Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud was known to have his dogs present during client sessions, and an animal’s soothing presence has long been noted for therapeutic properties, says Ellen Winston, co-founder of Animal Assisted Therapy Programs of Colorado. Mike Gooch’s daughter, Audie (photo right), stands with Moon, a horse at Home on the Range, a therapeutic equine program in North Dakota. “An animal present provides a social lubricant,” Winston says. “It’s a neutral topic to discuss, especially for children and adolescents.” Animal therapy can mean two different things, she says. There is the...

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“From this day forward, I promise to be part of the solution to ending domestic violence against women.” Recent headline news of domestic violence within the NFL has sparked a much-needed national conversation. Statistics on the prevalence of domestic violence indicate the problem is a worldwide epidemic. A 2013 report of the World Health Organization, titled “Global and Regional Estimates of Violence Against Women: Prevalence and Health Effects of Intimate Partner Violence and Non-Partner Sexual Violence,” found that intimate-partner violence affects 30 percent of women worldwide. According to Domestic Violence St...

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Countless children are waiting for homes that many people with disabilities want to provide, says Robyn Powell, attorney adviser for the National Council on Disability. “There are a significant number of people with disabilities who want to take adoptive children in and raise them,” she said. “But they can face attitudinal and policy matters in the adoption process.” Powell moderated a Capitol Hill briefing on this topic in June, which NASW and NCD co-sponsored. She said the scope of the briefing, called “Rocking the Cradle: Ensuring the Rights of Parents with Disabilities and Their Children,” was for pe...

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By Paul Pace, Rena Malai and Laetitia Clayton, News staff From left, keynote presenters Brené Brown, Steve Pemberton and Robert Reich speak during the 2014 NASW National Conference in July. Photos by Kea Taylor/Imagine Photography The theme of NASW’s national conference, “Social Work: Courage, Hope and Leadership,” was delivered through speakers’ messages and personal stories throughout the four-day event in July. Nearly 2,000 people from 50 states and 12 countries attended the conference in Washington, D.C., where they heard from expert speakers and had the chance to attend a variety of individual pr...

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Attendees at the Special Commission to Advance Macro Practice meeting are, front row from left: Mary Jo Monahan, Terry Mizrahi and Darlyne Bailey. Second row: Darla Spence Coffey, left, and Linda Plitt Donaldson. Back row: Angelo McClain, left, and Jenifer Norton. With the goal to help advance macro social work practice and education, leaders from several major social work organizations met earlier this year at the NASW national offices in Washington, D.C. Leaders from the Special Commission to Advance Macro Practice in Social Work, the Council on Social Work Education, the Association of Social Work Boards and NASW met in April to disc...

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Social workers will be needed in greater numbers as integrated care systems for Americans grow in coming years, said a panel of experts at a Capitol Hill briefing in June. Integrated care is the systematic coordination of general and behavioral health care. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, integrating mental health, substance abuse and primary care services produces the best outcomes for clients and is the most effective approach to caring for people with multiple health care needs. To help underscore this transition in health and mental health care delivery, the Action Network for Social Work Edu...

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Some dogs in the Aboriginal communities of Australia are hairless and infected with scabies and ringworm, said Joyce Higashi, former executive director of NASW’s Washington, D.C., chapter. The dogs, in turn, can infect the children in the communities who keep them as pets, she said. But a social worker came to the rescue, and hearing that story was one of the uplifting conversations Higashi said she had at the Joint World Conference on Social Work, Education and Social Development, held this summer in Melbourne, Australia. “This social worker, on her own, talked to the nurses in the Aboriginal communities and arranged to have t...

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Delegates in August voted down a bylaws amendment proposal that sought to dissolve the NASW Delegate Assembly structure and assign its functions to committees and the NASW board of directors. Delegates voted down the amendment with 89 against and 73 in favor during its triennial meeting on Aug. 2. There were 224 delegates in attendance. For the third time since 2008, delegates used a specially designed website and the telephone for discussion and voting procedures. Over the past year, members and delegates posted and exchanged comments on 22 automatically referred social work policy statements via NASW’s Delegate Assembly section of...

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Crossing through jungles and desert heat on foot, eating trash to survive and dodging gang members and traffickers along the way is what many children from Central America face as they make the perilous journey to the U.S. border, says Wendy Cervantes, vice president of Immigration and Child Rights at First Focus in Washington, D.C. Although the trek is dangerous and death along the way is probable, staying in their countries often means certain death, rape or recruitment into gangs, she said. Fleeing danger is why as many as 60,000 children have migrated from Central America to the U.S. in less than a year, causing a humanitarian crisis an...

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NASW’s Social Worker of the Year (photo right), Adrienne Decker-Delgado, right, accepts the award from NASW President Darrell Wheeler during a red-carpet awards ceremony and reception at the NASW National Conference in July. Photo by Kea Taylor/Imagine Photography NASW celebrated 10 individuals, eight of whom are social workers, during a red-carpet event held in July as part of NASW’s national conference, “Social Work: Courage, Hope and Leadership.” “A Night at the Awards, A Night to Remember” featured an actual red carpet, a reception and speeches from recipients of four NASW National awards, four NAS...

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