I’m a social worker and a runner. I’m passionate about both, as both activities can promote growth during difficult times.

I ran 373.12 miles in 2012 (for my UK friends, that’s 600.4784 kms) and I resolved at the beginning of 2013 that I would run more this year. I’m not a marathon runner (yet), but bit by bit, I’ll one day get there. This post was written to celebrate a sport that has recently been in the news for not-so-happy reasons, as those events made me feel sad that anyone could disrupt such a happy occassion.

Running is an activity I enjoy for the dedication and positive energy that runners put into it.

Identity: Runner

A friend of mine were talking and I listed the gear that I use: I found myself speaking for a good minute when I listed all of the gear I have purchased over the last year. I also cited information I obtained from reading Runner’s World Magazine, Runner’s World Complete Book of Running, and briefly explained to him foam rolling before it hit me – Holy smokes! I’m a runner!

Is this gonna be a self-aggrandizing post by a runner? Let’s hope not!

Why I Run

I run for health reasons, primarily, to control my weight and to not develop type-II diabetes. The runner’s high is pretty good when it comes to me, and it just feels like I accomplished something when running three miles during my lunch break.

Working in a profession that includes the dreaded sedentary lifestyle (i.e. sitting) as well as high-stress and fast-paced periods, thirty minutes during my lunch helps me to reduce stress, conquer the road, and reduce stress.

I sometimes dislike running. While I like running outside, I hate the cold air shredding my lungs. Some people embrace soreness as evidence of growth, but it’s not for me. Sometimes there’s a need to avoid people (especially smokers) on the trail near my home. However, running has helped me lose weight and it eases feelings of insecurity to have a hobby that many people loathe (and franky, don’t understand).

I am blessed to be able-bodied and able to run.

Camaraderie

My first race was a 5K for the Monterey Rape Crisis Center this year and it was pretty goshdarn awesome! The vibe, the energy, the folks being nice to each other… everyone in their own world and everyone together, working to finish what they started.

Today, I volunteered for the Big Sur International Marathon and the energy from folks that were in Boston this year, as well as all the runners who trained so hard to be at this race, was dang awesome! Not to mention the gratitude felt from handing out water to these runners validated waking up at 3 AM to be there at the start of the race!

The Running Gear That I Use

In Evernote, I stay organized by keeping a list of the running gear that I want to have with me in my running backpack. Every night before I go to bed, I make sure that everything I need is in there.

The above-list is in order of packing, but I am going to talk about my gear from most important to not-as-important.

My Essential Running Gear includes

• Clothing: You can’t run naked. They say you should get clothing with sweat-wicking fibers so that you stay dry while you run. In addition, running socks for cushioning help me feel comfortable.
• Shoes: I have special running shoes that I run with. Very necessary
• Belt: I run with a belt that has two water jugs. Need to stay hydrated!
• Outside Necessities: I run with a hat to keep the sun off of my face, sunglasses to protect my site, and sunscreen to protect my skin.

My Running Gadgets include

• iPhone: It functions as a phone (especially critical in an emergency), GPS tracker, music player, camera, and motivator.
• Nike+GPS app: I love this app. It’s free, accurate, and motivating! I love that you can connect with friends who have Nike+ and that you can route your map and progress. When connected to Facebook, you can tell others that you’re running and you hear every “like” by your friends, in real time, as cheers!
• Amphipod Handheld iPhone Case: It doubles as a hand-held wallet. I carry a self-made ICE (in case of emergency) card and identification.
• Jaybird Freedom Stereo Bluetooth Earbuds: They say that you need to be aware of your surroundings and these headphones block out all sounds except that from your bluetooth connection to your phone. These are great for the gym, but on the road, one has to be especially careful and aware of their surroundings.

All the gear that you see here has been acquired over time and according to my taste. shoes, clothing, and skin care are very important to pay attention to so that you are not discomforted. The running gadgets are optional, but for me, they are motivational in that they keep a log for me of the work I’ve put in to take care of my body.

How To Get Into Running

Anyone can get into running. Here are a few tips:

1. Check with your primary care physician to see if you can run.
2. Get fitted for shoes by going to a specialty running store. They look at how you step and while you will pay a lot for shoes, it is a worthy investment.
3. Start slow, at a comfortable pace, and don’t burn yourself out. If you feel like you’re dying, you’re working too hard and risk injury.

