Sarah's graduating next week and this is her last day at Social Work Solutions. I love having students working in the office, except for when its time to say goodbye.   Here are her thoughts on this experience.

As my time at Social Work Solutions comes to a close, I’m beginning to notice what a big part of my life my internship has been for the past nine months. I have learned numerous clinical skills and had fun getting to know Jennifer and all the clients that I have encountered. Although people who come into the office for therapy are most often sad or in need of help, I have learned that many people have strengths they don’t normally notice or know about themselves and it has been my greatest pleasure to help them notice those things. I would advise anyone looking for help to take a look inside yourself and search for your strengths; they will help you on your journey.

            Thank you to Jennifer for sharing yourself both professionally and personally. I have loved hearing stories of your family and about your experiences as a social worker. I will keep your gentle mannerisms and upfront ways with me throughout my career. Most of all, thanks for showing me true authenticity.

            I’m so excited to graduate after having begun this journey eight years ago and thanks to all of you who have been a part of it. Cheers!

Sarah has a wonderful vision for the group she is organizing.   Please check it out and consider if you or someone you know could benefit from this opportunity:

I have a passion for helping those with mental illness, specifically populations that may feel lonely during times of need. I want to start this Expectant Mothers with Mental Illness Support Group to offer a safe and private place for them to receive support. One in every four women will experience some type of depressive episode at some point in their lives. This includes pregnant women. Taking medication during pregnancy for mental illness is decided by whether doing so will harm the baby. Because of this, many women must go off their medication while pregnant because it could potentially harm the baby. The group will allow them to share ideas with each other about healthy ways they have been coping and how to strengthen their self-care while pregnant, especially those who cannot take medication. This group may be a way to prevent the symptoms of post-partum depression by catching it early. By doing this support group, I hope to bring awareness to mental illness during pregnancy and increase compassion for women during a time that they may need extra emotional support. This group will be an open group and will meet the 2^nd and 4^th Tuesday of each month. For more information, please contact Sarah at 334-625-8202 or email at sarahmccracken48@gmail.com.

We  are delighted to welcome, Sarah McCracken to the practice.  Sarah is completing the second year of her Masters of Social Work program through Edinboro University.  She will be with the practice until May of 2017 as she completes of 500 hours of field experience.

Sarah is a native of Pennsylvania.  She received her BS in Psychology from Thiel College.  She married the boy next door (literally her next door neighbor) after graduation.  Shortly therafter, she and her husband began moving wherever the Army sent him.  She is Mom to two active boys, a lover of pasta, big socks and good books.  Sarah practices yoga regularly, and is interested in finding ways that yoga practice can benefit her client.

Sarah will be scheduling appointments beginning Sept 12th.   Sliding scale appointments are available with her as well.

Wow, I can’t believe it’s already May! Unfortunately, with the uncomfortable warm weather (I blame the hormones- I normally love warm weather!) comes the end of my time at Social Work Solutions. The past four months have been both a blessing and a whirlwind. I have worked in a foster care setting for the past two and a half years, so to be in a clinical setting was a huge transition, but one I welcomed since my goal is to work as a clinical social worker. In these few short months, I have learned more than I could ever hope to explain, and I am so thankful to have had this opportunity. I can NEVER EVER thank Jennifer enough for allowing me to come in and work with her and her clients this year. I hope that I was able to help some of them as much as they have helped me! Working with Jennifer (and Terri!) has solidified that clinical social work is where I hope to eventually land.

I am sad to be leaving, but so excited to see what the future holds, in both my personal life (Hello Baby Abby MaeJ) and my professional life. In the future, I hope to open my own private practice in my hometown and work as a registered play therapist, specializing in Animal-Assisted Therapy. The experience I gained working at Social Work Solutions will be in invaluable in this endeavor. Again, I cannot say thank you enough to Jennifer, Terri, and our wonderful clients for all of their help, support, and the numerous lessons over these past few months. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Welcome!

I am so excited to announce that Social Work Solutions is joined by yet another outstanding Social Work Master's level student.  Teri Dickey will be working with the practice until July.   

Teri obtained her Bachelor's Degree in Social Work from Auburn University in 2006 and has been a Licensed Bachelor Social Worker (LBSW) since 2007. Teri has over 9 years of experience in the social work field and has worked primarily in the healthcare setting as a care coordinator but also has experience with foster parent recruiting and licensing. Teri is currently enrolled in the Master's of Social Work program at Troy University in Phenix City with an expected completion date at the end of July 2016. 

