Message from NASW-DE Executive Director John Shuford

The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) last week released a new definition of addiction highlighting that addiction is a chronic brain disorder and not simply a behavioral problem involving too much alcohol, drugs, gambling or sex. This is the first time ASAM has taken an official position that addiction is not solely related to problematic substance use. This is hugely important with significant implications for CBT and other cognitive therapies. MORE

The Delaware Psychological Association is holding its 3rd Annual Networking Mixer on September 16th from 1:00 to 4:00 at the Delaware Center for Horticulture. There will be a 30 minute presentation on suicide resources in Delaware, door prizes, refreshments and a great opportunity to network with other mental health professionals and providers. For more information see their flier or check out their ad below or their website at www.depsych.org.

Also make note of the Delaware Psychological Association’s Convention 2011 on “Trauma and Transformation: Facilitating Posttraumatic Growth.”  The presenter is Dr. Richard Tedeschi from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.  The convention will be October 21 and 22 at the Atlantic Sands Hotel in Rehoboth Beach. See ad below and their website www.depsych.org.

The Delaware Professional Counselors Association is having their 2011 Conference September 17th at Wilmington University on “Disaster Counseling; Critical Skills for Disaster Response, Psychological First Aid, and Trauma Recovery.” It is approved for 6.5 CEUs. See their website for more information.

Hospice of Delaware is offering a one day program on October 28 entitled “Peace at Last; The Warrior’s Journey from Wartime to End of Life.”  Several speakers will present on, “Wounded Warrior,” “Peace at Last,” “Caring for Comrades and Families of Fallen Heroes,” and “Military Death and Survivor Impact.” CEU approval is pending. See flier.

November 4th, NASW and the Vet Center will be offering their second Multiple Approaches to Trauma Treatment workshop featuring three case studies of different therapeutic modalities. More on this in later issues.

The Delaware Division of Libraries has developed a convenient new resource to assist unemployed and underemployed Delaware residents. The new Job Centers@Delaware Libraries offer a full range of easy-to-use job-seeking services that should be helpful to any of your clients who are trying to improve their employment situation. For their full announcement.

Recently, I have had MSW’s contact me about finding LCSW’s who will contract with them for supervision to meet the requirements for licensure. I would like to establish a database of potential LCSW supervisors. If you are an LCSW with at least two years experience as an LCSW and would be interested in contracting for supervision, please let me know. Those who are interested might check out the NASW NJ website for their Supervisors Training course.  It is excellent.  It might be of interest that the Licensing Board is interested in exploring requiring supervisory training for supervisors in meeting the 1600 hours of supervised experience for licensure.

A few issues ago I shared information on Animal Assisted Therapy and how valuable it is. Here is another article; a study of the “Benefits of Animal Assisted Interventions on Psychotherapy.”

I welcome other articles that might be of interest to our professional community in Delaware; including Psychologists, Professional Counselors, Social Workers, Rehabilitation Counselors, Marriage and Family Counselors, and others.

Our next NASW Board meeting will be in November, the date to be determined by our new Board.
                                                                                                           John

NASW-NJ Membership Dinner Guest Speaker: Sheridan Quarless-Kingsberry, NASW-DE President

All NASW-DE members and their colleagues are invited to join a night of networking with New Jersey social workers, an inspiring address by Dr. Quarless-Kingsberry, and a wonderful dinner! 

Special Offer: Purchase a table of 10 at reduced price of $450. (9 @ regular $50 price + 1 FREE).

The dinner cost is $50, which covers your dinner AND a contribution to the Harriet Bloomfield Scholarship Fund. Student price is $25 which covers only the dinner.

WHEN:                       Saturday, September 24, 2011
TIME:                          5:00 pm - Cocktail hour (Cash bar)
                                    6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Dinner and Program
LOCATION:               Rutgers Busch Faculty Dining Hall
                                    608 Bartholomew Road, Piscataway, New Jersey, 08854
GUEST SPEAKER:   Sheridan Quarless-Kingsberry, PhD,
                                    NASW-Delaware Chapter President

Click here for more information and to print registration form.

Call for Papers for the 2012 NASW-NJ Annual Conference - Deadline Extended to September 2nd! 

NASW-NJ is soliciting proposals for presentation at its statewide continuing education conference.  The conference will be held in May 2012. We encourage NASW-DE Chapter members to share their knowledge and experience with colleagues through a two or four hour presentation.