A great place to start is by reading Runner’s World Commplete Book of Running. It’s contemporary, easy to read, and you will get all the best pointers on getting started.

Final Thoughts

For me, running is a metaphor for life. It’s about finding a good and comfortable pace, not taking on more than I can handle at the moment, and going one step at a time, knowing that I will get where I need to be over time. I may not be able to run an 8-minute mile, but I have moved from 13 minutes per mile to 11 minutes per mile in a year. My weight has gone down by 40 pounds in a year and I feel stronger.

In my personal journey with running, there are moments in running that are really, really good and those that are not-so-good. Being sidelined by injury is no fun. Being powerless to do what you need is a reminder of that which our clients sometimes experience. However, it is a sport (or hobby) about resiliency, patience, and perseverance.

Special Consideration

The One Fund Boston group is asking for donations to assist those who were injured during the Boston Marathon. A friend of mine asked to link to their site.

A person once said: Take care of yourselves and each other. Be blessed.

On Repeat

I’m a busy guy. I often have ideas that don’t get recorded, written down, or get filed somewhere never to be seen again. Journaling helps me to take a snap-shot of what is going on in my professional, academic, personal, and clinical goals

Why Journal: Cerebral versus Emotional Processing

In one of my final clinical supervisions during the previous school year, one of my sessions was observed by my clinical supervisor. She told me a profound truth that forever changed how I practice life:

You’re too cerebral and you shy away from exploring feelings [paraphrased].

I’m glad she called me out on this behavior. My tech- / left- / organized- / ones-and-zeroes- mind that needs an explanation for everything really has a hard time dwelling on emotions. Expressing myself through words helps me to give myself that explanation I desire, but to also acknowledge and honor my feelings.

Bear in mind that writing is one of many ways you can express yourself.

Suggested Journaling Topics

Personal

• Tell A Story: Document a noteworthy story!
• Family History: What does your family mean to you? How have they influenced you to do the work that you do?
• Vent: About challenges or frustrating situation.
• Needs, Fears, Hopes Dreams: What are they and how will you get there?
• How’s Your Health?: Write about positive changes or ongoing challenges.
• Who’s in your corner?: Reflect on important relationships

Academic

• Why are you in school? How did you get to college/university?
• Who has helped you get this far? Who’s in your corner?
• Write about feelings that come up as a new/green helping professional in new and difficult client situations.
• Celebrate milestones that come up in your field placement, classroom, etc.
• Reflect on challenges that might come up with working with new people (in the classroom, field).
• What are things you like about your mentor(s)? (e.g. professors, field instructors, etc.)? What are things that you would do different?
• Talk about any ethical dilemmas that might come up.
• What do you want to get out of school? What responsibility do you have to yourself to get what you need?

Professional

• How did you end up in this profession?
• Answer an interview question: You know, those hard ones that seem to trip you up in the interview prep?
• Talk about when you had to face an ethical dilemma.
• Reflection on growth: Have you become assertive? Compare old you to new you

All of the Above

• Set a goal (or several):
  • Long-term
  • Short-term
• Verbalizing doubt: Assisting you to identify your barriers and some ideas to overcome them!
• Celebrate a milestone: You worked hard, girlfriend! (or guy-friend!)
• Brainstorm or hash out an idea: Sometimes an idea starts as half-baked; it may flourish when you start off.
• Self-Assessment: Identify Your…
  • Strengths, privileges, and blessings.
  • Challenges, needs, and feelings of inadequacy.
• Reflect on your progress: Towards goals, career, etc.
• Reflect on your important relationships: Who’s in your corner?: Reflect on what these important relationships mean to you.

Also consider poems, songs, or art as ways to express what you are feeling!

Ways To Journal

Traditional Paper Journal

There isn’t much else to say about having a bound notebook journal handy… A lot of my thoughts flow better and freely on paper. You can also take a picture of your journal pages and put them into Evernote (See: Evernote, below)

Day One App

Day One is an app that is beautiful and designed for all iOS Devices (iPhone, iPad, and the later generations of iPod Touch) and OS X (Mac). This is an applicaiton that I currently use to document my professional goals.

