scholarly journals Creating trauma-informed spaces during a global pandemic: Practicum experiences at the community acute stabilization team in Northern Health

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kelly Daigle
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Code Of Ethics ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Trauma Informed ◽  
Trauma Informed Practice ◽  
Practicum Experiences ◽  
Practice Framework

During my social work practice with vulnerable populations, I have found that many clients and families I work with have experienced trauma in various forms. This is no less true in our current reality of concurrent health crisis: the opioid epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic. My practicum at CAST provided me with numerous opportunities to observe, evaluate and provide trauma-informed practice through direct and indirect learning and training opportunities. My learning goals were to learn clinical practice skills for individual practice, to learn how to provide quality trauma-informed practice, and to develop a professional practice framework consistent with the British Columbia College of Social Workers (BCASW) Code of Ethics. This report discusses my practicum experiences, implications for personal practice such as the need for ongoing, effective self-care, and concludes with several recommendations for social work practice.

The Call of the Faithful: The Integration of Spiritual and Social Work Practice in the Time of COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 379-392
Author(s):  
Shirley Newton-Guest ◽  
Claudia Sofia Moreno ◽  
Marla Coyoy ◽  
Roxanna Najmi ◽  
Tonia Martin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Interpersonal Violence ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
The Public ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Unaccompanied Children ◽  
The Impact

This has been a season of change worldwide. It has become virtually impossible to ignore distressing news about the state of our world. COVID-19 has changed the way we live, work, how we think, and even how we grieve. Every day, Americans are bombarded with reports of rising death tolls, massive unemployment, economic turmoil, and dismal foreseeable predictions. This health crisis has put an enormous amount of pressure on the global community, and this is especially true for our clients who are new immigrants. This pressure has manifested in mental health challenges. Social workers have reported that for many clients the uncertainty and pressure are becoming too much to handle. Typically, clients are experiencing anxiety, depression, substance use disorder, and in some cases interpersonal violence (Brodhead, 2020; Endale et al. 2020; Saltzman et al.,2020). Now imagine the impact on unaccompanied minors arriving at our borders. Prior to the pandemic, the unaccompanied children were dealing with three crises simultaneously: 1) parental and home country separation; 2) trauma from a harsh journey; and 3) language barrier and cultural shock. These issues alone are overwhelming and cause powerful emotions such as anxiety in these children. So how can these emotions be managed, coupled with the dangers of COVID-19? How can social workers provide comfort and support when they may be experiencing the same emotions? This article brings this hidden reality into the public view and enrich the existing social work body of knowledge by demonstrating the restorative power of faith, spirituality, and self-care.      

Beyond the Code of Ethics, Part II: Dual Relationships Revisited

2002 ◽  
Vol 83 (5) ◽  
pp. 483-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Freud ◽  
Stefan Krug
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Code Of Ethics ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Dual Relationships ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
Social Work Practitioners

The authors, both social work educators, serve on an ethics call line committee that provides insights on how the provisions of the (United States) National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics (NASW, 1996) interface with the ethical dilemmas encountered by the social work community. In this paper, the authors highlight aspects of social work practice that they consider ethical, yet not easily accommodated by the provisions of the current Code. They also question the 1996 introduction of the concept of dual relationships into the Code and suggest that the Code adopt the less ambiguous term of boundary violations. Also recognized by the authors is the need for clear boundaries for the protection of clients against temptations that might arise in a fiduciary relationship, and for the legal protection of social workers. But, the authors argue, social work practitioners in certain settings, with particular populations, and in certain roles, inevitably face multiple relationships as an integral aspect of their work. The authors conclude that social work's adoption of the psychoanalytic constrains of anonymity, neutrality, and abstinence has detoured the profession from its original double focus on individuals and their society.

Translating Trauma-Informed Principles into Social Work Practice

Social Work ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 288-298
Author(s):  
Jill Levenson
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Trauma Symptoms ◽  
Trauma Narratives ◽  
Helping Relationship ◽  
Trauma Informed Care ◽  
Trauma Informed ◽  
And Coping

Abstract Trauma-informed social work is characterized by client-centered practices that facilitate trust, safety, respect, collaboration, hope, and shared power. Many agencies have adopted trauma-informed care (TIC) initiatives and many social workers are familiar with its basic principles, but it is challenging to infuse these ideals into real-world service delivery. This article offers 10 trauma-informed practices (TIPs) for translating TIC concepts into action by (a) conceptualizing client problems, strengths, and coping strategies through the trauma lens and (b) responding in ways that avoid inadvertently reinforcing clients’ feelings of vulnerability and disempowerment (re-traumatization). TIPs guide workers to consider trauma as an explanation for client problems, incorporate knowledge about trauma into service delivery, understand trauma symptoms, transform trauma narratives, and use the helping relationship as a tool for healing.

Promoting Evidence-Based, Trauma-Informed Social Work Practice

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 645-657 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua P. Mersky ◽  
James Topitzes ◽  
Linda Britz
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Trauma Informed

Reflections of stress in US abortion narratives

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 533-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mickey Sperlich ◽  
Gretchen E Ely ◽  
Rebecca S Rouland ◽  
Connor A Walters ◽  
Max Carwile
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Trauma Informed Care ◽  
Trauma Informed ◽  
Work Education

A trauma-informed, thematic analysis that identified stress-related themes evident in 39 personal abortion narratives from the Tennessee Stories Project in the United States is presented in this paper. Using the Braun and Clarke model of thematic analysis, guided by the trauma-informed social work framework, researchers examined these narratives to identify stress related themes.FindingsAn overall theme of stress and traumatic stress was found to be present throughout the abortion narratives. These themes were categorized into subthemes, including: (a) existing life stressors preceding the abortion experience, (b) stressors while trying to access abortion services, (c) stressors while obtaining abortion services, and (d) stressors arising after the procedure.ApplicationsThese results suggest that stress and traumatic stress were reflected in these abortion narratives throughout the abortion seeking experience. This finding supports the need for social work practice responses that are designed to address and eliminate stress during the process of seeking and obtaining an abortion in the United States. A trauma-informed framework is recommended for guiding social work education about abortion, social worker interactions with clients who are seeking abortions, and the development of abortion policy in the United States in order to better align the abortion seeking experience with the principles of trauma-informed care.

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