You will not only receive maximum exposure by presenting at a statewide conference, but you have the opportunity to engage and enlighten other social workers. The conference will serve as an “audition” for paid presentations through NASW-NJ's continuing education program -- live workshops throughout New Jersey and Delaware, as well as home study courses that will be seen throughout the country on our Online CE Institute!

Click here for more information and guidelines for submission.

U.S. House Introduces "Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act"

Representatives Paul Tonko (D-NY) and Pete Stark (D-CA) introduced the Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act (H.R. 2783), a companion bill to the Senate bill S.374.

This legislation would eliminate the 190 day lifetime cap on Medicare coverage for inpatient psychiatric care at hospitals. Click here for more.

Report: Seniors Still Struggle With Drug Costs

Medicare Beneficiaries Struggling With Prescription Drug Coverage

Five years after the launch of Medicare prescription drug coverage, many beneficiaries are still struggling to sign up, according to a new report from the Medicare Rights Center.

The report highlights how hard it is for beneficiaries to choose among "a multitude of plans that have different benefit structures, pharmacy networks, formularies and rules for accessing benefits." It found that 43 percent of respondents to a recent survey chose to enroll in plans recommended by the Medicare agency's online Plan Finder tool, while 57 percent chose not to. MORE

Administration May Give States Second Chance To Avoid Federally Run Insurance Exchange

The Obama administration said Tuesday that states that have not adopted their own insurance exchanges may get a second chance to avoid getting one run solely by the federal government. Only 11 states have fully embraced the idea of taking federal money to set up their own state-run insurance exchange, a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services official said Tuesday. The exchange, a key part of Obama's health care overhaul, is designed to help uninsured people buy coverage from a choice of plans with federal tax credits. MORE

Scientists Find New Link Between Genes and Stress Response, Depression

Numerous studies have shown that the brain molecule neuropeptide Y (NPY) helps to restore calm after stressful events. A team of University of Michigan-led researchers has now found that people whose genes predispose them to produce lower levels of NPY are more responsive to negative stimuli in key brain circuits related to emotion–and are therefore less resilient in the face of stress and may be at higher risk for developing a major depressive disorder. MORE

Female Veterans Living on the Streets

They served their country in time of war. Now these veterans are homeless mothers, sleeping in cars and wondering how they will get their next meal. CNN's Barbara Starr meets veterans of America's wars who are also homeless mothers. MORE

LAST CHANCE! NASW Requests Comments on Draft NASW Standards for School Social Work Services

Public Comment Period Closes September 2, 2011

NASW is developing Standards for School Social Work Services, and we need your help in ensuring that the revised standards are relevant to current practice. Please review the draft standards and provide feedback using the form below. The public comment period ends at 11 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on September 2, 2011.

Please consider the following questions as you review the standards:

• How applicable are the standards to social workers across practice levels, professional roles, and practice settings?

• Are the standards easy to understand? Are there any concepts that need to be clarified?

Click here for the Standards. And click here to provide your comments to NASW.

News from DE and Beyond...

Click on the article                        title for link

Latino Health Paradox: Latinos Boast Low Infant Mortality, Long Lives Despite ...
Jonah Garcia is a social worker with what may be one of the toughest gigs in the country. Garcia is a program director at La Clinica de Familia Doña Ana Healthy Start in the US-Mexico border community of Las Cruces, NM, where she helps mothers deliver healthy babies.

Change upsets providers of mental health care
"It really looks like a lose-lose type of proposition for the clinicians," said Jim Akin, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers Florida Chapter.

Dogs help veterans with PTSD cope, improve
Little study exists on the effectiveness of dog training in treating PTSD, because "it's still too new," said Tom Murray, a readjustment counseling therapist and a licensed clinical social worker with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

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A Transgender Man of Color Shares his Story
James Newton, 29, of Norcross, Ga., a suburban community near Atlanta, got a rude awakening into what it sometimes means to be a black man in America. Moments after officially getting his name changed from his female birth name at the county courthouse, he noticed a woman looking back at him in the parking lot.

UK riots: how social workers will repair the emotional damage
With individuals, one of social work's key jobs is to challenge destructive behaviour. We will undoubtedly be called upon to play a role in youth justice and other criminal proceedings arising from the riots. Social work also has a unique set of values which promotes building and mirroring empathy.

Talking to children about cancer
Licensed clinical social worker Kathleen Williams offers suggestions for parents talking to children when a loved one has cancer.