What I like about Day One is that has a lot of nifty features that are not overwhelming for the novice tech person. In starting the app, the user is presented with an empty canvass where they can see their last past and choose whether they want to start a text or photo post. With a text post, one can add text later and vice versa (if starting with a photo post). If you have location enabled, the app will document the time of day and weather. One can also add text mark-ups so that you can bold, italicize, format, etc. text. In the app’s options, you can set a daily reminder so that the app can remind (push) you to write. Lastly, you can set a passcode to protect your journal and you can export via an elegant-looking PDF.

What I don’t like about Day One is that it can be raise security concerns, as your data sits and is synced from cloud services (you can use iCloud or Dropbox) to your various devices. Most of the popular cloud services have had security concerns, so just a gentle word of caution that nothing is infallible and use a strong password for those services.

For some people, the app can be little pricey at approximately $15 for the universal iOS app for iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch ($5 when this article was published) and OS X app for your Mac ($10 at press time). However, I think it is money well spent for what you’re getting: an elegant, highly-functional, and uncomplicated app.

Evernote

Evernote is a free app that works on the Freemium model, i.e. premium features are going to cost you a reasonable price (currently $5/month). I am a fervent believer, user, and aficionado of Evernote! I especially love to use it to organize my social work, personal, and professional endeavors. I heavily relied on it during my academic career. And as someone that has used it since 2008, I can safely say that the majority of the bugs I have grieved about in the first three years are history.

What I like about using Evernote is that it is multi-platform and can be used in a variety of ways to record what’s on your mind. Multi-platform means that on whatever device you use to read my blog, Evernote probably has an app for it. A person can use the blank canvass to introduce not only text, but photos, audio, and (for premium users) other file types like video (e.g. .mp4, .mov, ..wmv, etc.). Premium members can upload notes that are as much as 100 MBs each, at up to 1 GB total for each month.

Some uses for Evernote can include typing out your journal entries or reflections, via some of the suggested prompts above (see: Suggested Journaling Topics). However, some of us are better at drawing our feelings, singing about them, writing poetry on paper, doodling, or even taking selfies (i.e. self-portraits) to document our feelings. Using your smartphone, you can take a picture of your drawing or art project, record an audio note of yourself speaking, take a self-portrait of yourself and describe how you are feeling at the moment, or even use a web cam to record your feelings and rather than upload to YouTube, drop your under-100 MB* video into a blank note. *non-premium members are limited to 50 MBs per note.

A Public Blog

Take your pic, as there are different flavors of blogging and I believe each has an implication for the user type:

• WordPress: Likes to appear professional, sturdy, and likes the ability to swap profile themes. Super geek status if the blog is hosted off of WordPress’s servers and on your own.
• Tumblr: Intended to be informal and the user likes to mix in pictures, videos, or social commentary of other users in between their own commentary. Connected with a community of other bloggers. Also: Loves memes [a meme is an esoteric running joke].
• Blogger: Easy to use, sort of bland, but with the potential of eliciting lots of comments on your blog.
• MySpace: Just kidding, no one uses MySpace.

Please, please, please, if you’re going to blog publicly, I would recommend reading my article about your online identity, peruse your social work ethical standards (US = NASW Code of Ethics, UK = BASW Code of Ethics), and consult with your advisors, mentors, and supervisors.

Some Ethical Considerations

NOTHING that is ever put online, whether it is in the Cloud, on a personal blog, or even via email, is 100% secure. Even with a paper journal, those can be misplaced or lost. With that, I offer some guidelines for all types of journaling.

• Think about your professional image – what if your journal entries got out or into the wrong hands
• Don’t ever state your client’s names.

If blogging:

• Refrain from writing about your client if your client can figure out it’s him or her you are blogging about.
• Don’t complain about work, no matter how bad, oppressive, or dysfunctional it is.
• Self-aggrandizing about your work with clients means that you are in the wrong profession.
• Most importantly: You carry the mantle of social workers everywhere when you identify as a social worker; if you think that making “baby snatching” jokes or criticizing your clients makes for good writing, you are in the wrong profession.

How Will You Use Journaling for your Personal, Academic, or Professional Development?

Special Thanks for My Peer Reviewers:

• Artie Guerrero: Who validated this article for relevancy.
• Jimmy Young: Who caught several grammatical errors, contributed to the Academic journal prompt section, and runs a killer social work and technology blog you should check out.
• Leslie Roberts: Who eagerly jumped at my call on Twitter for help and social worked me through feelings of doubt with her review. Check out her site at Protected Paws.

