Coming Out of Different Type of Closet: Breaking the Silence About Suicide

I don't need to tell anyone reading this blog how important it is to break the silence about suicide. I know we live in an age where it's uncouth to pry or offer unsolicited help, especially when it comes to those around us who are experiencing marital problems, legal troubles, substance abuse issues, etc. As a result, many of us prefer to be polite rather than risk putting ourselves out there or being put in an awkward situation. As a result, those individuals with suicidal thoughts or ideation feel even more isolated, since no one around them seems to notice what they are going through.

As the individual delivering the Ted Talk below states, "Because of our taboos around suicide, we're not sure what to say, and so, quite often, we say nothing." I truly believe that this silence perpetuates suicide.

As a call to action to my fellow social workers, I implore you to not only put yourself out there, but encourage your family and friends to look for the warning signs of suicide, and to start asking questions to those around them, even if it feels uncomfortable. If your friends or family don't know where to begin, start by sending them this short 4-minute talk.

UCLA MSW: Recruitment Materials 2011

A few weeks ago, UCLA's MSW program hosted its annual Diversity Day, a recruitment fair designed to give prospective students an opportunity to learn about the program, and to engage directly with faculty and students currently in the program. From a personal prospective, Diversity Day was incredibly influential in my decision to attend UCLA over other prestigious programs. I not only learned that student and faculty initiatives jived with my own interests, but I grasped that the UCLA MSW name and community would equip me with the right tools to achieve my long-term goals.

Due to geographical constraints, I know that several Nor-Cal and out-of-state prospective students were unable to attend. For those currently undergoing the application process, I highly recommend you read the following information packet that contains helpful hints on obtaining recommendations, tips for writing application essays, an application checklist, information about the GRE's, and several other helpful items. If interested, I've posted recruitment materials from the 2009, and 2010 Diversity Fairs. Enjoy!

UCLA MSW Diversity Fair Info Packet 2011

An Insider's Perspective: The Great and Not So Great Things About Community Mental Health

As I'm nearing the close of fall quarter in the second year of UCLA's MSW program, I wanted to take some time to reflect upon my experience interning as a Child and Family Therapist for a Community Mental Health (CMH) Center in Inglewood, CA.

From the moment I started seeing clients, my internship experience accelerated from 0 to 60 faster than I can say "self-care." Between learning agency norms, to deciphering Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) acronyms, to absorbing how to document clinical sessions (writing progress notes), to staying present in 8 hour trainings, I feel as though I'm in a constant state of playing catch-up. Someone important to me recently made an analogy that, in several ways, captures how I feel on a day-to-day basis at my internship. In describing his own experience at a new and very demanding job, he said that, "It often feels like I"m drinking from a fire hose." I too, feel as though information is gushing my way at a tremendous speed. Part of me questions how viable it is for an intern, who only works 20 hours a week, is supposed to absorb all the non-clinical information, all while trying to deliver mental health therapy sessions to a caseload of 7-10 clients?

Despite feeling behind most days, working in a CMH setting is tremendously fulfilling and has validated my decision to transition from the corporate sector to the humanity sector. On the not so great days, I always remember what a privilege it is to provide services to struggling individuals. And while the business of relationships is exhausting, it certainly is worthwhile.

Because I am a big fan of lists, below is a brief list of the great, and not so great things about interning in CMH.

Not So Great:

1. The ungodly amount of paperwork
2. Frequent client cancellations
3. Shortage/lack of resources (includes offices to conduct therapy sessions, office supplies, broken bathrooms, etc.)
4. Being at the mercy of the Department of Mental Health
5. Shortage of trained translation staff

So Great:

1. Clinically fascinating cases
2. Tremendous support from other agency employees (psychiatrists, nurses, other therapists, interns, directors, coordinators, administrative staff, etc.)
3. Client diversity (culture, religion, diagnosis, family dynamics, immigration status, etc.)
4. Number of hours of supervision (5 hours/week or 25% of my time is spent in supervision!)
5. Ongoing learning opportunities (primarily through continuing education seminars and group supervision)

Resources for Social Workers in LA County: The School of Mental Health Resource Directory

I just recently got my hands on LAUSD's Resource Directory, which contains a plethora of mental health agencies, hotlines, case management resources, and several other useful listings to aid social workers in supporting their school-aged clients. This is the most comprehensive directory I have seen thus far, and hope my readers find it useful. Enjoy!

