Best in Mental Health (3/28/16 - 4/10/16)

Mental Health Roundup

This contains some of the latest news in social work, healthcare, private practice and more!

This week’s wrap-up has 6 main themes:

Advocacy
Healthcare
Therapy/Relationships
Social Media, Education and Technology
Private Practice/NonProfit
Self-Care

Advocacy

“Doing Diversity” in Higher Education: Practical Challenges – Edna Chun – “an actionable leadership commitment to diversity… power structure that supports the attainment of strategic diversity objectives… creation of a systematic, phase-based approach…”
- Social Work, Education, Race & More – N.A.H. Podcast interview with Loti Walker – “we support people with challenging situations within a system that is often broken… social work is without a doubt my calling…”
The Grand Challenges for Social Work – SocialWorkPodcast interview with Dr. Richard P. Barth – “Social work… capacity to reach and assist at schools and with families at the early end of problems… be the implementers… of the model… the power of prevention…”
- Child Death Reviews – An American imperative? – Peter Choate – “rec from a US Federal Commission that: wants the states to examine all child abuse and neglect fatalities from the past five years… better use of resources might have been to… learn from those inquires…”
Sexual Assault Is Not Someone Else’s Problem! – Therapy Chat Podcast in which Laura Reagan talks about what to do following a sexual assault, how such trauma often affects us, various legal options, and ways to make a difference.
- How To Cosby More Rapists – Ricky Greenwald – “many or most rapes are committed… by serial predators… Any community organization – a student group, sorority, nonprofit org, etc. – can develop an unofficial data base of rape reports…”
- Channeling Student Activism – Erin McClintock – ” Ten Strategies for Sexual Assault Awareness Month… connect with student leaders, focus on the positives and correct misperceptions, be present…”
When You’re Clear on What You Need, It’s Easier to Measure Your Impact – Nicole Clark – “A potential client questionnaire allows for a client to conceptualize a potential evaluation project… being honest about your staff’s capacity to take on an evaluation project is critical…”
Who Really Recieves Food Stamps? – Elizabeth W. Crew – “there is a stereotype of food stamp, or SNAP benefit, recipients… around 40% are white… many politicians continue reinforce the idea that welfare programs are used almost exclusively by minority populations…”

Healthcare

How the brain processes emotions – “Some mental illnesses may stem, in part, from the brain’s inability to correctly assign emotional associations to events…”
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy cannot substitute maintenance antidepressants – Ioana Cristea – “findings… effectiveness study… increased risk of relapse/recurrence for patients withdrawing… after having participated in MBCT for recurrent depression…”
Misconceptions: Women’s Emotions Do Not Cause Their Migraines – Joanna Klein – “medical condition related to temporary abnormal brain activity…”
Researcher uncovers trends in mental health disparities – Julie Miller – five barriers… Accessibility…unable to find professionals… Affordability… Availability… Appropriateness… Advocacy…”
Wisdom is a matter of both heart and mind, research finds – “physiology of the heart, specifically the variability of heart rate during low physical activity, is related to less biased, wiser judgment…”

