Reddit mentions: The best social work books

Hey, sorry for what you had to go through and I’m with you on a lot of what you said, while our experiences may have been different the patterns are there.

Also, yeah, I got to the point where I had the family all against me too.

Actually sat across from my millionaire god father who without realizing it at first, started pulling some of the same invalidation shit.

Tried to insinuate that everyone in family sees how I’m wasting my time with this. (Bitch please, ive been working on other things, you just haven’t gotten past level 1)

I respect the guy a lot but at same time I’m like “No!, you will not just act like my experience didn’t exist, nor will you just ignore it or dismiss it. The healthy way to respond to another’s experience is to say ‘Yes and...’ of ‘ I hear you and...”. Followed by several clarifying questions to understand better.

That was a good point, as I guess I threw him off and he didn’t go on to do that. But looked dumbfounded like he didn’t know what to do with that as if no one had ever told him “hey I exist here” and know how to come back at him when he dismisses it.

For the record i noticed as I talked to different members of family I had to accidentally go through a period where I realized my Boundries emotionally and emotional distance had failed me where I took them more serious than i should have.

Then had to restrengthen them. This was the moment I woke up while in front of him.



I explained to someone that I was in a situation where my fearful-avoidant Attachments system was going kinda crazy and had trouble meditating (I live with my closet narc mom now...go figure.)

One lady on the headspace forum said that fearful avoidant attatchment style people tend to struggle a lot with expectations
https://youtu.be/3D5BorKyFfY

If you are fearful-avoidant Attatchment style

This video helped me understand it better and this girl who does the video on YouTube I think so far has the best stuff I’ve found. She may be a fearful-avoidant her self.

Many of us are. As it’s an Attatchment style born out of chaos.

I’m also adhd, with an H. Had have - not sure how that one works honestly. ODD as well and def played the “if you can’t beat them join them game” so I ended up on the right side of the spectrum my self.

There is a whole chapter about people like me in the “Body keeps the score” actually many of us.

It’s called “Developmental Trauma Disorder”

And I looked at it and was like “Holy **! That’s my family”.

Developmental trauma (DT) (or reactive attachment disorder) can manifest in a variety of ways: sensory processing disorder, ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder, *bi-polar, *personality disorders (especially borderline personality disorder), PTSD, cognitive impairment, speech delay, learning disabilities and **more.

Stars indicate number of people in my family with it.
Learning disabilities I just put under most of us because there was really only 1 neurotypical kid out of 4.

Boundries are deliberetly built - get a book and work book - I got the boundries ones. I found despite being really turned off because of the religious aspect of the book (a lot of relationship books seems to do that at times and they are still good despite)

But being adhd, lack of interest is never an excuse. Because I just need to lean in and be open to creating my own interest. And it doesn’t happen instantly but it comes as I get into it.

While it dosent make it all magically easier. - adhd dosent turn off.

When I understood boundaries as what make you bad ass, I finically after watching Sabrina the teenage witch on Netflix and noticing the reason she came off like a bad ass was she had excellent boundaries and they grow as they grow in self concept of self love of self and execution of boundaries and good barbs on the fence (consequences)

On the front of my boundaries workbook I changed the title to “how to be a bad ass!”

This shit is hard enough, and I totally know what you mean by having trouble being dependent or attatched.

Living with the closet narc that became unmasked and then seeing all the signs of emotional abuse I didn’t know where even there kinda makes me crazy.

On some level though I don’t have to lie, I just don’t have to force it, but have my Boundries. I’ve learned too to put them in writing and list them and the consequences out (think of divorces, if the choice wasn’t binary (marriage vs divorce).
It’s frustrating to create that standard because I’m not always sure what to write and have not completed that yet but it’s a goal to be able to articulate clear AF!

Also I wish to introduce everybody to the concept of “Earned Secure Attatchment”
heal for life: Earned Secure Attatchment


“Research has shown that most functions of the pre-frontal cortex are outcomes of secure attachment and that all functions of the pre-frontal cortex are strengthened in mindfulness practice (Graham, 2010).

Neural integration creates coherence in mind and narrative; this can happen when we make sense of our lives, altering our attachment status and gaining “earned secure” attachment (Siegel, 2007).

Earned secure attachment: According to Mary Main, (1995) the primary characteristics of “earned secure attachment” are metacognitional and integrative thinking. This includes the capacity to elaborate a theory of the other’s mind, decentralising, the ability to reflect on one’s mental states, and the establishment of a sense of mastery and personal efficacy. Secure attachment allows the individual to feel safe deconstructing childhood events, cognitions, and affective responses and reconsidering conclusions, then and now.”


