Systems make me cranky

Psychiatric social worker on an inpatient unit at a hospital. Chronically cranky. (This is a side blog so I can't follow back from here.)

[crankysocialworker]

Any social workers here employed at a Kaiser Permanente facility?

Are those jobs eligible for PSLF? I keep seeing conflicting information on whether or not KP is a qualifying employer. Just trying to figure out if it would be a waste of time pursuing a job there. (Feel free to message me privately.)

[breathenet]

“Okay, we’ve got it: Not ‘what’s wrong with you?’ but 'What happened to you?’ That explosive outburst? The child who cannot concentrate at school? The domestic violence survivor who is in a constant state of hyper-vigilance? Yes, most of us in family services are now able to recognize trauma-symptoms and respond with empathy… most of the time. Echo has put together an info-graphic to help us see the difference between a trauma-informed and non-trauma-informed paradigm. We wanted to create a graphic that illustrated not a dichotomy of ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ but a journey – and a difficult journey at that, if we are willing to honest about ourselves and put in the work to transform attitudes we probably absorbed along with our mother’s milk.” -ECHO Parenting and Education | Another excellent resource from @echoparentingandeducation on trauma-informed care. Image 1 (English) and Image 2 (Español) Check out their website to find more resources and download infographics. We are so grateful for their work! #trauma #sexualassault #domesticviolence #traumainformed #traumainformedcare #buildingresilience #mindbodysoul

[shesgotwhatittakes]

While cleaning out my room I found a paper that my therapist gave me some time ago to deal with obsessive and intrusive thoughts. Sorry the paper is a little crinkled and stained, but I figured I’d post it in hopes that it will help someone like it helped me.

[shesgotwhatittakes]

Here it is again with text for anyone who can’t see the picture

That thought isn’t helpful right now.

Now is not the time to think about it. I can think about it later.

This is irrational. I’m going to let it go.

I won’t argue with an irrational thought.

This is not an emergency. I can slow down and think clearly about what I need.

This feels threatening and urgent, but it really isn’t.

I don’t have to be perfect to be OK.

I don’t have to figure out this question. The best thing to do is just drop it.

It’s OK to make mistakes.

I already know from my past experiences that these fears are irrational.

I have to take risks in order to be free. I’m willing to take this risk.

It’s OK that I just had that thought/image, and it doesn’t mean anything. I don’t have to pay attention to it.

I’m ready to move on now.

I can handle being wrong.

I don’t have to suffer like this. I deserve to feel comfortable.

That’s not my responsibility.

That’s not my problem.

I’ve done the best I can.

It’s good practice to let go of this worry. I want to practice.

[creativeplaytherapist]

The Los Angeles Psychological Association is putting on an art show featuring art created by therapists.  The deadline to submit is in a few days, but if anyone already has pieces then you would just need to write a short artists statement. 

[harmreduction]

Have you watched Harm Reduction Coalition’s free webinar on fentanyl? Ahead of International Overdose Awareness Day, learn how to recognize a fentanyl related overdose & how to employ a harm reduction response. Together we can #EndOverdose!

[crankysocialworker]

New to Therapy? Let Instinct Be Your Guide

By Frank Dattilio - Often, therapy trainees in supervision feel more secure approaching every clinical encounter strictly "by the book," and are frequently so afraid of making mistakes that they stifle their own capacity for therapeutic intuition and emotional connection with their clients. Sometimes freeing their therapeutic imagination requires bold steps.

[crankysocialworker]

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255

This hotline is for ANYONE. I see so many posts calling this a Veterans Crisis Line and while there is a specific option (option 1 when calling) that is for veterans, anyone in crisis can call. Please don’t hesitate. 

Deaf/hard-of-hearing folks can call 1-800-799-4889

En espanol, 1-888-628-9454

[crankysocialworker]

Really, I am flattered that my new supervisors have so much confidence in my abilities. But all the clinical skills in the world will not help me figure out this terrible, clunky EHR system that appears to have been designed in the 80s and not updated since.

[questingqueer]

I was sitting in the group room at my intensive outpatient program. I had just finished recounting an incident where I believed a security officer had been following me, but the person with me at the time had disagreed and said we weren’t being followed. 

The head psychologist said “Your goal this week should be letting in alternative theories to your paranoia. It isn’t likely anyone is following you.” I said “What do you mean? How can I trust someone else’s perspective over my own, especially when that someone is white?” Another person spoke up, suggested increasing my anti-psychotics.