Smh Resource Directory 2011-12 Final

Pre-Licensure Courses & Qualifying Curriculum

For those of you who don't know, MSW grads who wish to become licensed, that is, become LCSW's, are required to take the following pre-licensure courses prior to sitting for the licensure exam in California:

1. Human Sexuality (3 sessions) 
2. Spousal Abuse & Reporting (5 sessions)
3. Aging & Long-term Care (3 sessions)
4. Substance Abuse & Reporting (5 sessions)
5. Child Abuse & Reporting (2 sessions)

In a gracious effort to alleviate some of the costs associated with tuition hikes, the UCLA MSW program announced that the department will offer the 5 pre-licensure courses free of charge to their second year students.

Because the classes can be expensive (up to $50.00 per session online) and time consuming (each session lasts 3-3.5 hours), I was very appreciative that the faculty was willing to schedule board-approved instructors to conduct the courses on campus. I happily signed up for all 5 and started attending the courses.

Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on how you want to look at it), I recently found out a frustrating piece of information that would have significantly changed which pre-licensure and UCLA classes I enrolled in from the start of the year. True to form, the department did not mention that UCLA students can take courses within the department to satisfy a corresponding pre-licensure course.

Just so my readers don't end up taking unnecessary pre-licensure courses, below is a grid that details which UCLA MSW courses are accepted by the BBS:

Pre-Licensure Course	UCLA Course
1. Human Sexuality	Human Sexuality Undergraduate Course*
2. Domestic Violence	SW251: Violence Against Women
3. Substance Abuse & Reporting	SW231: Substance Abuse Intervention
4. Aging & Long-Term Care	SW231: Advanced SW in Aging
5. Child Abuse & Reporting	M203: Child Abuse & Neglect**

*According to faculty at UCLA, the BBS will accept an undergraduate course that contains "Human Sexulity" in the course title.

Buried deep in their website, the BBS has a list of "approved courses" that satisfy pre-licensure requirements (also shown below). Of note is that additional courses might be accepted by the BBS, so long as the syllabus and course title correspond with the pre-licensure course.
ucla

To make it easy for my second year readers to plan out the rest of their academic year, here is a list of UCLA MSW Classes for fall, winter, and spring quarters:

2nd Year Class Schedule

HIV, Substance Abuse, and LGBTQ Webinar

Armand Cachero speaking at USC

This past week, I attended a great HIV 101 presentation held by Armand Cachero, a knowledgeable Health Educator from the APAIT Health Center. It was a great opportunity to learn about a topic that is barely covered in my program's curriculum. I now feel much more prepared in the event that I work with clients from this population. 


Although there is an outspoken rivalry between the UCLA and USC MSW programs, I wanted let my readers know that they can access a very similar presentation through USC's Webinar Library. To the best of my googling search abilities, UCLA does not publish webinars of speaker events online. Fortunately, USC has several other webinars covering topics on social welfare, that are available to the public for free. Enjoy!

UCLA MSW Program: Diversity Day 2011

Below is information on this year's UCLA MSW Diversity (Recruitment) Fair. Diversity Day is an incredible opportunity for prospective students to speak with faculty members, hear directly from students, and get a feel for what it is like on campus. Enjoy!
Diversity Flyer 2011

Resources and Opportunities for Minority and Poor Students

Apologies for the lack of posting in October. My second year at UCLA is proving to be a lot more demanding than my first year (I have my internship to thank for this).