—-

On top of it,
Clearly as we are the ones who have known this pain the most in many ways I sense we have an obligation to really ensure this problem is solved.

I explained my circumstances and my life to some Med students who told me they where learning about aces and how it fits in.

They said the issue in the US “might be fixed in 20 years” to which I said “BS” to that.

Child hood trauma is the largest public health crisis that has been ignored 4x in history.



While we all need to not feel guilty for engaging in this now, as we are all healing. Knowing that we, of all people at some point owe it to the current and next generation of kids, to ensure this topic is dealt with.

Every single chronic health condition in my family is significant associated.
7/10 killers in the country disease wise and also the majority of the most expensive disorders diseases to treat are all associated with it, on top of the smaller things like thyroid or autoimmune disorders and asthma along with many others. The worst part is diabetes is the final result of the lifetime of stress.


Every government, healthcare, education, civic-religious-youth group leaders need to be asked 1 question...

“What’s the plan to prevent childhood trauma, which is at epidemic levels?”

And the book can be gotten on amazon or for free downloaded in ebook from website.

Our kids are not safe That changes now! Anna age 8, the data driven prevention of childhood trauma and maltreatment.


Ana age 8 institute

They have trainings they offer to make every one in those groups of people to target into “Resilience leaders”

This remarkable book is the brainchild of authors Courtney and Cappello, whose empathy, reason and inspired thinking have resulted in a brilliant plan to heal the scars of a generation. Should be required reading for every teacher, every parent, and every public leader from health official to mayor—because this epidemic of trauma is real and must be taken seriously." -Yarrott Benz, teacher and author of The Bone Bridge: A Brother's Story, IPPY gold medal winner


Now you see that we know the problem, we know it costs us shit tons of $$$$$$$$ on every area of life including the education system where it shows up first to the tune of $130-$240 million per day on top of the ungodly astronomical number it costs us in health care that I don’t even want to imagine (universal health care ironically isn’t too expensive if we just stopped treating each other like shit, universal is as much public health measures related to this as other ways of reorganizing that. In an intelligent yet adaptable and responsive way.)

I told those med students that day who said “it might take 20 years”. - “Bullshit- we know the problem, understand it, have the answer, know the cost of ignoring it, and the truth is with all that at our disposal, unless you want to be the ones to explain to Ethan an Anna in 20 years why we did nothing, then we at least have to push to fix this now.”

I woke up to this realizing I have contacts with enough principals from my last job in a non profit that represent 60,000 kids. All I can say is you better believe they will at the least be hearing from me. Some schools are onboard with trauma related car, but not all, and on top of it, those different sectors I talked about haven’t integrated yet which is where the true solving of this problem happens.

A kid dosent just walk into school with “a bruise on his face” one day and everything else is fine at home.

Insert what ever you want in between the “ “

But while we don’t have all tactics laid out locally, we know how to make phone calls and talk to people. We know boundries are and we know what dismissing and invalidation look like- because when people on those positions get awkward, we need to sympathize but still not let them off. Because giving them the choice to explain to Ethan and Anna in 20 years why they didn’t act, or to become a resilience leader to truly solve this problem, that’s what it takes.

Peace Corps used to have a bunch of books that were collections of Peace Corps essays.

At Home in the World

Peace Corps: The Great Adventure, 1997

Peace Corps: The Great Adventure, 1999

Peace Corps: The Great Adventure, 2002

Peace Corps: To Touch the World

From the Center of the Earth: Stories Out of the Peace Corps

One Hand Does Not Catch a Buffalo: 50 Years of Amazing Peace Corps Stories: Volume One: Africa

Gather the Fruit One by One: 50 Years of Amazing Peace Corps Stories: Volume Two: The Americas

Even the Smallest Crab Has Teeth: 50 Years of Amazing Peace Corps Stories: Volume Four: Asia and the Pacific

A Small Key Opens Big Doors: 50 Years of Amazing Peace Corps Stories: Volume Three: The Heart of Eurasia

Plus there are tons of memoirs about one person's experiences, like Living Poor: A Peace Corps Chronicle and Nine Hills to Nambonkaha: Two Years in the Heart of an African Village

Good reading!

I'm glad you're open to entertaining different viewpoints than your own, thank you for being here. I don't like how polarized online political spaces are, especially those that agree with a rational and solution-based policy rather than a reactionary one.

Did you buy the book? No? As I stated earlier I want to remove barriers to education, not support them. Sharing a file I legally obtained, of a book that I own, on a privately-owned forum... we can ask the author his feelings on this particular instance, though I'm positive I know the answer already. As for others' perceptions of me, I really don't care, although if I said I would if they looked at the material, I might admit it. (You might find in the work that there is no such thing as a pure system, and though ours is predominantly universal/communist, it is unique in that it has a tick stuck on a certain part of the system... find out where, and why it predominantly affects the middle class!)

