Episode 26: In today's podcast, I speak with Sabrina Heller, a social worker in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who has used Dialectical Behavior Therapy, (DBT) in a variety of clinical settings, including an inpatient eating disorders clinic and an outpatient substance abuse treatment program. We spoke about the goal of DBT, clinical techniques, the role of the client and clinician, the skills training workshop, the three mind states: reasonable mind, emotion mind, and wise mind, and how Sabrina incorporates DBT into her work with clients.

Episode 25: The first poll asked visitors to the Social Work Podcast website, "What is the ideal length for a Social Work Podcast?" Over a 2 week period, 43 visitors took the pollOnly one respondent thought that ideal length for a Social Work Podcast was less than five minutes. In contrast, an equal number of respondents believed that Social Work Podcasts should be less than 10, 20 or 30 minutes (8, 7 and 8 respectively). The runaway favorite for ideal length? "As long as it needs to be" with 19 votes, or 44% of the respondents. Please check our website at https://socialworkpodcast.com for more information and to take the next poll - What do you use to listen to the Social Work Podcast?

Episode 24: In today's podcast I talked with Chris Wolf about Sex Addiction. Sex addiction has been defined as "engaging in persistent and escalating patterns of sexual behavior despite increasingly negative consequences to self and others" (Ewald, 2003). Chris is a licensed marriage and family therapist and a certified sex addiction counselor. She received her masters in counseling psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and trained with pioneering sex addictions researcher, Patrick Carnes. Our interview covered a broad range of topics, including how sex addiction is similar to and different from substance use addiction, common characteristics of sexually addicted clients, basic skills and competencies clinicians need when working with sexually addicted clients, and some resources for further study or learning. Please check our website at https://socialworkpodcast.com for more information.

Episode 23: Today's interview with Dr. Edward Sites is the second in a two-part series on grant writing. In today's episode, I talk with Dr. Sites about the three sections most commonly found in grant applications - the narrative, the budget and the appendices. In the first episode, Dr. Sites talks about strategies for developing and writing a grant proposal. You can find the first part of the interview, as well as Dr. Site's thoughts on the role of women in the development of social work in the United States at the social work podcast website at socialworkpodcast.com.

Episode 22: Today's interview with Dr. Edward Sites is the first in a two-part series on the basics of grant proposal writing. In today's episode, I talk with Dr. Sites about strategies for strategies for developing and writing a grant proposal. In the second episode, Dr. Sites goes into more detail about the three sections most commonly found in grant applications - the narrative, the budget and the appendices.

Episode 21: In today's podcast, I speak with Dr. Lambert Maguire about social networks. Dr. Maguire discussed the development of his interest in the topic, as well as some historical context for understanding social networks. We discussed the theoretical assumptions and differential applications in research and clinical work. Dr. Maguire relates the traditional understanding of social networks to contemporary uses of web 2.0 social networking sites such as MySpace.com. We end out interview with a description of how social networks can be conceptualized throughout the life span. A list of Dr. Maguire's books on social networking as well as an example of a social network diagram can be found at socialworkpodcast.com.

Episode 20: In this podcast, the last of four on pathological gambling, I speak with Jody Bechtold, LCSW about the process for becoming a nationally certified gambling addictions counselor. Jody compares the national certification process with the process to be designated as "competent" to treat pathological gambling in the state of Pennsylvania. If you are interested in becoming nationally certified, you might want to listen to the podcast a couple of times, as there are a number of steps in the process. Resources on the certification process, including names, email addresses and web sites can be found at socialworkpodcast.com.

Episode 19: Today's podcast is the third of four on pathological gambling. I talk with Jody Bechtold, LCSW about two concepts that are central to understanding the thinking of the pathological gambler: Illusions of Control and Chance vs. Skill.

Episode 18: Today's podcast is the second of four on pathological gambling. I talk with Jody Bechtold, LCSW about about treatment basics for clinicians who work with pathological gamblers. We start with a quick overview of crisis intervention and then move into some of the techniques and rationales behind behavioral and cognitive treatments. These are brief theoretical overviews. If you are interested in a more in-depth discussion of these approaches, you can find individual podcasts on those subjects at socialworkpodcast.com. We'll end with a discussion of some of the challenges that clinicians often encounter when working with pathological gamblers. A quick disclaimer - this podcast is intended to be a general overview of treatment approaches, rather than a clinical training. If you are currently working with, or intend to work with people with gambling addiction, proper education and training is essential. In the fourth part of this series, Jody and I talk about some of the requirements for obtaining the NCGC-1 - the national certified gambling counselor certification. That podcast is scheduled to air June 11, 2007 and will be available for download from our website at socialworkpodcast.com.

Episode 17: Today's podcast is the first of four looking at the DSM diagnosis of pathological gambling. In today's podcast, Jody Bechtold looks at what it is, what it is not, and what are the similarities and differences between pathological gambling and substance use disorders.