I looked around the room at the other patients and the professionals in group with me. I was the only Black person there. 

I’m mentally ill, and sometimes I’m paranoid, and sometimes I’m delusional. 

I’m Black, and I’m more likely to be followed around by security, or have negative interactions with the police. The racism in this world is real, and it can affect me.

I’m mentally ill, and sometimes I have persecutory delusions, and there wasn’t any drugs in my orange juice or bugs living in my arms even though I was convinced there were.

I’m Black, and I’m mentally ill. And that intersection has never been acknowledged online or in therapy. That intersection makes us more vulnerable to abuse, domestic violence, and police brutality. 

Black schizo-spec people face challenges that others don’t. We are more likely to be be labeled as dangerous and violent and be disbelieved when we share about how racism has impacted our lives, among many other things. That makes it harder for me to trust others- not to mention that difficulty trusting others is a symptom.

Was I being followed that day? I wish I had an answer, but I don’t know. Maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t. But that isn’t the point. 

A simple search will tell you that schizophrenia is more readily diagnosed in Black patients than in white (source), and some say it is overdiagnosed.

But where are the positivity posts for Black people with stigmatizing disorders?

 Where is the positivity for the Black schizo-spec people trying to figure out what level of fear and suspicion towards the police is reasonable and what is a symptom? Where is the positivity for Black schizo-spec people who have everything blamed on their diagnosis while their other mental health problems get ignored? Where’s the positivity for Black schizo-spec people who distrust the medical professionals they deal with, who have ugly symptoms, who are pigeonholed as dangerous?

We have died because we are Black and schizo-spec. Remember those of us who have been murdered.

Keith Vidal

Dontre Hamilton

Khaleel Thompson

Darren Rainey

Jason Harrison

Deborah Danner

And? Don’t forget to include us in your activism while we are living. 

(ok to rb)

[crankysocialworker]

This is so so real. I saw it happen all the time when I worked on an inpatient psych unit. As clinicians, we need to disrupt this. 

[crankysocialworker]

Someday I will work for an agency that prioritizes sufficiently orienting new staff. Someday.

[crankysocialworker]

I promise I have not abandoned this blog! I’ve now officially been a resident of Los Angeles for two months. I started working two weeks ago after a month of panicking that I wasn’t going to find a job. It’s starting to feel like home. 

[crankysocialworker]

RED ALERT: Trump's education budget eliminates student loan repayment and forgiveness programs • Student Debt Crisis

RED ALERT: Trump's education budget eliminates student loan repayment and forgiveness programs

Y’all this shit is BAD. REALLY REALLY REALLY BAD.

These assholes not only want to scrap the PSLF program, one which I and so many other social workers (and healthcare workers and teachers) have structured our careers and repayment plans around, they also want to gut the Perkins loan program for disadvantaged students and cut work-study programs in half. They also want to replace the current five income-based repayment options (of which mine is one) with a single, more expensive option.

Please call/fax/write your reps and demand that they block this budget!!

[basketcasemp3]

[persephoneinspace-deactivated20]

Social work in a nutshell.

[jehovahsthicknesss]

YES THIS IS SOCIAL WORK

[crankysocialworker]

I have exactly 6 work days left. And in 12 days we leave for California. I am excited/mildly terrified. I’ve never moved somewhere without having already secured employment. I’ve got 3 applications out and one of them has apparently been routed to an interviewing supervisor per the applicant profile page of a Major University Hospital System. Eeek! Having to learn a completely new social service system while trying to acclimate to a new city/state/region feels really overwhelming right now but I’m strangely hopeful.

[queendread]

Right now, I’m sifting through 50+ applications for a new entry-level position. Here’s some advice from the person who will actually be looking at your CV/resume and cover letter:

‘You must include a cover letter’ does not mean ‘write a single line about why you want this position’. If you can’t be bothered to write at least one actual paragraphs about why you want this job, I can’t be bothered to read your CV.

Don’t bother including a list of your interests if all you can think of is ‘socialising with friends’ and ‘listening to music’. Everyone likes those things. Unless you can explain why the stuff you do enriches you as a person and a candidate (e.g. playing an instrument or a sport shows dedication and discipline) then I honestly don’t care how you spend your time. I won’t be looking at your CV thinking ‘huh, they haven’t included their interests, they must have none’, I’m just looking for what you have included.

