The Social Work Podcast

Episode 47: Today's podcast is on salary negotiation. Salary negotiation is a topic that is rarely discussed in schools of social work. Yet, for reasons identified in today's podcast, the social work profession as a whole would benefit if social workers negotiated salaries. In today's podcast, I speak with Dr. Cynthia Conley, assistant professor of social work at the School of Social Administration at Temple University. Dr. Conley's research focuses on salary negotiation, the salary gap between men and women social workers, and leadership skills and social work students. Cynthia and I talk about why salary negotiation is an important topic for social workers and some tips for how to negotiate salaries. I ask Cynthia how realistic it is for social workers to negotiate salaries, especially since many social workers take jobs in agencies where salaries are tied to position, rather than the qualifications of the applicant. Cynthia provides some case examples of successful salary negotiation. We end our conversation with a discussion of Cynthia's research on salary negotiation, and some ideas on where salary negotiation fits in the social work curriculum.

For more information about this podcast or others in our series, and for resources about social work salaries and references to salary research, please visit the Social Work Podcast website at https://socialworkpodcast.com.

Episode 46: In today's podcast I speak with Dr. Elaine Congress about her creation, the Culturagram. Elaine and I talk about how and why she developed the culturagram, the ten assessment areas of the culturagram, and how social workers can use the culturagram to improve their services. We end the podcast with a discussion about research and resources about the culturagram.

Because Elaine is in New York City and I'm in Philadelphia, I recorded today's podcast with Skype. As a result there are a few sonic glitches, but nothing that detracts from the content of the interview. Elaine has provided a copy of the culturagram which can be downloaded at the socialworkpodcast website. Also on the podcast website is a brief clip of Elaine talking about the issue of acculturation.

For more information about this podcast or others in our series, please visit the Social Work Podcast at https://socialworkpodcast.com.

Episode 45: In today's podcast, I speak with Shaun Eack about schizophrenia and social work. We talk about some basic information that social workers need to know about the diagnosis of schizophrenia; Shaun identifies and describes the positive, negative and cognitive symptoms that are often present in people with schizophrenia. Around 13 minutes into the conversation we switch the focus from diagnosis to the role of the social worker in working with people with schizophrenia. We end our conversation with a discussion of treatment approaches, including a new approach that addresses cognitive content.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, schizophrenia is a chronic, severe and disabling brain disorder that affects 1.1% of the population over the age of 18. The term "schizophrenia" was coined by Eugene Bleuler from the Greek roots schizein (σχίζειν, "to split") and phrēn, phren- (φρήν, φρεν-, "mind"). Schizophrenia literally means "split mind." But, because of the etymology of the word, schizophrenia is commonly misrepresented as a split personality, or in clinical terms - Dissociative Identity Disorder. The symptoms of schizophrenia fall into three broad categories: positive, negative, and cognitive. The combination of positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms, can make people with schizophrenia fearful and withdrawn, and cause difficulties in relationships with other.

For more information about this podcast or others in our series, please visit the Social Work Podcast at https://socialworkpodcast.com.

Episode 44: Today's podcast is the second in a two part series on measurement for clinical practice and research. In today's podcast I speak with Dr. Mary Rauktis about the difference between measurement in the field and measurement in research settings. We talk about some of the ways that social workers can think about measurement as a tool to improve clinical practice, and some ways that social workers in the field can develop measures that will really benefit their clients. We talk about some of the challenges social workers have using measurement tools because of how rarely measures are integrated into social work courses. We talk about some ideas for how to better integrate measurement into social work education, particularly beyond the required research classes. We end Part II with a discussion of some resources for social workers interested in learning more about measurement.

In part one of the podcast we talked about how she became interested in measurement; some key concepts needed to understand measurement including reliability, validity and error; and how to understand measures used in research articles.

For more information about this podcast or others in our series, please visit the Social Work Podcast at https://socialworkpodcast.com.

Episode 43: Today's podcast is the first in a two part series on measurement for clinical practice and research. In today's podcast I speak with Dr. Mary Rauktis about how she became interested in measurement; some key concepts needed to understand measurement including reliability, validity and error; and how to understand measures used in research articles.

In part two of the podcast we talk about the difference between measurement in the field and measurement in research settings. We talk about some of the ways that social workers can think about measurement as a tool to improve clinical practice, and some ways that social workers in the field can develop measures that will really benefit their clients. We talk about some of the challenges social workers have using measurement tools because of how rarely measures are integrated into social work courses. We talk about some ideas for how to better integrate measurement into social work education, particularly beyond the required research classes. We end Part II with a discussion of some resources for social workers interested in learning more about measurement.