Trail: Working with homeless community changes social worker's life
By Amy M. Trail Two days a week, I commute from Denton to Fort Worth to satisfy an educational requirement for my graduate program at the University of North Texas. One of the counselors at Recovery Resource Council told me about a local outreach program that addresses the basic needs of homeless individuals. Wanting to gain as much real-life experience as possible, I decided to go a little deeper into the world of homelessness.

Social Worker Website Launched To Guide Aspiring Social Workers To A ...
Becoming A Social Worker 101, a service to a caring profession, was recently launched to educated visitors on how to become a social worker with all the facts needed to find education opportunities in social work.

Knowledge is the key to a healthy pregnancy
Yang hadn't been to a dentist in several years. Untreated gum disease can lead to premature birth, so social worker Annie Janisch, who is helping Yang navigate pregnancy, encouraged her to set up a dental appointment.

San Francisco schools work with kids to cut suspensions, expulsions
When a student at Civic Center Secondary School swore at a teacher, made threats and punched walls last year, faculty members wanted him gone. The boy was suspended, but came back to school just as angry, recalled Ben Kauffman, then the school’s social worker. After the boy’s second suspension, school officials decided to try something different.

Is Spanking a Black and White Issue?
Daphne S. Cain is the interim dean of social work and the director of the master of social work program at Louisiana State University. Her research interests include parenting practices and parenting interventions with high-risk and vulnerable families.

Lambda Legal represents child welfare groups in Catholic Charities ...
Today Lambda Legal filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of several child welfare organizations including the Evan B. Donaldson Institute, the National Association of Social Workers and its Illinois chapter in a case brought by four Dioceses of Catholic Charities against the state of Illinois.

For Cancer Patients, Help Navigating the Maze
At Presbyterian Healthcare Services in Albuquerque, where four nurses and a social worker comprise the navigation team, Dava Gerard, a breast surgeon and administrator in the cancer program says patient navigation services need to reflect the needs and  concerns of the community, which can vary greatly.

Theodoric James deserved persistent help from the government
A social worker familiar with the agency said that they are financially strapped and stretched thin. “They are under enormous pressure to close cases,” the social worker said. That's the case at social service agencies across the country. 

The Riots, The PM's Speech: A Wake-Up Call for Social Work
Social work has developed, importantly, its commitment to people made vulnerable, marginalised and disenfranchised by social, political and economic circumstances. However, it has constructed an edifice of anti-oppressive practice sometimes decorated with the inanities of political correctness that hampers its position to mediate and negotiate a pathway that re-engages individuals with their society.

Improv For Alzheimer's: 'A Sense Of Accomplishment'

"Improv is all about being in the moment, which for someone with memory loss, that is a very safe place," says Mary O'Hara, a social worker at the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.

Bullying: Help your child take control; know signs, resolutions
Charlotte Butler, a licensed clinical social worker specializing in child and adolescent psychology services with Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital Department of Behavioral Health, defines bullying in three parts: Physical aggression, verbal abuse and exclusion

Outcry for law to help protect social workers and clients
RE “IN fining mental-health provider, OSHA sends a strong message’’ (Editorial, Aug. 12): The National Association of Social Workers, Massachusetts chapter, has considered safety for social workers and human service providers a critical priority for several years.

Slain social worker's mom rallies for 'Stephanie's Law'
The Peabody mother wants justice for her daughter, Stephanie Moulton, a 25-year-old social worker who was beaten, stabbed and dumped in a church parking lot. And she wants to change a state mental health system that she believes put her child in peril.

Woman applies PTSD-like therapy to abused dog
His new life now revolves around Teresa Pavish-Paradiso, a licensed clinical social worker who, besides participating in a network that rescues abused animals, works in Walla Walla with veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Street Wise:TANIA FRELONE CHALLENGES PERCEPTIONS OF GANGS
During her career as a social worker, Tania Frelone has helped hundreds of troubled youth. She is now educating professor at the First Nations University, helping to educate a new generation of social workers.

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The Delaware Psychological Association is holding its 3rd annual Networking Mixer on Friday, September 16, 2011, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., at the Delaware Center for Horticulture, 1810 North Dupont Street in Wilmington. For additional visit www.depsych.org.  

Continuing Education - Non NASW Sponsored

The Delaware Psychological Association proudly presents "Trauma and Transformation: Facilitating Posttraumatic Growth", presented by Richard G. Tedeschi, Ph.D. October 21 and 22, 2011, at the Atlantic Sands Hotel & Conference Center, Rehoboth Beach, DE.  For details www.depsych.org.