Even if you apply online, I can see the filename you used for your CV. Filenames that don’t include YOUR name are annoying. Filenames like ‘CV - media’ tell me that you’ve got several CVs you send off depending on the kind of job advertised and that you probably didn’t tailor it for this position. ‘[Full name] CV’ is best.

USE. A. PDF. All the meta information, including how long you worked on it, when you created it, times, etc, is right there in a Word doc. PDFs are far more professional looking and clean and mean that I can’t make any (unconscious or not) decisions about you based on information about the file.

I don’t care what the duties in your previous unrelated jobs were unless you can tell me why they’re useful to this job. If you worked in a shop, and you’re applying for an office job which involves talking to lots of people, don’t give me a list of stuff you did, write a sentence about how much you enjoyed working in a team to help everyone you interacted with and did your best to make them leave the shop with a smile. I want to know what makes you happy in a job, because I want you to be happy within the job I’m advertising.

Does the application pack say who you’ll be reporting to? Can you find their name on the company website? Address your application to them. It’s super easy and shows that you give enough of a shit to google something. 95% of people don’t do this.

Tell me who you are. Tell me what makes you want to get up in the morning and go to work and feel fulfilled. Tell me what you’re looking for, not just what you think I’m looking for.

I will skim your CV. If you have a bunch of bullet points, make every one of them count. Make the first one the best one. If it’s not interesting to you, it’s probably not interesting to me. I’m overworked and tired. Make my job easy.

“I work well in a team or individually” okay cool, you and everyone else. If the job means you’ll be part of a big team, talk about how much you love teamwork and how collaborating with people is the best way to solve problems. If the job requires lots of independence, talk about how you are great at taking direction and running with it, and how you have the confidence to follow your own ideas and seek out the insight of others when necessary. I am profoundly uninterested in cookie-cutter statements. I want to know how you actually work, not how a teacher once told you you should work.

For an entry-level role, tell me how you’re looking forward to growing and developing and learning as much as you can. I will hire genuine enthusiasm and drive over cherry-picked skills any day. You can teach someone to use Excel, but you can’t teach someone to give a shit. It makes a real difference.

This is my advice for small, independent orgs like charities, etc. We usually don’t go through agencies, and the person reading through the applications is usually the person who will manage you, so it helps if you can give them a real sense of who you are and how you’ll grab hold of that entry level position and give it all you’ve got. This stuff might not apply to big companies with actual HR departments - it’s up to you to figure out the culture and what they’re looking for and mirror it. Do they use buzzwords? Use the same buzzwords! Do they write in a friendly, informal way? Do the same! And remember, 95% of job hunting (beyond who you know and flat-out nepotism, ugh) is luck. If you keep getting rejected, it’s not because you suck. You might just need a different approach, or it might just take the right pair of eyes landing on your CV.

And if you get rejected, it’s worthwhile asking why. You’ve already been rejected, the worst has already happened, there’s really nothing bad that can come out of you asking them for some constructive feedback (politely, informally, “if it isn’t too much trouble”). Pretty much all of us have been hopeless jobseekers at one point or another. We know it’s shitty and hard and soul-crushing. Friendliness goes a long way. Even if it’s just one line like “your cover letter wasn’t inspiring" at least you know where to start.

And seriously, if you have any friends that do any kind of hiring or have any involvement with that side of things, ask them to look at your CV with a big red pen and brutal honesty. I do this all the time, and the most important thing I do is making it so their CV doesn’t read exactly like that of every other person who took the same ‘how-to-get-a-job’ class in school. If your CV has a paragraph that starts with something like ‘I am a highly motivated and punctual individual who–’ then oh my god I AM ALREADY ASLEEP.

[revysprite-deactivated20170502]

Very good post thanks for this.

[copperbadge]

Excellent advice for building and submitting job application documents.

[dispatchrabbi]

This is the first good resume advice post I’ve seen on this site. Much better advice than the “lists of active verbs to use” and “here are resume templates”. Follow this advice.

[crankysocialworker]

WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK

[harmreduction]

This half-day training in New York will strategically look at ways LGBTQ service providers can begin to actively engage members of the Trans* and Gender Non-Conforming community in a programmatic setting. Participants will work together to develop a toolkit they can take back to their respective work settings.  We will look at barriers to care and stigmas that seem to persist within the TGNC community that must be assessed in a culturally competent way.  The training will include self-assessment tools to assist participants build their toolkits.

As a result of this training, participants will be able to:  

Date: April 7, 2017

Trainer: Sean Coleman

This is a half day training from 2:00 pm-5:00 pm

More info here