Episode 81: In today's social work podcast I spoke with Rebecca J. Macy. I started our conversation asking Rebecca how she became interested in identification of sex trafficking victims in human service delivery. Most of our conversation focused on how to identify and respond to victims of sex trafficking. We talked about the interdisciplinary nature of sex trafficking; how it involves representatives from law, medicine, social services, and how social workers can and should take the lead in coordinating efforts to help victims. And, as is the custom, we ended our conversation with resources for social workers, the Polaris project in particular. Rebecca was kind enough to send me a list of references and resources that I have posted to the socialworkpodcast.com website. If you want to find additional references and resources, as well as a transcript of my conversation with Rebecca, please go to the Social Work Podcast website at socialworkpodcast.com. You can connect with other social workers at the Social Work Podcast Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/swpodcast, or follow the Twitter feed at http://www.twitter.com/socworkpodcast. The most recent 10 episodes are streamed on the Stitcher mobile app.

Episode 80: Today's episode of the Social Work Podcast looks at Trauma Informed Care, one of the most promising approaches to working with people without causing additional trauma. And I had the honor of talking about Trauma-informed care with Nancy Smyth, professor and Dean of the School of Social Work at the University at Buffalo. There are three reasons why Nancy was the perfect guest for today's topic. First, she understands what it means to address trauma at the micro, mezzo, and macro level. She has worked in both mental health and addiction treatment settings for over 35 years as a clinician, manager, educator, researcher, and program developer. Second, she's what we like to call a “content” expert. She is a Board Certified Expert in Traumatic Stress. Her research, teaching, and practice focuses on trauma, substance abuse, and on working with people recovering from those experiences, including the use of innovative treatment approaches like EMDR and mindfulness meditation. In today's episode, we talked about Nancy's interest in TIC. She identified the basic assumptions behind Trauma-informed care. She clarified the relationship between a trauma-informed approach to working with clients and specific empirically supported treatments for people with trauma histories, and treatment for people with PTSD. She talked about some of the ways that she has translated trauma-informed principles into micro-level treatment practices. We ended with resources for people who are interested in learning more about Trauma-Informed Care, including a bunch of episodes on the inSocialWork podcast series. If you want to find additional references and resources, as well as a transcript of my conversation with Nancy, please go to the Social Work Podcast website at socialworkpodcast.com. You can connect with other social workers at the Social Work Podcast Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/swpodcast, or follow the Twitter feed at http://www.twitter.com/socworkpodcast. The most recent 10 episodes are streamed on the Stitcher mobile app.

Episode 79: In today's episode, I spoke with one of the profession's leading scholars and experts on perinatal loss, associate professor of social work at Virginia Commonwealth University, Dr. Sarah Kye Price. We talked why it is important to do a thorough assessment of pregnancy and pregnancy-related loss during a biopsychosocialspiritual assessment. She talked about the importance of allowing mothers and parents to tell their story. She pointed out that, although no loss is worse than any other, there are different intensities and needs depending on the loss. She also noted that families in which there was a perinatal loss, there can also be growth. We talked about the different types of interventions and treatment approaches for individuals and families who experience perinatal loss. We ended our conversation with resources for people interested in learning more. If you want to find additional references and resources, as well as a transcript of my conversation with Sarah, please go to the Social Work Podcast website at socialworkpodcast.com. You can connect with other social workers at the Social Work Podcast Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/swpodcast, or follow the Twitter feed at http://www.twitter.com/socworkpodcast.

Episode 78: Today's episode is about Social Work Ethics. I spoke with Allan Barsky, author of the Oxford University Press book, Ethics and Values in Social Work. We spoke about Allan's relational 6-stage model of ethical decision making, discussed dual relationships, did a role play, and analyzed the role play. We ended our conversation with Allan providing some resources for social workers who want to know more. If you want to find additional references and resources, as well as a transcript of my conversation with Allan, please go to the Social Work Podcast website at socialworkpodcast.com. You can connect with other social workers at the Social Work Podcast Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/swpodcast, or follow the Twitter feed at http://www.twitter.com/socworkpodcast.

Episode 77: Despite the fact that social workers are on the front lines and behind the scenes in nearly every facet of life, we're mostly invisible in the entertainment and news media. And when we do show up in the news, it is rarely good. In order to get an idea of what social workers could do to make a difference, I decided to go to the source - a journalist. In today's episode of the Social Work Podcast, I speak with award-winning journalist, Maiken Scott from WHYY in Philadelphia. Maiken starts by describing what she does – a day in the life of a reporter. She talks about how she finds experts to interview. We talked about how social workers can combat this misperception that social workers are the same as child welfare workers. She encouraged social workers to become advocates for their own professions. She points out that psychology, medicine, and nursing gets all sorts of information to reporters. Social work does not. She talked about what she looks for in a "good interview." We ended with Maiken's ideas for how social workers could influence the stories that are heard in the media. If you want to find additional references and resources, as well as a transcript of my conversation with Maiken, please go to the Social Work Podcast website at socialworkpodcast.com. You can connect with other social workers at the Social Work Podcast Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/swpodcast, or follow the Twitter feed at http://www.twitter.com/socworkpodcast.