Thanks for reading

Happy belated Valentine’s Day! If there’s anything that I love more than anything about my profession, it’s the documentation process! Case note writing is a dreadful chore necessary task that is near and dear to my heart. Case note writing is a process in which we document:

• Interactions with our client
• Progress made towards goals
• Interpretations (“as evidenced by”) of our interaction with the client.

Conventional wisdom says that your hour with a client should be 50/10… a 50 minute meeting with 10 minutes for case notes. Ideally, most social workers would most like for notes to be as easy as a two minute jot-down before moving on with our lives. Still, most of us will wrest with the eternal struggle of balancing the task of documenting the bare minimum and essential information of a session. All without spending days upon days writing a dissertation on our work. These tips can also be applied to the papers I know you’re currently procrastinating on, too!

Here are a few methods I have tried and their end results.

1. Egg Timer Method

This is an old fashion method, but the “tic-tic-tic-tic” lets you know that your time is limited and acts as a psychological fire on your rear end. For me, the “tic-tic-tic-tic” is a reminder, telling me to hurry the heck up and finish before the timer has a chance to buzz. This totally beats a digital timer, hands down.

Pro-Tip:

Ikea has the best timers at about $2.00 . The one above was about $7.00 at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

Outcome: Stress-inducing, but for me, it gets the job done.

Read more helpful hints on how to jump-start your case note writing process, after the break!

2. Two Hits and a Miss Method

Make a short-playlist that has two songs that make up about 10 minutes worth of time followed by an embarrassing/dreadful/hated tune (e.g. Infamous Canadian Export Who Shall Not Be Named). Should you take more than ten minutes on your case note, you have to listen to horrible pop music until you finish your note.

Outcome: Embarrassment, decay of the soul, but a completed case note.

3. Just write.

There are times when writing a coherent case note is out of the question, but you can sow seeds for a case note: Even if you are drained after a client meeting, my best advice is to just write. My case notes are structured with different areas that I must address (i.e. Problem, Goal of session, Intervention, Client Response, Clinical Impression, Plan) and sometimes just getting out thoughts into the sections is enough to trigger my brain when revisiting those sections. For me, the Intervention part is the hardest to write. So I will just outline what I know happened.

When I revisit it later, I’ll rework it into:

All the other “stuff” that was there was re-triggered in my memory bank came up and I was able to put together a coherent sentence or three when I came back refreshed.

Outcome: Half-baked case notes, but with seeds that can flourish later.

4. Treat Yo Self

After going through a pile of case notes, what can you reward yourself with to make it worth your while?

Outcome: Motivator(s)!

5. Prioritize and Make a List

If I have more than one case note, I will make a list of my clients (initials only) and with a Sharpie, cross out each name as I finish it. I will prioritize notes (i.e. triage) that need to get done right away (e.g. higher risk clients) and then work my way down the list to lower-priority case notes.

Outcome: A completed list, triage clients, and self-satisfaction.

6. Revisit Your Structure

As previously mentioned, the structure that I use is the one that my employer has me using. Being that I memorized the order, I may have not fully remember what defines each section. This would be a good time to revisit your work site manual on what is asked in each part of a case note – It’s easy to wander off topic and to deviate from what is needed.

For example:

• “Intervention” may be simply defined as “What work did you do with the client?”
• “Clinical Impression” may be defined as “What was the client’s affect, mood, presentation and did it shift during session? State any risk(s) associated with client’s presentation and what measures were taken to address/resolve them. Discuss progress towards goals and client’s motivation level to meet goals. List any provisional diagnoses or changes in treatment goals, etc.”

Pro Tip:

If you have a case note structure at your work site, why not scan it to Evernote with your phone so you can pull it up easily instead of having to hunt for it later?

Outcome: Less fluff, More on-point.

7. Review Previous Notes

If you have had previous case note writing for your file or at your workplace, pull up case notes you have previously written. Being more experienced and in a different state of mind, you can absorb, look at, and feel the previous work you have accomplished and emulate, improve upon, and draw inspiration from it.

Pro Tip:

If you can look at how your colleague writes notes. In my experience, the manner in which licensed folks write their notes just tickles me with delight; I find their apt, to-the-point, no-nonsense case note writing is just refreshing.

Outcome: A self-reminder that you can and have written good case notes before.

8. Remember: It’s a case note, not a dissertation

If you follow me on Twitter, you will see that sometimes I am in case note h-e-double-hockey-sticks and I will tweet this out in jest.