I hope you realize the majority of the practices you defend having and "Killing someone who is convicted of horrible crimes is cheaper than jailing them for life, killing someone with a terminal illness is cheaper... Does not mean that is what we should do" is directly contradictory. "Expensive" things are okay when you do them, not when others do them. (Just for the record, the life sentence is cheaper than the death penalty. The terminal illness thing is a non-sequitur though, don't know where you're going with that.) You can tell a market failure 9 times out of 10 by seeing if the discrepancy has had a moral outrage tagged on it. I am not arguing that things are cheap, therefore good. Medicare for all, tuition reform, investment in renewables, are all ethically good but are branded as coming with a price tag. In reality they save money (well, not for the owners of the industries) and stimulate the economy to boot. The most extreme example I can think of is Housing First solutions to homelessness, where a person is literally handed keys to an apartment, free from rent for some amount of months. It's not only the most effective way to help a person secure a job and safely break from any addiction, and it's monstrously cheaper than the costs to taxpayers accrued by being on the streets, visiting the hospital for constant illness, law enforcement incidents, etc... it helps society and the person affected. (amazon link, you bastard) But, it helped an asshole, grr. Legislative policy should not be retributive. We're not out for revenge, we're out to establish a standard of living. If feelings get in the way of that, maybe talk about it with a friend, but try not to let it affect others. Morality, separation of church and state, etc.

I think you are missing my point as to my standard of living. I worked as hard as it was possible to work to get to my current standard of living, e.g. below your standards. Now I am working and taking 17 college credits, which I was only able to do by first overcoming that hurdle. This is the best a person can do. This is the greatest success of my class. The vast, countless majority of my peers are working very hard and didn't get nearly as far. Why should I care about the freeloaders now, until I see that the most hardworking Americans are getting the life they earned, no less? And, in all the ways I see to help them, for less money than I as a taxpayer are currently spending? I only see one person accepting a handout they did nothing to deserve, and using it as justification to deny others, and it's you. I don't dislike you for it, but I wonder why you insist I spend more on a system that is neglecting the basest services a government itself was conceived to supply.

Calf massage rings, like these, have been a GAME CHANGER for me. i have chronically tight calves (why?! was i born like this or am i doing something wrong?! sob) and these have done wonders to relieve tension.

i love MPG yoga pantsover any over brand - yes more than lululemon and nike. they are so stretchy and always have really cute designs.

here's a weird one - salmon heads! i dont do keto, but i stick to low carb, high fat. i like to eat salmon heads for dinner. the head of a fish is very rich and fatty, which keeps me full for a longgg time. go to any asian market and ask if they have salmon heads, they'll sell for super cheap since no one likes them!

I used the pocket prep app and purchased the full version (I think $25 but really nice way of brushing up on some specific information that could equate to recall type questions). I also used the book linked at the end of this and read through it twice - probably overkill. Like most people always do I would highly suggest the ASWB prep exam and read through the question justifications once your completed once or twice.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0826172016/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm going to be applying as an army social worker over the next couple months. It's pretty difficult to get as they are very selective so we'll see what happens. The job I have right now is excellent though so not in a huge rush but eventually would like to get back in the federal government and work with military as I am a vet.

This book focuses on relationship-based practice and has an amazing chapter on communication skills.

It has basically everything you need - core characteristics of effective communication, how to put them into practice, case study examples, contexts of communication, challenges of communication, communicating with specific service users [children, elderly, disabled, mental health patients etc, suggested further reading and useful links.

I would highly recommend it.

I think you're mixing up two visually similar maps, with two highly different concepts.

This one that you're talking about. http://www.globalwarmingart.com/images/a/aa/Annual_Average_Temperature_Map.jpg

And this that I think you should be focusing on: http://www.authentichistory.com/1914-1920/1-overview/1-origins/MAP-1914_Colonization.jpg

Also: here is a rough map of your observations about general wellbeing. http://debitage.net/humangeography/images/GDP_per_capita.png

Countries with low levels of prosperity generally have relatively recent history of slavery or other types of subjugation effecting large swathes of the population. Africa is a perfect example as shown on the second and the third map.

There are exceptions to everything, but countries with high quality of life were either colonizers (Spain, UK, Holland), or were colonized mainly through genocide (Canada, US, Australia, some southern countries in South America).

