World Clinical Blog: Social Work as Moral Compass
When we provide individuals with the space to think, to broaden their emotional literacy, to feel what feels un-feelable, we send change agents out into the world. Dr. Danna Bodenheimer signs off with her final weekly blog post. Read more
Real World Clinical Blog: An Internal Home for the Holidays
It is essential to remind ourselves and our clients that we are not working to eliminate painful affect states. We are working to find the tools to survive the inevitability of these states. Read more
Real World Clinical Blog: When Everything Hurts
Dr. Danna Bodenheimer on micro/macro practice, the economy, trauma, social movements, and the future for social workers and their clients after the election. Read more
Real World Clinical Blog: On Grief and its Permutations
There is so much that we get wrong about grief, and it isn’t surprising. Like most things in life, we are desperately trying to keep an unwieldy process orderly and comprehensible. The fact about grief, though, is that it is neither. Read more
Real World Clinical Blog: What Really Triggers Us
It is important to know that being triggered is about having first been traumatized. The word triggered signifies that a trauma has occurred and that specific stimuli can bring us back to this triggered state. Read more
Real World Clinical Blog: In The Realm of Personality Disorders
Without taking too much of a stance on this either way, I want to share some thoughts on how deep work with personality disorders can feel. I also want to address the ways in which one can identify the presence of a personality disorder. Read more
Real World Clinical Blog: Leaping Into Private Practice
One of the best parts of starting a private practice is that you can take it slowly. You can rent an office full time or for just a few hours a week. If you are ambivalent, I think it is worth finding out how it feels by giving it a shot. Read more
Real World Clinical Blog: Quit Your Social Work Job
Let me be clear - not all social workers should quit their jobs. In fact, some of you are at perfectly stimulating and meaningful jobs. And some of you aren’t. Read more
Real World Clinical Blog: Social Work Ethics in the Real World
Over time, I have found tremendous comfort in the NASW Code of Ethics. I have also come to some additional conclusions about how to practice ethically, born of work with a highly diverse caseload across multiple practice settings. Read more
Real World Clinical Blog: Social Workers as Empaths, Small Talk, and Self-Preservation
Empaths feel with exquisite precision, are quite vulnerable to absorbing the energy of those around them, are easily hurt, are often considered “over-sensitive,” cannot easily compartmentalize psychological experiences, and are innately intuitive. Read more
Real World Clinical Blog: On Narcissism and its Discontents
Individuals with narcissistic tendencies, basically, function in a constant crisis around self-esteem. Rather than being driven by attachment, which many of us are, more narcissistic folks are driven by the wish to experience a stable sense of worth. Read more
What's So Wrong With Social Work School? (And How To Make It More Right)
Don’t get me wrong, I love social work. I even loved social work school. I am offering these reflections and suggestions with the hope that they will be validating and helpful in making your education feel even more worthwhile. Read more
Real World Clinical Blog: On Couples
Whether you work with couples or you work with individuals, the fact is that you work with couples in some capacity. This is because most of our clients bring in their most intimate relationships, either literally or psychically. Read more
Scapegoats and the Social Work Workplace
Preparing yourself and studying scapegoating dynamics is both empowering and a social work value. Read more
Real World Clinical Blog: An Enactment With Rice - Reflections on Lunch and Therapy
I met the therapist of my life in 1995. I was a sophomore in college. The vernacular around having a love of our life is well established. But we don’t talk as much about the therapist of our life. Read more
Real World Clinical Blog: On Childhood Sexual Abuse
To successfully treat children who have been sexually abused, several paradigm shifts are required. This means, primarily, that we need to reconceptualize the possible scope of sexual abuse. Read more
Real World Clinical Blog: Rethinking Addiction Treatment
Addiction work is truly trauma work. Trauma work requires deep attunement; recognition of developmental capacity and limitations; and steady, vigorous attention to the relationship. Read more
Emotional Acres of Land/Black Lives Matter
Clinically, our work comes down to the provision of an emotional acre of land for each client. For clients of color, this requires a more generous invitation into the room. It requires an intentional invitation honoring the complexity of our world. Read more
The Impostor Syndrome and the Social Worker
Whether it is referred to as a feeling of fraudulence, impostor syndrome, or a false sense of self, it is a psychological state that makes our work difficult, uncomfortable, and dissatisfying. Read more
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