If you find yourself writing too much, it might be time for a break. Like going to Twitter and complaining.

Pro Tip:

Take a five minute walk to clear your mind. Social work is hard work. It’s rewarding, but if you’re burning out, you won’t be able to function in full-burnout mode. Even if tired, you can be at your very-best-while-tired.

Outcome: Shorter and to-the-point case notes

9. Get comfortable

Getting comfortable in your office will reduce unnecessary stress. Switching into casual shoes (or none at all), stretching out some muscles, taking a short walk, preparing a cup of tea, taking a deep breath… Whatever brings your stress level down and alertness up.

Pro Tip:

You get bonus points if the shop is closed and you are at your job or internship site and you can get away with casual attire while finishing up. Super bonus points if that casual attire is work-out clothes. Super duper bonus points if you actually go work out in your workout clothes.

Outcome: Less-than-frayed nerves at the end of a stressful day

10. Get in a zone…

When we talk about Person in Environment, is yours working for you? What do you need to change to be more efficient at social working?

There is a fine line between procrastination and preparing your work environment for getting stuff done. If you do end up getting an egg timer, set it to three-to-five minutes to allow you to prepare.

Outcome: A pro-work environment! Efficacy, maximized!

What other tips would you add to this list?

When it comes to writing, I adhere to these rules:

• Presentation: Quality over quantity, shedding fluff whenever possible and having coherence.
• Direction: The writing task has a purpose (e.g. to inform, remind, document, etc.)
• Ethics: A subjective narrative that has facts (i.e. things we observed) that are supported with evidence. When you have an opinion or suspicion, you state it (e.g. “It is this clinician’s belief that [x], as supported by [y].”)

Happy Writing!

DSM-5 was announced over the past weekend with significant changes made in diagnosing different mental disorders. While some changes were controversial, needed, or anticipated, the fact of the matter is that the DSM-IV TR will become obsolete next year. The DSM has been described as the Bible for mental health professionals, which would be true if this book was fiercely debated, questioned, and if controversy derived from how the dogma was interpreted… oh wait.

Here is a nifty list of things that I would like to see happen with the release of the DSM, from the perspective of the social work tech professional!

1. Ditch The Paper

While a DSM looks fancy, professional, and elite on your desktop or mantle, paper is going out of style like the pager and CDs – a relic of the past.

Tablets and e-readers are the contemporary way of taking in and transporting information.

2. Embracing of the Freemium Model

Many companies in the tech industry offer the Freemium model – free information or services provided to would-be users, with premium features costing extra. If DSM-5 were to implement this, it would expand on the current state of information dissemination with DSM-IV-TR: information freely available on the internet, with the solid text book costing more.

I would love to see premium features include moderately priced: ebook version, apps, and updates for the life of the product.

3. A decent And Up-to-Date E-book version of the DSM

Having seen and played with the APA’s official $65 app for the DSM-IV-TR on iOS, I find myself wanting so much more. I opine that the app is more of a reference tool, than it the actual textbook. Should APA be serious about an ebook, functionality I would like to see includes:

• The ability to highlight and annotate text
• Copy and paste
• An aesthetic visual layout
• Layout which includes, “Reference” or “Diagnostic Criteria” sections in addition to the full textbook. This will allow a user to switch back-and-forth between reading the full text published and only accessing the diagnostic criteria without having to sift through everything else.

4. An All-In-One Price

If freemium is not embraced, I would like to see an all encompassing price for the DSM, where I would not only get a hard, a digital copy, and a code that is a key to access to a functional and speedy app that I could use to obtain diagnostic criteria.

5. Reasonably-Priced Licensing for app Developers.

In tandem with their own offering, it would be nice to see that American psychiatric Association license out their intellectual-property, at a reasonable price, to app developers. Before it got yanked, Shrinkster was a great app that was offered at a free price, only giving out diagnostic titles and their codes.

If the APA wanted to make additional revenue, I would not have minded paying a premium to get a fully functional app from the creators of Shrinkster that not only gave me DSM codes, but could help me out with provisionally diagnosing mental disorders right away.

Interesting to Note: Last updated January 2011 (as of 12/03/2012)

If you were to look in your mobile application store of choice for apps surrounding a service such as Wikipedia, Evernote, or chat (e.g. Google Chat, AIM), or Twitter, you can see the myriad of services that are enhanced by developers being allowed to use their creativity – and everyone makes money while the consumer is (mostly) happy!

