Dr. Jonathan Metzl and The Structural Competency Conference

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a lecture by Dr. Jonathan Metzl, a psychiatrist from the University of Vanderbilt, whose research focuses on the intersection of race, gender, and mental illness. As portrayed in his fascinating book, The Protest Psychosis, Dr. Metzl argues that historical and structural forces transformed schizophrenia from a disease that was diagnosed among white, docile females in the 1940s and 1950s, to a disease that was diagnosed among angry African American men participating in the Black Power Movement and other associated groups in the 1960s and 1970s. While the lecture was not filmed at UCLA, a similar video can be found HERE.

At the end of his lecture, Dr. Metzl described one of his new initiatives, which focuses on why teaching cultural competency to mental health professionals and psychiatrists is insufficient. Rather than focus only on sociocultural factors of patients and doctors, structural competency aims to recognize the invisible structural inequalities that shape the definition of a diagnosis.  In other words, Dr. Metzl stated it's not enough to acknowledge the race and gender of the patient and the doctor, but the racial factors of the diagnosis have to be accounted for as well.

For those interested in learning more about structural competency, Dr. Metzl is hosting a FREE day-long conference in New York City on March 23, 2012. All the details can be found here.

Camp Max Straus: A Secular Camp for Low-Income Children

One of the things I love most about working in Community Mental Health is the wealth of information exchanged between clinicians and other staff at the agency. Even though I've lived in Los Angeles for the past 26 years (with a brief hiatus in 2003-2007 to attend college in the midwest), I am learning that there are countless agencies, programs, resources, etc. that I knew nothing about. 


During our staff meeting this past Wednesday, one of my colleagues handed me an application to Camp Max Straus, a summer camp for low-income children run by the Jewish Big Brothers and Sisters Foundation of Los Angeles. There are seven 5-6 day sessions throughout the summer, running from June 24th through August 9th. The list of camp activities is pretty standard, including archery, dance, horseback riding, hikes, arts and crafts, etc. Camp Max Straus offers families a unique value-add, by sending children and their families home with a post-camp report summary of the child's experience over the summer. Through the report, children's parents gain insight into how well their child adjusted to the camp experience, interacted with other children and counselors, and their behavior over the session.

With regards to cost, camp tuition runs $200 for the 5-day session, and $250 for the 6-day session. However, the camp does operate on a sliding scale, so several families who cannot afford the tuition can often go for much less. To request an application for a child from Max Straus, you can call (323) 456-1152 or email Alba@campmaxstraus.org.

Lastly, the camp also offers employment opportunities. Given our training, I think this is a great opportunity for social work students to put their clinical skills to use (and of course, a chance to earn some cash).

A Free Resource: A Provider's Introduction to Substance Abuse Treatment for LGBT Individuals

Earlier today, I had the pleasure of listening to a presentation from Mike Rizzo, a certified substance abuse counselor from the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center. He spoke primarily about crystal meth addiction, treatment strategies for addicts, and how both play into the lives of individuals within the LGBT population.

At the end of his presentation, he handed us a great free resource available through The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) called A Provider's Introduction to Substance Abuse Treatment for Lesbia, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Individuals. This is truly a great resource for any clinician who would like to learn more about the intersection between homosexuality and substance usage.

For a free download of the provider's resource, click HERE.

University of La Verne Conference: Cultural and Social Justice within the LGBTQ Community

The University of La Verne is hosting a free conference on March 24th. Details are included below:

Technology is a Social Worker's Best Friend: Using and Creating an Online Therapy Toolbox

Since the beginning of my internship for a Community Mental Health Agency in a Child and Family Outpatient Clinic, I have tried to get my hands on as many therapy-orientated worksheets and pamphlets as I possibly can. Utilizing worksheets is a great way to add structure to a mental health session, particularly for children and adolescents that are accustomed to completing assignments in school. It's also a great technique to re-focus clients who tends to veer off topic or become distracted within a 50-minute session.

There are literally thousands of therapy-oriented worksheets available for free via mental health blogs and websites. Therapy Worksheets is my go-to resource for finding great content around the web. The blogger has links to organizations that have created content for virtually every topic including anger management, bereavement, mindfulness, parenting, pain management, etc.

