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Every day social workers engage with clients who are living with mental illness and substance use disorders, or with other at-risk individuals. Many of those days may be challenging but are ultimately rewarding professionally for the social worker and personally for the individual in need of services. But there are occasions when those interactions go terribly wrong and the client becomes violent and assaults the social worker. This month’s e-exclusive tells the story of one social worker’s experience—her assault and long journey through recovery.
Every social worker who works with troubled individuals is vulnerable. The story of this social worker’s challenge and her remarkable recovery is inspiring to other social workers whether they have experienced something similar or have been fortunate enough to have a fully safe and satisfying career.
We welcome your comments at SWTeditor@gvpub.com. Visit our website at www.SocialWorkToday.com, join our Facebook page, and follow us on Twitter.
— Marianne Mallon, editor |
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Assaulted by a Client — A Social Worker’s Journey of Recovery
By Kelly Waite, MSW, LCSWA
Like most new social workers, I entered the field with drive and passion to change the world and advocate for a better quality of life for the millions of people experiencing poverty, oppression, and other social problems. One of my greatest accomplishments was the day I received my master’s degree, followed by a provisional license to practice in North Carolina. I was not new to the behavioral health field. As an Army spouse, I was fortunate to gain rewarding experience working with military families in areas of victim advocacy, parenting skills programs, and family readiness groups while serving our soldiers with traumatic brain injury and substance abuse. After a military move to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, I was eager to expand my experience and try something new.
I accepted a position as a substance abuse specialist on an assertive community treatment (ACT) team providing therapy and substance abuse treatment to individuals with severe and persistent mental illness. ACT teams have expanded rapidly across the nation in recent years as a form of support for those at risk for inpatient hospitalization who have not succeeded with traditional outpatient therapy. This is a community-based program in which team members meet with clients at their home, a public library, a homeless shelter, a park, or other community locations. I was excited to begin my work with this population, but ignorant of the challenges that would come and eventually lead me to the other side of the desk.
Full Story » |
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Web-Based Training System to Address Child Abuse Within Military
The UCLA/Duke University National Center for Child Traumatic Stress (NCCTS), under a new agreement with the United States Department of Defense, will train behavioral health specialists who work on military bases to provide assistance for military families impacted by child abuse, domestic violence, and other forms of child traumatic stress. Specifically, the NCCTS will develop a Web-based system to provide training to some 2,000 specialists to acquire the knowledge and experience to effectively address child abuse when it occurs. Learn more »
CSWD Launches New Website
The Center for Social Well-Being and Development (CSWD), a chartered center within Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University, has launched its new website at www.cswd-gw.org. CSWD works to promote the understanding and use of a social-ecological approach to support positive health and social outcomes to reduce vulnerability worldwide. Learn more » |
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