What Would Dr. Meyers Do?

Dr. Steve Burghardt, LCSW, an activist and professor of social work talks about his committment to valuing social workers. He shares his thoughts fueling his book The End of Social Work and challenges the expectation that social workers labor under intolerable working conditions and financial strain. Dr. Burghardt advocates for the increased pay of social workers and addresses the leadership failures that create a culture in which they should handle burnout through self-care rather than collective action.

We are facing a mental health crisis. Children are plagued with anxiety, depression and chronic school absenteeism. This is resulting in social and emotional delays in addition to academic issues. The pandemic has increased social anxiety. Social pressure is allayed by, yet increases social isolation. Dr. Carrie Sollin talks about the short-term and long-term impact of this crisis and offers individual tools, familial, and school-based approaches to shift a generation of troubled youth.

Hajrah Beig, first generation Pakistani-American embraces her heritage but can find it tricky bridging the culture she identifies with at home and the culture she finds at school and the greater environment. As she talks about family norms and expectations, contending with oppression, and her experiences navigating bias we can all learn to be more culturally humble.

Most of us are aware of the stereotypes associated with the child welfare system and the realities of this system's limitations. Two BSW graduates discuss their experiences navigating the demonstrated lack of professionalism, engagement failures, and interventions that contradicted the social work values they were learning in the classroom. Contending with a punitive approach to family management, they worked to adapt and thrive in that environment, with a few lessons to offer along the way.

Sibling aggression and abuse are the most common forms of family violence yet these impacting and traumatic experiences are still not being wholly addressed through policy, advocacy, and systemic change. There is hope! Learn about an Initiative (SAARA) that is breaking ground in the realm of sibling abuse awareness and change. If you have experienced sibling abuse this episode is sure to resonate with you. If you are in need of resources to address sibling abuse, this episode is for you. If you want to learn more about the impact of sibling relationships, especially when there is non-normative conflict, this episode is for you. And, if you want to learn more about what is being done to advance this social issue and what what you can do, you will learn how.

Dr. Meyers discusses the state of, and fear of vulnerability in a way that most anyone can relate. She makes the case that allowing oneself to be vulnerable is imperative to growth. Social workers also must experience vulnerability to develop professionally and also to be aligned with clients.

Are you in co-parenting distress? Do you work with someone who has major conflict with their partner around parenting choices. Separation and divorce create complications for children. Brook Olsen, a high-conflict divorce expert talks about processes to help navigate stressful and destructive communication and cultivate a healthier environment for the children involved.

Adolescence is hard! We know that first hand. The pressures of this time of development impact parents and their desire to protect or punish youth as an effort to influence behavior. Adolescents struggle with impulse control, the need for immediate gratification and experimentation as a means towards growth. How does this impact social media use - and how does social media use and other peer and societal pressures impact behaviors? A social worker shares her expertise working with adolescents and gets real about her own challenges with her teen daughters.

What can we all learn about ourselves and how to get what we need from hearing from those who are struggling to get what they deserve and are entitled to receive? Many of us struggle with asking for what we need. What happens when you aren’t getting what you need from someone in a work position that is charged with providing that service to you? Although field supervisors are contractually obligated to provide supervision to students, they can sometimes fall short in their responsibility. What can we all learn about ourselves and how to get what we need from hearing from those who are struggling to get what they deserve and are entitled to receive?

A survivor of sibling sexual abuse shares her experience with her abusive brother and the family dynamics that shaped this relationship. She also shares the progress made in her intimate relationships as well as with her family members.