While having access to all this information is certainly appreciated, I started to feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of content I was exposed to. Luckily, I came across this great post on Social Work Tech Blog that detailed how to create your own digital social work toolbox via Dropbox. For those of you who don't know, Dropbox is a free online storage locker that let's you access your personal content from virtually any device that has an internet connection. It's the perfect system for busy students or professionals who need access to their documents from several computers and devices (i.e. smart phones, internship computer, personal laptop).

To create my Therapy Toolbox, I simply made a Therapy "parent" folder, which includes several sub-folders so I can easily file worksheets based on their relevance to a particular topic. This way, any time I come across a great worksheet online, I simply upload the file to the proper Dropbox sub-folder. Below is what my Toolbox looks like via the Dropbox iPhone App:

Any time I feel that a worksheet might assist a particular intervention (they are great to hand out to clients), I simply print them out prior to a session. Below is an inside peek into my "Anger Management" folder, which contains several worksheets, questionnaires, and activities aimed to assist individuals who struggle to understand why they have anger issues, and what they can do about it:

Therapy with the Experts: Adlerian Play Therapy with Dr. Kottman

As someone who is new to the field of child therapy, I appreciate any and all direction when it comes to utilizing toys, games, and art projects as an avenue to deliver therapeutic interventions with children. Recently, I was browsing the video library of Counseling and Therapy in Video, and I came across a didactic demonstration of Adlerian Play Therapy for children. What is Adlerian Play Therapy? The following clip provides a nice description:



Bad hair and wardrobe aside, Dr. Terry Kottman, a registered play therapist, goes on to provide viewers with a very concrete example of how she utilizes core Adlerian concepts in the therapeutic space with a young child. Dr. Kottman outlines five broad categories of toys that she typically utilizes while practicing Adlerian play therapy with children, including the following:

1. Family and Nurturing (e.g. kitchen set, baby dolls, bottles, doll house, etc.)
2. Fantasy (e.g. puppets, costumes, etc.)
3. Expressive/Arts (e.g. paints, paper, crayons, markers, easel, play-dough, etc.)
4. Aggressive (e.g. handcuffs, weapons, bot bags, etc.)
5. Active Play (e.g. animals, etc.)

Utilizing various toy categories above, Dr. Kottman demonstrates how to create choices for children when playing therapy games, as well as how to roll with resistance with children. I really like how Dr. Kottman leverages the child's interest in drawing to achieve the intended goals in the play therapy setting (link to video)

Lastly, the following is great demonstration of how to promote working as team, how to make deals with children, and how to encourage children in a therapy session:

Stuck? Yea, There's Now an App for That

I just stumbled upon a new (and free!) iPad app called Unstuck and I think it's truly brilliant. No matter the size nor the type of problem you're currently experiencing, Unstuck helps to uncover and identify your cognitions and feelings that prevent you from moving forward in your life. While I do not condone this as a replacement to therapy, I do think this can provide some additional insight into typical roadblocks you might encounter on a consistent basis.

I unfortunately don't have an iPad (perhaps I need to start saving for one), so I'd be curious to know if anyone has used it? Was it helpful? I'd love for you to share your comments.

 

UCLA MSW Program: Fall Quarter Class Reviews

Apologies for the lack of posting in the last few weeks. I always tend to drop off the map after finals week. Although I attend my internship over the winter break (this depends on agency requirements, but is typical for students with weekly clients), I am finally beginning to relax and enjoy the winter holiday festivities.

For those who read my blog somewhat consistently, you know that I like to post quarter-end "reviews" of the classes I took at UCLA's MSW program. I hope this can provide a window into the curriculum experience for prospective students, and help guide first year students in their scheduling decisions for their second year. Please keep in mind that the following is a rundown of my experience of the classes I took, and does not represent other students' opinions.

231A: Advanced Theory and Methods of Direct Social Work Practice With Couples and Families
This is a continuation class in the 230 direct practice class series, with a focus on couples and family therapy. All students in the micro track are required to take this course. I want to first give a disclaimer that despite my general disappointment in the structure of the class, I did learn a ton about attachment focused therapies, largely because my teacher leans towards this orientation. Although faculty recently revamped the 10-week curriculum, it showed, unfortunately, in a negative way. There was far too much theory/material/reading packed into a short 10-week quarter. As a student, I prefer depth, not breadth, while learning about therapeutic orientations. Just to give you an idea, class topics included but were not limited to family systems theory, structural family therapy, strategic family therapy, integrative behavioral couples therapy, solution focused therapy, narrative couples therapy, interpersonal neurobiology, emotionally focused therapy, attachment focused therapy, etc. I would have liked to see a more didactic approach to learning how the theories are applicable to intervention strategies we can use with clients, and less time spent summarizing and presenting reading material in class.

