The Intersection of Social Work and Advocacy Helping others is a cornerstone of effective social work practice. Both at the individual and community level, social workers can make a real impact in terms of public health and quality of life. One of the most important ways social workers achieve these improvements is through advocacy. According…
Social Work News
Understanding Personal Safety for Social Workers
Social workers intervene in the lives of clients at pivotal moments of change or crisis. While the goal of social work is to improve those moments and maintain the well-being of all parties involved, violence towards social workers can occur in agencies and in the field. Though most clients who social workers engage with will…
Understanding Community Organizing Models
For ordinary people to effectively build systems of change, strategic and cooperative work is often necessary. Enter community organizing. As a field concerned with generating grassroots political power, it is and continues to be a primary method for individuals, neighborhoods and the public at large to fulfill collective unmet needs. Community organizing is defined as…
Seeing Autism Symptoms in Adults
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common neurological condition that affects about 1 in 59 children, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The number of reported cases of autism in U.S. children has more than doubled from 2004 to 2014. Initially, autism was described as a rare childhood disorder,…
Understanding Social Worker Licensure in Kentucky
By helping people cope with daily problems, social workers help fulfill the purpose of the profession as defined by the National Association of Social Work: “to ensure that all people have equal access to the resources and opportunities that allow them to meet basic needs.” Social workers need licensure to practice in mental health clinics,…
A Closer Look at Clinical Social Work Careers
Social workers help people cope with problems on a daily basis. These workers can work in a wide variety of settings, from mental health clinics to schools, hospitals, child welfare homes and more. Social work is defined by the National Association of Social Work as a way to “ensure that all people have equal access…
The State of Human Trafficking in Kentucky
Human trafficking is a billion-dollar shadow industry with a presence in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. This crime is defined by the National Human Trafficking Hotline as one “involving the exploitation of someone for the purposes of compelled labor or a commercial sex act through the use of force, fraud or coercion.” Victims are not a…
Play Therapy: Speaking the Language of Children
“Play energizes and enlivens us. It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities.” —Stuart Brown, MD, Contemporary American psychiatrist Play is an essential part of the human experience. It creates joy, fosters imagination and encourages learning, among a host of other benefits. Play therapy harnesses…
Family Social Work in Today’s American Household
Divorced parents. Grandparents raising grandchildren. Two-income families and same-sex couples. These are just a few scenarios that define today’s changing domestic landscape. According to the article “Family Diversity is the New Normal for America’s Children,” the number of children living in “traditional” households has decreased dramatically since the 1960s. As familial structures become increasingly diverse,…
Addiction Treatment: The 5 Stages of Change
Approximately 21.5 million American teens and adults have a substance use disorder, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Professionals such as counselors and social workers can help these individuals by understanding the nature of the recovery process and how they can professionally contribute to recovery. Divided into five stages of change,…
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