The purposeful destruction of culture and the devaluation of whole peoples seems inseparable from the process of colonization, and it sets back the people effected for over a hundred years. Take a look at what has happened to remaining native populations of Canada, the US, and Australia, and you'll see the same patterns as what you're observing in what is called "The Global South". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North%E2%80%93South_divide

I could go on forever but I think studying colonization and oppression will help you explore the concepts you brought forward. This is a good resource on oppression: http://www.amazon.com/Challenging-Oppression-Confronting-Privilege-Mullaly/dp/0195429702

Remember the important difference between correlation and causation!

A different question you may also be asking now is "Why did the Northerners get to oppress the Southerners?" A lot of it has to do with luck (to have metal, to learn to use it, and to be accustomed to filthy diseases), and I think this book gives a really interesting starting point. http://www.amazon.com/Guns-Germs-Steel-Fates-Societies/dp/0393317552

That's a good idea, I didn't know we could "flag" questions so I'll definitely be utilizing that now. Overall, I've been doing pretty well on the practice quizzes, but I'm noticing a pattern of which questions I'm getting wrong.

Some people didn't get much out of the prep course, but I did. They focus more on HOW to take the test rather than the actual material we're being tested on. It's a great way to learn test-taking strategy, but I'm sure you could just buy the book, or read the strategies online. The book also is essentially the "cliff notes" of what we've learned over the past two years, so it's a helpful review! That's just my experience, though.

This is the book that I received at the prep course.
http://www.amazon.com/Social-Work-ASWB-Masters-Guide/dp/0826172032/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457195151&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=ASWB+maters+exam

Texts and Reference Books

Days in the Lives of Social Workers

DSM-5

Child Development, Third Edition: A Practitioner's Guide

Racial and Ethnic Groups

Social Work Documentation: A Guide to Strengthening Your Case Recording

Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Basics and Beyond

[Thoughts and Feelings: Taking Control of Your Moods and Your Life]
(https://www.amazon.com/Thoughts-Feelings-Harbinger-Self-Help-Workbook/dp/1608822087/ref=pd_sim_14_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=3ZW7PRW5TK2PB0MDR9R3)

Interpersonal Process in Therapy: An Integrative Model

[The Clinical Assessment Workbook: Balancing Strengths and Differential Diagnosis]
(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0534578438/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_38?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ARCO1HGQTQFT8)

Helping Abused and Traumatized Children

Essential Research Methods for Social Work

Navigating Human Service Organizations

Privilege: A Reader

Play Therapy with Children in Crisis

The Color of Hope: People of Color Mental Health Narratives

The School Counseling and School Social Work Treatment Planner

Streets of Hope : The Fall and Rise of an Urban Neighborhood

Deviant Behavior

Social Work with Older Adults

The Aging Networks: A Guide to Programs and Services

[Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society: Bridging Research and Practice]
(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415884810/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy

Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change

Ethnicity and Family Therapy

Human Behavior in the Social Environment: Perspectives on Development and the Life Course

The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work

Generalist Social Work Practice: An Empowering Approach

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association

The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook

DBT Skills Manual for Adolescents

DBT Skills Manual

DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets

Social Welfare: A History of the American Response to Need

Novels

[A People’s History of the United States]
(https://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States/dp/0062397346/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1511070674&sr=1-1&keywords=howard+zinn&dpID=51pps1C9%252BGL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch)


The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Life For Me Ain't Been No Crystal Stair

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Tuesdays with Morrie

The Death Class <- This one is based off of a course I took at my undergrad university

The Quiet Room

Girl, Interrupted

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

Flowers for Algernon

Of Mice and Men

A Child Called It

Go Ask Alice

Under the Udala Trees

Prozac Nation

It's Kind of a Funny Story

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Yellow Wallpaper

The Bell Jar

The Outsiders

To Kill a Mockingbird

Congrats! You studied environmental science? You might be interested in the Green Social Work movement.

Need this book ASAP: Social Work: An Empowering Profession (9th Edition) (The Merrill Social Work and Human Services Series) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0134695798/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_PGUJBbN0YN5N2

Absolutely needs to be this edition. PDF.

$5 PayPal. Thank you for reading my post. Please comment first.

Just picked this up after my prof passed it around in class. It's a terrific resource.

https://www.amazon.com/Social-Work-Treatment-Interlocking-Theoretical/dp/019023959X/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=social+work+theories&qid=1570660012&sr=8-5

Bro, that's the abstract of a 400-page book.

Anyhow, step back and apply your same reasoning to the 80% figure. You took "73% of black children are born out of wedlock" and turned it into "almost 80% of single family homes". WHAT?