I originally said, five, but here are two more bonus things to hope for!

6. Insta-Update

Rather than wait six years for a text revision (the time-span between DSM-IV and DSM-IV-TR), it would make sense that a digital version of DSM be updated periodically and with greater frequency, upon completion of whatever evidenced-based research validates or invalidates the published material. If change is constant, it makes sense to revise with greater frequency.

OMG, WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY TO DO THIS!

7. A Small-to-Nominal Update Fee for DSM-5-TR 

Apple, in their infinite wisdom, allows for users to update their Macintosh Operating System versions, straight from their computers. You pay them their $30, download from the App Store, and voilà you have the brand-new operating system (and all of its features) on your computer. It’s not the $200 that Microsoft charges with each incarnation of their product and is done painlessly. Bugs are squashed with free updates to the latest software version and the operating system is enhanced.

The DSM (and all ebooks for that matter) should operate on the same manner – but they don’t. Why? If there’s money to be had…

It would be ideal that the same model operates with the DSM. Pay the premium price for the product, and each “text revision” or version also cost you something reasonable. In between versions, users would get updates to fix typos, update any out of date information, squash bugs, and quell outstanding controversies.

Closing Thoughts

As social workers, our values of what is common-sense, cost-effective, or ethical often competes with a politics and the bottom-line of a corporation.  This may be derived from the larger culture, which is driven by looking good and making money. In short, the aforementioned list is desirable and practical wants, but without consumers (i.e. you) voicing your opinion of what you will pay for, this list may not come to fruition.

The one desired outcome that I truly hope comes to fruition is app development and licensing (#5). As evidenced by other apps that have been released to assist mental health professionals and by the myriad of apps for Twitter that are aesthetically beautiful, I truly hope that we can have access to our diagnostic tool in different flavors.

In keeping with my annual tradition of being late to celebrate Halloween and Day of the Dead, I have composed a handout for your Social Work Tool Kit that presents a behavioral model for grief and loss. Familiarizing yourself with this model may greatly assist clients (or you) to adjust to unwanted or unforeseen change.

More information and Downloads follow the break.

If you like my blog, consider liking me on Facebook, following me on Twitter, and checking out my nerdy behaviors on Instagram!

It’s almost as if we are not all going to buy DSM-5 when it lands next year. This was such a great app and if you feel the same, here is where to let them know.

Review follows the break.

My Facebook page (OMG, YOU SHOULD LIKE IT NOW) elicited a suggestion from Paul R., who told me to check out Shrinkster. Bless you, sir!

Holy smokes people… Whether you are a clinical social worker (like me) or not, stop what you’re doing and download Shrinkster for iOS now… It’s free!

Shrinkster works on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

This is an app I use in clinical practice!

What It Does

As stated in the above graphic, Shrinkster is “a speedy index to the DSM-IV-TR”. While I am bummed that our beloved clinical diagnosing tool is scheduled to be out of date sometime next year, it works wonderfully at the present moment.

Shrinkster spells out DSM codes and titles by code, name and title.

This app is easy to use, as a clinician can glide through this app on their iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad (at the iPhone image size) with little fuss to find what they are looking for

In Clinical Practice

In the “Clinical Impression(s)” portion of my case notes, I tend to state what’s working, what’s not, and present areas of clinical focus that may be appropriate for further intervention.

What has enriched this area for me is to be able to quickly add preliminary, provisional, and rule-out diagnoses with DSM codes, which I can refer when formulating a formal treatment plan (after session 3 in my current internship). Shrinkster allows for me to snag these codes, without fuss and knowing that I can further investigate and solidify what my principal diagnoses are for my clients.

I tend to jump to the chapters that I need, as I need. Them, for example, if I want to search for V-Codes, I search “By Chapter” and then “Other Conditions That May Be a focus of Clinical Attention” and voila!

Ethical Considerations

It’s very easy to cookie-cutter every sad client into a “Dysthymic Disorder” or client presenting with multiple issues as “Mood Disorder NOS”. It’s very easy to cookie-cutter every sad client into a “Dysthymic Disorder” or client presenting with multiple issues as “Mood Disorder NOS”.