Therapy/Relationships

All That Fits in 45 Minutes – psychotherapy podcast with Martha Crawford and Jason Mihalko – “how to conduct therapy… I get contacted the most about impasses… our profession has failed to teach… talk to your therapist about anything that distresses…”
ARTIC Scale! First Published Measure of Trauma-Informed Care – a measure of professional and paraprofessional attitudes favorable or unfavorable toward TIC… 45-item version… takes 15 minutes to complete… also a 35-item version and a 10-item version…”
Are You an Enabler? Understanding Codependency vs. Helping – Sharon Martin – “impairments, such as mental illness, addiction, narcissism, or physical health problems… keep a person from functioning fully… partner provides needed emotional, financial, or physical support…”
Multitudes: Dissociation and our Multiple Selves – Martha Crawford – “We are all multitudes. Everyone contains splits and compartments and many different selves… we must… make sure all inner voices are heard, and treated respectfully…”
Online Dating Adventures of a Single Black Disabled Woman – Vilissa Thompson shares the good, bad, strange, and utterly humorous moments of her new dating experiences.
Tenderly Assessing Suicide – Danna Bodenheimer – “to connect with a suicidal client… reserve judgment about how they are feeling… If we can open up to the parts of ourselves that know the suicidal client, we better accompany them on their journey…”
- Training Practitioners to Work with People Considering Suicide – inSocialWork podcast interview with Dr. Rebecca Mirick – in which she talks about her work developing a suicide intervention training program and the follow-up evaluation research conducted.
- What Clinicians Can Learn From Attempt Survivors – Sean Erreger – “The American Association of Suicidology Annual Conference… Suicide Intervention can feel like a punishment rather than a help… Summary of #AAS16 Conference… SPSMChat…”
Therapy in the Aftermath of the Paris Terrorist Attacks – Chris Lyford – “sometimes the most transformative care can come from people who aren’t clinicians at all—they’re family, friends, and neighbors who understand what a person needs because they’ve experienced the same hardship…”
The trials and tribulations of talking to young people about sex – Nick Luxmoore – “it’s unclear whether you’re talking with a child or an adult… ask… a girl who’s started going out with someone, “Is it a sexual relationship?”, if only to establish sex as something we might talk about if she chooses…”
- Girls feeling pressure to be ‘sexy, famous and perfect’ – Laurie Meyers – “take time for self-reflection to gain a strong understanding of who they are and what they value… maintain balance in all life dimensions… manage intense emotions…”
The Use of Externalization in Child CBT – Elisa Nebolsine – “Sara (not her real name) is the artist who created “Evil Pink Monster.”… Sara had a great deal of difficulty regulating her emotions…”
- How to Help When Kids Grieve: MP3 and more – Wendy Young – “Use the words death, dying, dead… Avoid euphemisms: She’s sleeping…If a child is to attend a wake or funeral for the first time, prepare them for what they will see, hear, experience…”

Social Media, Education and Technology

5 Things I Figured Out While Teaching Social Work – Courtney Kidd -“Teaching was probably the most rewarding part of social work I’ve done… from day one, Rule #1 was “Don’t Freak Out.”… social work should never be taught in a bubble…”
10 Key Steps for Finding & Evaluating Journal Articles for Social Work Research – Kate Silken and Karen Zgoda put together an infographic to help students find and evaluate journal articles.
BPD Texas 2016 – Melanie Sage shares resources from her presentations at the conference for BSW educators including a student tutorial for using Zotero, a presentation on the development of professional social work identity and more.
Locating Resources for Families in Need: Beds for Kids – Lauren – “Ashley Home-store’s Hope to Dream program… Salvation Army. They often maintain thrift stores and other programs aimed at assisting families in need… United Way is the go to for any and all needs…”
Social Media and Technology Basics for the Social Work Educator – #BPDTX16 – Stephen Baldridge and Laurel Hitchcock shares their slides and an evidence-based, motivating approach to engaging the valuable tools of social media and mobile education.
Social work in digital transfer – Camilla Granholm’ dissertation H/T @njsmyth – “Utilizing the virtual dimension in social work … easier for social workers to reach out… reached by… clients. People today live simultaneously in two dimensions… social work needs to be present in both…”

Private Practice/Non-Profit

Good news about Square – Katie Malinski – “Square recently made several important changes that return the service back to a safer, more attractive credit card processor for therapists.”
How to Organize a Client File – Maelisa Hall – “Basic organization usually follows a chronological story… Intake information… All signed documents- this includes informed consent, social media policy… Treatment plan…”
Integrating Supervision into Private Practice – Selling the Couch podcast interview with Renee Beck – “practical ways to find interns and trainees who are seeking supervision… charges about 55% of her full therapy fee for supervision… helping others navigate the policies and politics”
Is Your Nonprofit Too Old To Barf Rainbows on Snapchat? – Beth Kanter – “mobile app that lets users exchange text messages, photos and videos that disappear in 24 hours… for bearing witness—telling stories in raw, often humorous, behind-the-scenes clips or messages.”

Self-Care

Six Proven New Ways to Manage Your Stress – Melanie Greenberg – “take 5 or 10 minute mental breaks throughout the day… exercise… walk outside in green spaces or even look at pictures of nature scenes…”
How I Recovered From a Self-Esteem Setback – Emily Roberts – “adopt a mindfulness practice… accept what happened, not approve of it, just accept that it occurred… Become aware of the assumptions… don’t let them become facts…”
Managing Technology Overload – Julie Hanks – “Digital overload affects our ability to process information cognitively…. to be present with other people… master your settings… intentionally set notifications…”
Why Vulnerability Matters – Cathy Hanville – “It takes deep courage to reach out and be authentic in our darkest times but when we can do it allows us to be present to our pain while not being alone…”