Episode 76: In today's interview, Allan and I talked about what it means for a social worker to be "court ready," especially for social workers whose jobs do not typically involve going to court. We talked about the difference between forensic social workers and social workers who have to appear in court. Allan talked about the difference between client confidentiality and client privilege, between being a witness and an expert witness, and between preparing for legal proceedings and disciplinary proceedings. He gave some pointers on how social workers should respond to a subpoena. I asked him about what for many clinicians is the most stressful part of going to court - examination and cross-examination. We talked about how social workers can prepare for it, including some strategies for dealing with "tough questions" during a cross-examination. We ended our conversation with Allan providing some resources for social workers who want to know more. If you want to find additional references and resources, as well as a transcript of my conversation with Allan, please go to the Social Work Podcast website at socialworkpodcast.com. You can connect with other social workers at the Social Work Podcast Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/swpodcast, or follow the Twitter feed at http://www.twitter.com/socworkpodcast.

Episode 75: In today's Social Work Podcast, I spoke with Micki Washburn, LPC-S, and Danielle Parrish, Ph.D. about the proposed changes to DSM-5, including cross-cutting dimensional assessment, changes in the organization, and changes in diagnoses such as ADHD, Asperger's, Autism, Depression, Substance Use, and personality disorders. We talked about some of the intended consequences such as greater accuracy for diagnosis, and some of the possible unintended consequences such as loss of funding for diagnostic-specific services. We end with some thoughts about social work's role in the new DSM. You can read a transcript of today's interview at http://www.socialworkpodcast.com. You can connect with other social workers at the Social Work Podcast Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/swpodcast, or follow the Twitter feed at http://www.twitter.com/socworkpodcast.

Episode 74: Today's Social Work Podcast explores the issue of, "how do we know if our client wants to die by suicide?" Uncovering suicidal ideation and intent is one of the most challenging things that clinicians are expected to do. And if you can't do that, then you can't really do a thorough suicide assessment. And, as we all know, doing a thorough suicide assessment is one of the basic expectations of clinical social work. So, even though one of my first episodes of the Social Work Podcast addresses suicide assessment, I wanted to provide more in-depth information on the topic. So, I was very glad to be able to talk with one of the leading experts in the world, Shawn Christopher Shea. My interview with Shawn is a single episode in two continuous parts. In Part I Shawn and I talk about the CASE approach, including some of the validity techniques he has developed or uses to elicit suicidal ideation and intent. In the second part Shawn and I do a role play where he uses the CASE approach. You can read a transcript of today's interview at http://www.socialworkpodcast.com. You can connect with other social workers at the Social Work Podcast Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/swpodcast, or follow the Twitter feed at http://www.twitter.com/socworkpodcast.

Episode 73: Today's Social Work Podcast looks at the issue of non-suicidal self-injury, or NSSI. According to the International Society for the Study of Self-Injury, NSSI is the intentional destruction of body tissue without suicidal intent and for purposes not socially sanctioned. I spoke with Jennifer Muehlenkamp, Ph.D., associate professor at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, and one of the world's leading experts in NSSI. In today's episode, Jennifer and I talked about the definition of NSSI, the intersection between suicidal and non-suicidal self-injury, and some things that clinicians should and should not do when working with clients who self-injure. We ended our conversation with some speculation on the future of NSSI as a stand-alone psychiatric disorder in the DSM-5. You can read a transcript of today's interview at http://www.socialworkpodcast.com. You can connect with other social workers at the Social Work Podcast Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/swpodcast, or follow the Twitter feed at http://www.twitter.com/socworkpodcast.

Episode 72: In today's Social Work Podcast, episode 72, Psychodynamic therapy with vulnerable and oppressed populations, I speak with social work professor and author, Joan Berzoff. Dr. Berzoff addressed this issue in great detail in her 2012 edited text, Falling Through the Cracks: Psychodynamic Practice with Vulnerable and Oppressed Populations, published by Columbia University Press. In today's interview I asked Dr. Berzoff, what makes psychodynamic theory a valuable or useful approach for working with vulnerable, at-risk, and oppressed populations? Why should therapists be concerned about that which is symbolic in a client's life? Dr. Berzoff talked about the value of curiosity in psychotherapy; the use of insight; applications of psychodynamic theory to school-based programs; why don't people think of basic social work practice as psychodynamic; and how to conceptualize the role of insight-oriented work with clients whose basic needs are not being met. You can read a transcript of today's interview at http://www.socialworkpodcast.com. You can connect with other social workers at the Social Work Podcast Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/swpodcast, or follow the Twitter feed at http://www.twitter.com/socworkpodcast.