Within the ethical Principles of the NASW Code of Ethics, the most prevalent value that is spelled out with how we practice is the value of giving dignity and worth to the person that is your client; the ethical principle is that “social workers respect the inherent dignity and worth of the person” (NASW, 2008). Per the NASW “social workers treat each person in a caring and respectful fashion, mindful of individual differences and cultural and ethnic diversity”. in a socially responsible manner consistent with the values, ethical principles, and ethical standards of the profession.

Also to consider is the Competence section, whereas “social workers practice within their areas of competence and develop and enhance their professional expertise”. Section 1.04(a) outlines that “wocial workers should provide services and represent themselves as competent only within the boundaries of their education, training, license, certification, consultation received, supervised experience, or other relevant professional experience”.

In plain English: be mindful that when you use this diagnostic reference tool to assist you, that you use the actual reference tool (i.e. DSM-IV-TR) and clinical supervisor (if appropriate) to guide you in making your clinical judgements.

Download Shrinkster from the App Store! 

Click images for a .png file of the self-assessment graphics (color above, worksheet below). PDF version is below under “Downloadables” section below, after the break.

Strengths-Based

This is a great way to take a snapshot of a person’s life at a point in time. It keeps challenges in perspective and assists a person to identify their strengths. For social work students and social work practitioners, this is a great intervention to acknowledge the good in you and to reassess your own growth, value, and mindset at this present moment.

For clients, this is a great empowerment exercise which can help them to identify what their needs are and help them to think about their strengths.

In implementation of this intervention, be mindful:

The stronger your self-awareness is, the greater power you have to make change!

Field Tested

I used this with freshmen college students at a workshop. To be quite frank, my colleague was the one who implemented it (and she did a darn good job with it!). The students spent a five minutes filling it out and reported back that it was very helpful in getting to know what their needs are, who they are, and the strengths they have within them.

My Self-Assessment

As this was in “beta” [which is nerd-speak for "not ready for prime time"], I figured I would try this myself. I got a request from a colleague to post this intervention after they saw it on my SocialWorkTech tumblr site. Here’s a daily dose of grandiosity

Pro-Tip: Take a picture with your smartphone and upload it to your “Professional Development” folder in Evernote!

Downloadables

Click here to download PDFs:

• Color Intervention only
• Worksheet Intervention only
• Both, Color Intervention and Worksheet Interventions

A Note on the Social Work Tech logo on my images/PDFs

While I am not the creator of the original model of self-assessment, I ask that you not alter my logo or remove it from the PDFs or images I put on this site – I would like other social workers to know about the great resources I put on my site. I also think that these tools serve as a great recruiting tool for acceptance of mental health to non-social workers. Ethically speaking, if you use any of these images in your presentations, you should be citing your sources!

Follow me!

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Tumblr

socialworktechblog.com will still work for rss feeds (e.g. Google Reader), but just to play it safe, go ahead and update to the new site!

P.S. It took me 10 minutes to make this video on my iPad! What a marvel technology is

Surprisingly, people still use the telephone to talk to people to get their information

I recently had to contact my student loan lender to receive information about my repayment schedule, amount, terms, conditions of taking a deferment, etc. Thankfully, the young lady who was helping me out was cordial and willing to help me out. Sometimes though, people are not as patient and just want to get you off of the phone. Sometimes we get very flustered and panic our way to the end of the conversation.

Problem: Information Overload

When being presented with information, one can fall behind or get confused on what the information provider is relaying.

Especially for those of us that are no longer young bucks (I speak only for myself), sometimes being overloaded with information can be frustrating.

In the spirit of advocacy for your clients, self, or agency, I am proposing a solution for managing information overload that a social worker might face when receiving a lot of information from another resource.

Read more about how you can use Evernote to better advocate for your clients and yourself, after the break!

You have to!

Intervention: Use Evernote to Help You Retain Important Information!

For the sake of relevancy to social work, I am going to model this intervention as if I am calling a colleague or other service provider for the client.

This intervention can also be used for your own self-advocacy. For instance, if you are calling to find out information for a job, are talking to your boss about an important project (with specific expectations), or are doing other NON-CLIENT-IDENTIFYING ACTIVITIES.

Part I: Prepping for my Phone Call

I always prepare a list of questions because, quite frankly, I’m not very good on my feet when in the middle of a conversation. Knowing that I would be bombarded with information and that my mind would ask many questions I had not yet written down, I always feel a need to be very prepared.

