Best in Mental Health (1/9/17 – 1/22/17)

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
• Therapy and Relationships
• Healthcare
• Social Work, Tech & Education
• Self-Care
• NonProfit Career & Private Practice

Advocacy

• Context – Relando Thompkins-Jones – “Being able to talk about the reasons why we thought the way we did, and where we originally learned the belief systems we subscribe to lessened the distance and increased understanding…”
• False Dichotomy of “Child Safety vs. Family Preservation” – SJS/Chronicle of Social Change – “vast majority of confirmed maltreatment cases do not involve circumstances that justify the immediate removal of children…”
• Hope After Being a Victim in the Sex Industry – Tina Mattsson – “every woman on a porn set has what is called a suitcase pimp. This person is the trafficker… not only does porn destroy relationships, but that there are also victims involved…”
  • Kayleigh’s Love Story: Powerful video about dangers of online grooming – Teenage Whisperer -“No words could better convey to our young people the dangers of online grooming and how easily it can happen to anyone whether considered to be a vulnerable young person or not…”
• (In)Accessible Rooms: The Biggest Lie Told By The Hotel Industry – Vilissa Thompson – “As with many accessible bathrooms… things were still out of reach… the shower head was the near top of the shower rod… short hot/cold handles…”
• New Bullying Data—and Definition—from the National Crime Victimization Survey – Justin W. Patchin – “there are many different ways to measure “bullying,” and those will lead to very different reported rates of bullying… relatively few students have been bullied when using the new definition…”
• Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Social Work – archive of 1/19 #MacroSW twitter chat hosted by Karen Zgoda, Dr. Thomas Felke guest speaker – can… be used… for a variety of purposes including planning, education, and evaluation…”

Therapy and Relationships

• 6 Must-Read Tips You Need To Find Friends – Stephen Borgman – “#1 Know Yourself… Friendships often form around shared interests… #2 Find Friends Through Social Groups… #4 Adopt A Growth Mindset… #5 Assess Peer Acceptance…”
• Connection Through Groups – Therapy Chat podcast interview w/Katie K. May – “benefits of group that individual therapy cannot… normalizes their feelings… different types… process group… start with a check-in… everyone starts with a share… as they’re sharing, someone else is chiming in…”
• Genograms: A Powerful Therapy Tool – [own] – “Monica McGoldrick… big picture of the problems your clients face in both their current and historical contexts… Follow historical clues… Seek and highlight your clients’ stories of resilience… “
• How parents support their teens discovering their gender identity – Launching Your Daughter podcast interview w/Dara Hoffman-Fox – “Listen for comments where child or teen begins to wonder or challenge why that have to do specific gender based behaviors when they feel differently… exercises to go through to discover gender identity…”
  • Understanding Transgender Teens – Your Teen Magazine/Diana Simeon – “For most of us, our biological sex matches our gender identity (that’s called being cisgender). But for some of us, it does not. A biological male may feel instead that he is female and vice versa. These individuals are transgender…”
• Is Trauma Healing Enough? – Trauma Institute – “trauma healing in itself may not be sufficient for full recovery… need to acquire a new habit of psycho-physiological regulation, to replace the old habit of dysregulation… recommend… clients consider practicing… yoga, meditation/mindfulness…”
• Managing Everyday Behavior – Partners for Healing – “We do not use consequences for everyday behavior such as leaving a towel in the bathroom, not completing chores… coming into the staff office without knocking… these things are handled by re-direction…”
• Sociology and the Culture of Sex on Campus – Lisa Wade – “colleges also have a substantial amount of control over when students eat… whether and under what conditions they have sex… hookup culture is now at the center of the institution of higher education…”
• So You Think You’re Self Aware? A Mindfulness Tool. . If You DARE! – Lara Fielding – “We all have gaps in self-awareness because seeing our foibles naturally causes discomfort… Activate the mindful self-awareness skill whenever you notice either distress or avoidance…”
• Understanding The Two-Track Model of Bereavement – “Simon Shimshon Rubin… significance of the bond to the deceased and its meaning for recovery from loss… In Track I… consider biopsychosocial functioning… Track II… look at memories, feelings, attachments and bonds to the person who died as an important part of grief…”
• What are Cognitive Distortions? – Sharon Martin – “ways that you twist up your thinking to see yourself, your situation, and other people in a negative light… Overgeneralizing – You see a constant, negative pattern based on one event…”
• What Your Selfies Say About You –  Julie Hanks – “We like to have proof that we’ve lived, that we’ve had enjoyable and meaningful experiences with others… Another thing your selfies might say about you is that you are looking for validation…”
• Will The Movie “Split” Get Multiple Personality Disorder Right? – Shrink Tank/Dr. Frank Gaskill – “with enough trauma, the brain finds a way to survive… By definition DID is characterized by the presence of two or more distinct personalities…”

Healthcare

• Gamification for health and wellbeing – Sasha Danilina – “gamification is the use of game design elements in non-game contexts… More positive outcomes were found for children and young adults rather than adults…”
• Internet Self-Diagnosis: Mapping the Information Seeking Process – Susan Perez – ““digital divide” has become a catchphrase for how differences in educational, social, and economic backgrounds can affect access to web-based tools and services… no significant differences between lower-SES and higher-SES individuals in whether the Internet search influenced an accurate guess at the cause of the symptoms… “
• Public Health: What Does Trump’s Executive Order Against Obamacare Actually Do? – Margot Sanger-Katz – “that order, alone, won’t allow President Trump to unwind the sprawling health law known as Obamacare… major changes to health policy will require new legislation… a mission statement…”
• Why Consumers Are the New Patients – “new breed of healthcare consumers… they want their care where and when they want it. They also increasingly expect transparent prices, little to no wait times and mobile digital tools to make appointments…”