Anyhow, an administrator at my internship forwarded this to me last week, and I think there are some great resources here for social workers to pass along to their clients who are students, especially for those of us who work in communities with minority and poor students.

1. A free pair of eyeglasses from Target: Any child 12 years old and under can bring a valid prescription for glasses from their doctor, and receive a free pair of eyeglasses from target. Target stores with optical departments can be found HERE.
2. African American Male Teachers Needed: Do you know any African American males who are seniors in high school who want to go to college out of state for free?  Please visit the Call me Mister Program, offered by four historical black colleges including South Carolina, Benedict College, Chaflin University, and Morris College and South Carolina State University. 
3. Free Tuition at Harvard University: Harvard is offering free tuition to families of honor students who have an income less than $125,000 per year.  Visit Harvard's Financial Aid Office for more info.
4. Syracuse University School of Architecture is Recruiting Young Women and Men of Color: Interested in pursuing a 5 yr. Professional degree in Architecture? Please contact Mark Robbins, Dean School of Architecture, or visit the school's website.
5. Wake Forest University Scholarships for Minority students to Attend MBA Program for Free: This is a tremendous opportunity for those who are unable to pay for MBA programs. Contact info: Derrick S. Boone, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Marketing. Please visit the school's website for more details.
6. The Federal Aviation Association Currently Recruiting Applicants for Air Traffic Controller Positions: Currently seeking young adults between the ages of 18-31 with a High School Diploma.  Can Earn up to $100,000 and earn benefits. Please visit the Federal Aviation Administration for more details.

Are Social Workers Heroes? LA Magazine Seems to Think So

As social workers, we are living in interesting times. For decades, the perception of our profession has been off the mark. Generally speaking, the public associates our professional roles in society as inferior or low-impact. For as long as social work programs have been in existence, we have been fighting against these stereotypes. For example, how many times have you seen a social worker depicted as a "baby snatcher"? Social workers are also frequently depicted as inept, or individuals that can't earn more than $40K per year.

However, I am pleased to bring attention to a moving article in Los Angeles Magazine that is proving that stereotype wrong. UCLA Professor Dr. Jorja Leap is featured in the October issue as one of LA Mag's featured "Action Heroes." Professor Leap has primarily devoted her academic career to studying and evaluating anti-gang programs in the Los Angeles area. Her tireless work with Homeboy Industries has transformed, and will continue to transform several ex-gang members' lives and their families' lives. Keep an eye out for her book titled, Jumped In: What Gangs Taught Me about Violence, Drugs, Love and Redemption, set to be released in March 2012.

Photo Credit: Professor Jorja Leap's Book Cover

The 2013 Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference

This morning I had my first class of the quarter, SW231F Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). I am particularly excited for this course, mainly because every clinical class I have taken in the UCLA MSW program has been extremely general. I look forward to learning a therapy technique in-depth, that will allow me to gain skills and knowledge that I can put to use at my internship with an outpatient, community mental health clinic in Inglewood, California.

While the professor covered some general history and clinical theory about the CBT model, he mentioned what appears to be an incredible psychotherapy conference held every five years. The conference is called The Evolution of Psychotherapy, and to my luck, will be held in Anaheim, CA in 2013 on December 11th-15th. While the 2013 website does not have any details about next year's conference, readers are able to peruse details from the 2009 site. Conference handouts/slides (FREE!), mp3's of keynote and general speakers, and DVDs are all available (mp3's and DVDs must be purchased sadly).

To my surprise, fees to attend the 2009 were not outrageous, especially considering it was a week-long conference. According to the facebook page, professionals paid $630 and students and seniors paid $530. Not bad compared to what I have seen for others!

While the conference is more than a year from now, it might give you the opportunity to plan around job/academic schedules, in addition to plan for it financially, if the conference does sound appealing. Hopefully I will make it there as well.