I believe a well-prepared phone conversation (as opposed to a scatterbrained style) projects control and professionalism.

Below, you will see some of the questions that I have prepared for the conversation.

Prepping for my phone conversation

Part II: Recording the Conversation to Evernote

iPad recording the phone conversation

The above picture shows my smart phone calling an outside agency and my iPad recording it. In lieu of the cell phone, one can use the speaker function of their landline phone and use your smartphone or iPad to record the conversation into Evernote.

While the conversation is recording, I am writing feverishly on my notepad.

Remember, anything you say about a client gets uploaded to the web, so whether or not you have a Release of Information, keep your comments non-client identifying!

Part III: Getting Your information Straight

Processing Information

The benefit of this intervention is that by recording the phone conversation, one can reference information received at a later time, process it again, and reference it to make sure you have your tasks and information straight.

With the conversation I had with my colleague, I was thrown various client qualifications for admission to her program, as well as some expectations, what the ideal candidate needs to have completed, and types of insurance taken.

She relayed other valuable information that my mighty pen lagged behind in recording, but that technology helped me to keep up with by capturing everything.

Chicken scratch, after my phone call.

Typing Out Your Scribble

I then take the time to transcribe the conversation into Evernote by typing it out.

You could probably get away with taking a picture of your notepad page(s) and attaching it to your note (in Evernote), but then you will have to eventually take time later to transcribe what you just wrote down.

This is how I do it:

All nice and pretty!

I like to write out all relevant information into coherent sentences/statements of information. Then I group relevant

information together in my note. I will then make sections and write out all the relevant information that I will need into sections (e.g. Program Information Qualifications, Process of admission, what to expect, etc.)

In Practice

I have used the above intervention in practice, in person, with my supervisor/employer in a non-client specific manner. I let them know that it is because they talk fast and I want to get everything that they want written down correctly so I ask if I can retain the conversation by recording it – they typically give permission. When they do, they are fully aware they are being recorded.

Ethical (and Legal) Considerations in Social Work Practice

• I am a practitioner of the sentiment that you do unto others as you want done to you. That said, the prudent, legal, and ethical way to go about following through with this intervention is to let the person on the other end of the line know that you’re recording the conversation for your own reference.
• In many local governments (in the U.S.), it is my understanding that it is legal to record a conversation if at least one of the speaking parties (i.e. you) know that the conversation is being recorded.
• Be sure to research or consult to make sure you are in compliance with the law. You may also want to Google: ”phone call, recording, legal, [your state]“ Or speak to your legal counsel to make sure you are not violating any laws.
• Lastly, Evernote is not a good harbor for Client-specific/-identifying data. Proceed with caution!

Leave a comment and tell me what you want to see next!

Stop what you’re doing right now, go to iTunes, and download Serenity for your iPhone (or iPod Touch) and iPad - It’s free for a very limited time! [As of MON 04/09/2012, both apps are now $0.99]. It’s an app I would recommend for your clients to promote positive and calming relaxation. If you come across this post after the Free period is ended, t The app is still worth purchasing and gets the Iggy Seal of Approval!

Read more of this review, which includes a beautiful slideshow of the app in action, after the jump!

Slideshow

Check out some of the beautifully stunning images in this incredible app:

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What it is

Serenity (iPhone / iPod Touch / iPad) is an app by a wonderful company named tap tap tap. It promotes relaxation using aesthetically visual and calm auditory elements.

The app comes with 30 destinations that include

• Peaceful fields
• Soft Rain
• Underwater worlds
• Thunderstorms over sleepy towns
• Brightly colored clouds of incense
• Fantastic vortexes
• Piles of sleeping kittens (omg, KITTIES!)

Other Features

Serenity has a built in timer to shut off automatically if you want to fall asleep with it.

For those of you with an AppleTV, the visualizations look stunning on your television set if you want to watch them that way.

In Social Work Practice

I have used this app in Social Work practice:

• To help clients diffuse their anxiety. Some of the images and animation (e.g. rushing water, stormy night) draws the client into the scene and promotes a calming effect.
• As a take-home intervention for clients to spend time gazing at the images.
• As ambient noise when I’m writing my case notes.
• As a self-healing tool for myself and to promote my self care when I am feeling anxious.

In Conclusion

This app gets the Official Iggy-Endorsement Go get it! (iPhone / iPod Touch / iPad)