Average reading/week: 150-250 pgs (depending on if you do recommended reading)
Texts: Clinical Handbook of Couple Therapy, Family Therapy Concepts and Methods
Major Assignments: Group Presentation on one week of reading, Midterm Assignment Paper, Final Assignment Paper
Caveats: Both the midterm and final assignment are painfully long. Below are the "prompts" so readers can see for themselves.
231A Final Prompt 231A Midterm Promt

231F: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Theory and Methods 
Everything about this class, the instruction (Ulises Ramirez taught the class), the text, and the class content was excellent. As I mentioned above, I am a huge fan of learning one or two therapeutic interventions/approaches in depth, rather than learn several in a very broad way. The neatest part about the class is that students self-administer Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) interventions on a self-identified problem behavior. For example, students might wish to reduce procrastination, lose weight, start a hobby, etc. Once students identify a problem behavior, students complete two to three CBT interventions/homework assignments in order to achieve a specific outcome. I really enjoyed this part of the class for two reasons. 1. Students really learn how to conduct CBT interventions because they go through the motions themselves and, 2. Students experience what it's like to be on the receiving end of the interventions and can begin to relate to clients undergoing CBT. After taking the course, I feel 100% comfortable in utilizing CBT interventions in my own therapeutic practices.

Average reading/week: 75-120 pgs
Texts: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Basics & Beyond
Major Assignments: Midterm Exam, Behavioral Modification Writeup (revisions and a summary of weekly homework assignments), and Final Case Conceptualization Writeup
Caveats: Self-administering CBT interventions, otherwise known as "homework," can be tedious and downright annoying. Make sure to pick a behavior that you truly want to work on, and don't mind revisiting daily.

MGMT 285B: Managerial Interpersonal Communication
I decided to take an Anderson Business School class in order to fulfill my elective requirement (students are required to take one class outside the department of Social Welfare). While I wasn't crazy about the instructor, the class material was outstanding. While Social Welfare classes tend to have laborious weekly reading assignments, this class incorporated concise yet powerful articles from several leading business strategists and managers. A new topic was covered each week including motivation and personal development, enhancing your personal brand, clarifying purpose and maintaining poise, using narrative and storytelling, listening and empathy, establishing authentic rapport, building relationships, managing your network, and adding genuine value to others. While many b-schoolers think of the material as "soft," the topics are extremely practical and relevant to the field of social work. I highly recommend this course as a nice adjunct to the material we learn in the MSW department.

Average reading/week: 20-40 pgs
Texts: Course Pack
Major Assignments: Midterm and Final reflection paper (max of 5 pgs), Group Presentation
Caveats: The class was held from 7-10 p.m. on Monday evenings, which, if tacked onto an internship day, can make for a very, very long day.

UCLA MSW Newsletter Fall 2011

UCLA MSW Newsletter Fall 2011

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Free Web-Based Training

Professionals I work with in a Community Mental Health Agency continue to talk about how the future of funding will greatly be determined by outcome measures. What does this mean? It means that reimbursement for the services we provide to our clients will be heavily influenced by improvement (or lack there of) over the course of treatment, as evidenced by outcome measures from various scales.

In order to achieve such outcomes, Community Mental Health Agencies are relying more and more on EBP treatments that are clinically proven to deliver cost-effective results to specific populations. Although  some agencies provide training for their employees to learn how to implement specific EBP's, others do not have the funding nor the resources to do so. For that reason, I wanted to tell my readers about a completely free, web-based training for Trauma-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) offered through The Medical University of South Carolina.

TF-CBT is a very effective therapeutic model specifically for children and their families who have experienced significant emotional and/or behavioral problems due to traumatic events. The training consists of 9 parts, including psychoeducation, stress management, affect expression and modulation, cognitive coping, creating the trauma narrative, cognitive processing, behavior management training, parent-child sessions, and evaluation. Having just completed a CBT 101 class at UCLA this fall quarter, I feel this web-based training is the perfect opportunity to continue my cognitive-behavioral training.