Social Work, Tech & Education

• 10 Apps That Can Impact And Change The World – SWH/Tripti Rai – “Tree Planet 2… user grows, fertilizes, waters, and defends a virtual tree in this game… Dare to Donate… Charity Miles… makes your every step count, literally…”
• 15 top tips for revising journal articles – Deborah Lupton – “Feel gratitude for the work performed on your behalf by the reviewers and editors… See the revision process as a way to make your work the best it can be…”
• Active Learning Strategies in Data Analysis to Reduce Student Anxiety #SEQuEL2017 – Karen Zgoda – “Client empowerment is a central theme to this approach… Creating a plan to reach these goals that has the potential to be successful… Providing “hands-on” activities…”
• #DefendThe5th: A Hashtag That Became A Creative Force – Stuck on Social Work – “community of The Fifth Congressional District in Atlanta Georgia… People were initially angry at Mr. Trump for his comments directed at Representative John Lewis… hashtag became the rallying cry to let Mr. Trump know how they really felt…”
• Give us your nominations for the 2017 Media Awards – NASW [please enter SocialWork.Career into the ring! 🙂 ]
• Learning for Today and Beyond Tomorrow – Miguel Angel Escotet – “We are at the very early stage of a major learning revolution… Education is organized in such a way as to maintain the [social] hierarchical structure… second problem facing education today is its failure to adapt to the advances in science and technology…”
• The Shadow of Technology – Lourdes Viado interview w/Anders Beier – “role of and challenges to Self in an online world…  disruptive effects technology has on our human interactions… Consequences of binge watching and excessive gaming…”
• Using Gamification in Social Work Education – InSocialWork podcast interview w/Drs. Julie Dodge, Christie Bernklau Halvor & Sonja Vegdahl – “incorporate some gamification elements into one course each was teaching…”
• Workload Versus Caseload: Changing the Conversation –  Steve Whitmore – “Using a workload approach leads to a better match between the social worker’s role and their assignments… Start collecting data… keep track of your activities for a week…”
• The World Cafe – Nicole Clark – “methodology that invites large group dialogue…Set the context… Create hospitable space… Explore questions that matter… Up to 5 tables, with enough room for at least 5 participants…”

Self-Care

• The ABCs of Anxiety and Panic – HealthyPlace/Tanya J. Peterson – “Doing something every day is a way to own your behavior and take it away from anxiety… Exercise is crucial for anxiety management…”
• Art Journaling: Emptying Out, Filling Up – Amy Johnson Maricle – “Just sit down and experiment… Instead of drawing first, write out a favorite quote… the only way to get started with your art, is to just start…”
• Developing “Plan B” as a Social Worker’s Self-Care Strategy – New Social Worker/Rachel Castillo – ” Take time to think about what you like to do… Identify what makes you feel excited and perhaps like a kid again… “
• How to Fight Stress with Empathy – Arthur P. Ciaramicoli – “when we give and receive empathy we produce… oxytocin, which creates a sense of trust and cooperation… Leading with empathy can help those around us to be sources of support in our lives and reduce the likelihood of interpersonal conflicts…”
• Mindfulness: A Powerhouse of Benefits for Emotional and Relationship Health – Love and Life Toolbox/Linda Graham – “Mindfulness helps us to see clearly… can help us hold, and then release, the deeply challenging, difficult, afflictive experiences of life…”
• New Year’s ReSOLUTIONS! – Christina Hibbert – “We need to be taught/shown how… goals that are tailored to our situation and needs… support… learn the skills of mental fortitude to stick with it…”

NonProfit Career & Private Practice

• Common Mistakes Therapists Make When Designing Their Private Practice Websites, And How To Avoid Them –  Ili Walter – “Forgetting a Call to Action… Too Many Calls to Action… A Weak About Page… empathically explaining to potential clients how your services will assist them…”
  • Top Fee Mistakes Counselors Make In Private Practice – Kelly & Miranda – “Picking a Fee Out Of Comparison… put a super low fee to fill their practice… therapists who have had the same fee for 10+ years…”
  • Why You MUST Define Your Marketing Message – Cathy Hanville – “effective marketing message… allows you to target your SEO efforts to get potential clients to your website… once they have found your website the message connects them to you so that they contact you…”
  • You Don’t Need A Consultant –  Allison Puryear – “Just because you can do it on your own doesn’t mean you have to or want to… A good consultant will save you time… Those of us who are legit want to build you (and your practice) up…”
• Document like a clinician: The ins and outs of documenting your training supervision – Brian Carnahan and Margaret-Ann Adorjan – “Think about treating supervision sessions as you might a session with clients… Take notes, and follow up after the session with additional notes and thoughts… “
• Group Practice Vs. Solo Private Practice? Which Is Right for You? – Jennifer Taylor – “PRO: Someone else has already done the legwork for the business foundation… You have an easy source of referrals… You have co-workers… It’s a lot less work…”
• Now is The Time for Bold Nonprofit Leaders – Nell Edgington – “There are truths that need to be spoken now, spoken out loud… Think Bigger, Much Bigger… Embrace Advocacy… Find New Paths to Social Change…”
• Professional Will – GoodTherapy.org – “names an executor (typically another mental health professional) who will take on the responsibility of handling legal issues and notifying those who had been receiving services… protect therapists’ colleagues and family members, as well as the people therapists treat…”

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