For more information about this podcast or others in our series, please visit the Social Work Podcast at https://socialworkpodcast.com.

Update: On June 30th 2008, I posted the 42nd episode in 17 months and the Social Work Podcast was going strong. But, it has been three months since the last podcast. Today's episode is an update on what's been going on and what you can expect from the podcast over the next few months. To read the full transcript of today's podcast please visit The Social Work Podcast website at https://socialworkpodcast.com.

Episode 42: Today's podcast is the third of three interviews with Kia J. Bentley on psychopharmacotherapy. Kia J. Bentley is Professor of social work at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond Virginia and has published extensively in the area of psychopharmacotherapy. Psychopharmacotherapy refers to the treatment of psychiatric disorders with the use of medication. But, as Kia pointed out in our interview, psychopharmacotherapy is not just about giving people medication and calling it a day. It is an approach to treatment that acknowledges the strengths and limitations of medications.

In today's podcast, Kia talked about a recent, and as of this date unpublished, study she did on the meaning that residents of an in-patient psychiatric facility made out of medication. Kia's study was qualitative, meaning that she analyzed the text of interviews and drawings from the residents to get her results. One of the purposes of qualitative research is to develop a deeper understanding of the meanings that people make out of their lives and experiences. Our conversation turned out to be not only a fascinating view into the meanings that the residents made of medication, but it was also a wonderful sketch of Kia's process of making meaning out of the interviews and drawings. In qualitative research, the researcher is the analytical tool, and Kia's struggles with making sense of these meanings is central to qualitative inquiry.

In the first interview, Kia and I talked about key concepts and the role that social workers can play in psychopharmacotherapy. In the second interview, Kia talked about best practices for referring clients for psychiatric medications, resources for social workers interested in learning more about psychopharmacotherapy and how social workers can think critically about psychopharmacotherapy for both adults and children. For more information about psychopharmacotherapy or other topics relevant to social work practice, please visit The Social Work Podcast website at https://socialworkpodcast.com.

Episode 41: Today's podcast is the second of three interviews with Kia J. Bentley on psychopharmacotherapy. Kia J. Bentley is Professor of social work at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond Virginia and has published extensively in the area of psychopharmacotherapy. Psychopharmacotherapy refers to the treatment of psychiatric disorders with the use of medication. But, as Kia pointed out in our interview, psychopharmacotherapy is not just about giving people medication and calling it a day. It is an approach to treatment that acknowledges the strengths and limitations of medications.

In today's podcast, Kia talks about best practices for referring clients for psychiatric medications, resources for social workers interested in learning more about psychopharmacotherapy and how social workers can think critically about psychopharmacotherapy for both adults and children. In the first interview, Kia and I talked about key concepts and the role that social workers can play in psychopharmacotherapy. In the third interview, Kia talks about a recent qualitative research study she did to explore the meaning that medication had for residents in a psychiatric facility.

For more information about psychopharmacotherapy or other topics relevant to social work practice, please visit The Social Work Podcast website at https://socialworkpodcast.com.

Episode 40: Today's podcast is the first of three interviews with Kia J. Bentley on psychopharmacotherapy. Kia J. Bentley is Professor of social work at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond Virginia and has published extensively in the area of psychopharmacotherapy. Psychopharmacotherapy refers to the treatment of psychiatric disorders with the use of medication. But, as Kia pointed out in our interview, psychopharmacotherapy is not just about giving people medication and calling it a day. It is an approach to treatment that acknowledges the strengths and limitations of medications.

In today's podcast, we talked about why social workers should be familiar with psychopharmacotherapy, legal and ethical limitations of social workers discussing medications with clients, some challenges social workers might have with agency policy around medications, and the role of social workers on a treatment team. For more information about psychopharmacotherapy or other topics relevant to social work practice, please visit The Social Work Podcast website at https://socialworkpodcast.com.

Episode 39: In this episode of the social work podcast, I continue my conversation with author Dr. Allen Rubin. We talked about how he came to co-author Research Methods for Social Work (the most widely used social work research text) and his most recent text - Practitioner's Guide to Using Research for Evidence-Based Practice. We talked about one of his current research projects - the development of a scale that can be used to evaluate how well social workers are learning evidence-based practice. We ended our conversation with Allen talking about a series of books he is co-editing with David Springer that will have practical "how-to" chapters on evidence-based approaches to today's most important clinical issues.

Dr. Rubin can be heard talking about research for social work practitioners [Episode 37] and advice for young social work investigators [Episode 38] at the Social Work Podcast: https://socialworkpodcast.com.