Teri has been married for 10 years and she and her husband have an 8 year old son and a 5 year old daughter together. Teri enjoys traveling and spending time with her family doing activities such as camping, hiking and playing tennis. 

Both Teri and Jana are available for individual appointments immediately.  

School Supplies and Social Work Students

Its Intern season!  No that's not a thing, but I just made it one.  In Social Work programs one semester per year is set aside for "field placement" which  is  a fancy way of saying "on the job training, get in there and get your hands dirt, you only learn by doing."  Field is such a crucial part of social work training, I am honored to serve as a placement site for my alma mater, the University of Alabama.  Today I was as excited and nervous as if I were starting school because today is my student's first day!  I even bought school supplies, didn't need them just wanted to mark the occasion somehow.  So let me introduce you to Jana Bazell who was gracious enough to share her photo, and a short bio for the blog.

My name is Jana Bazzell. I am married to my best friend and we have a six year old daughter and new bundle of joy on the way! I am a 2014 graduate of Judson College with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with an emphasis of Equine Facilitated Mental Health and a minor in Equine Science and I am a PATH Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor. I am currently an MSW graduate student at the University of Alabama as well as a full-time employee of the Alabama Baptist Children’s Home & Family Ministries. I hope to earn my Master’s degree in Social Work by next summer and continue as a Social Worker with ABCH. Eventually I would like to open a private practice as a counselor specializing in a version of play therapy and trauma based interventions that would utilize horses in the therapy model.

Welcome Jana!  Its going to be a great Intern Season. 

Here we are almost half way through December and I don't have a hashtag for the month.  November was #yesvember  (thank you Kid Presdient) and October was #honestOctober (thank you Kelly Berry Parker).  December is a tricky month for me.  Its my birthday month which until recently has been a time of great jubilation at my house, but this year I'm just not feeling it.  Its Christmas, which is so insanely busy it sends me into slow motion.  The end of the year is also when I close out things for my business and set goals for next year.  But it is also Advent, which is my favorite season of the year.  I watched a great video about Advent being a time to "Be Still" and then I read this brilliant, eye opening and heart opening piece by Anne Lamott.   So I'm declaring this month's hashtag #bestill.  One of the projects I'm working on right now is a seminar about self care and preventing burnout.  If there were ever a motto for self care #bestill would be that motto.   In the spirit of being still and self care I will now post the tasks I accomplished this morning.  Not the to do list I should have done but the truth of what I really did.  Here goes:

1. Dropped kids of at school ON TIME.  Thats a biggie, and I was feeling pretty proud until I realized the youngest didn't have his backpack. #ohwell

2. Made myself an egg and sausage for breakfast.  Living in the land of Lucky Charms and PopTarts most of the time means this is a pretty big one too.  Felt like a full fledged culinary rock star.  Maybe breakfast really is the most important meal of the day, and self care should start with a good breakfast.

3.  Watched two episodes of The New Girl because it makes me laugh. I was also checking email and putting away laundry.  #winning  Nothing wrong with a little mindless multi tasking.  Laughter is proven to improve all aspects of life, even laundry. Also, I took some super cute pics and posted on IG (check it out they are really cute)

4. Took the dog on an extended walk.  No brainer, exercise especially in the sunshine improves mood.
While on the walk I found a perfectly shaped and sized pinecone, briefly considered staging a photo and selling it on IG (see above skills) because this is apparently a thing selling pinecones from your yard.  Decided not to enter the fray and tossed the pinecone aside.

5. Wrote and discarded a rambling blog about a sweatshirt I had in college.

6. Spent 10 minutes looking for an appropriate hair tie.  Failing to find one I called to schedule a hair cut instead. Also, I pulled some good friends in the medical field away from their job saving lives to answer questions via text about botox (advisability) and popcorn makers (availability).   From this we learn two things, reaching out to friends always makes us feel better.  And sometimes you gotta cut your losses and change things up.  I'll be wearing a hat for a while, but c'est la vie.

So that's it, most of it anyway.  I read, laughed, reached out to friends, exercised and ate like a grown up.   That's how I spent my morning being still and practicing self care. I won't list all the things on my list I didn't do, because being still is about being present.  And I feel 100% better than I did when I was staring at my to do list this morning.  

How can you #bestill and practice radical self care this season?  Share your thoughts in the comments.  We can all be still together and learn from one another.