Here's a nice little <10min video that explains a thing or two: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-nYUUhigTU

Anyhow, you can't say "many black fathers are missing" with trying to account for where they went. Mass incarceration and the popular myth of black fathers running out on their kids are two sides of the same coin. You also have to look at how rampant poverty affects these communities, how history has shaped the systems that are in place today, and how policy choices have impacted these communities disproportionately.

Writing it all off as just "black fathers are less responsible" is just a post-hoc rationalization for justifying a pretty shitty system, if you ask me.

>I'm not saying it's not a parameter you can use. I'm saying it's not a useful one because the average person does not have two dicks and cannot do a comparison.

Right, and the average person does not have two vaginas to compare either.

Like I said, using the same variables for both practices is important.

Ethnocentrism is a huge factor in this debate, FGM victims very often do not perceive it as harmful to the person or to their sexuality, that's why they proceed to do it to their own daughters.

If you want to look a little more into this, you can watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jibXWHdua4 or read Mansura Dopico's PhD thesis on female genital cutting http://www.amazon.fr/Female-Genital-Cutting-Sexual-Response/dp/3838377974

You should also know that several forms of female genital cutting are practiced in the West in plastic surgeon or gynecologist offices under the names vaginoplasty, labiaplasty, clitoral reduction, clitoropexy...predominantly on white women (obviously, adults) as cosmetic or "comfort" procedures.

Here, why don't you read a BOOK

https://www.amazon.ca/Myth-Missing-Black-Father/dp/0231143532

The MYTH is perpetuated because they measure absentness by marriage and cohabitation, rather than ACTUAL INVOLVEMENT.

See:

This CNN article which includes data from THE CDC.

https://www.cnn.com/2015/07/20/opinions/arnold-black-fathers/index.html

I used this book: https://www.amazon.com/Social-Work-ASWB-Clinical-Guide/dp/0826172016/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468955898&sr=8-1&keywords=lcsw+exam

I read through that twice, took the practice test included with the book, and then took the official ASWB practice exam.

still need these textbooks:

Shelley Cohen Konrad - Child and Family Practice: A Relational Perspective - isbn: 019061613X - https://www.amazon.com/Child-Family-Practice-Relational-Perspective/dp/019061613X

James R. Dudley - Social Work Evaluation: Enhancing What We Do (2nd Ed.) - isbn: 0190615435 - https://www.amazon.com/Social-Work-Evaluation-Second-Enhancing/dp/0190615435/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1536554504&sr=1-1&keywords=Social+work+evaluation%3A+Enhancing+what+we+do

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1979903077/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_eaiQAbPWEJPKP

http://www.amazon.com/The-Call-To-Social-Work/dp/B0078XYPO4/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Confronting Injustice and Oppression by David Gil

It is about "radical"/politcally active social work (aka what social work should be).

I get where you're coming from OP but poor people really don't have the same opportunity to,

>pick up some produce

I used to work in some of the poorest parts of the United States. If I walked into a bodega at lunch time, there weren't many (or any) healthy options for a quick lunch or, even for a "take it home and cook it" lunch. Produce would be limited to apples and oranges, because they don't go bad. [This] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert) really is a thing. If I wanted to eat starch and starch and fried foods, I could do it, but there was nothing healthy available for me to buy. And I had money, without the limits that the locals may have had with food stamps or income. The typical quick option for lunch would be rice and beans and plantains and fried chicken wings. It was filling and cheap, and was about the worst thing someone could eat if they cared about their health.

And honestly, if you're feeding a bunch of kids, stuff like mac & cheese is going to go further than produce. And if you're dealing with a bunch of kids, and you work your two shitty "part time" jobs for 45 hours a week, you may not have it in you to make them eat stuff they don't want to eat. I recently read [this] (https://www.amazon.com/American-Hunger-Pulitzer-Prize-Winning-Washington-ebook/dp/B00LRIXKS8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1480338368&sr=1-1&keywords=american+hunger) and it was pretty eye-opening.

Until recently there was really no education on how to eat or feed a family and even now, it's pretty sparse. If you're poor and not well educated, you may think that the first call is to just feed yourself and your family and not worry about The Sugar or blood pressure or weight. And if you're surrounded by fat people, then well, that's how fat logic goes.

If I go to Whole Foods, there is no one there who is fat. Just, no one. It's not acceptable to be fat and be wealthy. But if I go down to the Market Basket a few towns over, or Walmart, I feel like I have anorexia. And oh boy I don't. But the people who are lower middle class, or outright poor, don't make the same eating decisions that those in the upper percentages of income do.

Like I said, I get where you are coming from OP, but I think some empathy with the poor is useful for this situation. It's not as cut and dried as you make it seem.