1. Developing Mental Health Recovery in Social Work
Council on Social Work Education
Developing Mental Health Recovery in Social Work
Written by: Jessica Holmes, CSWE
Delivered by: Susan Rogers
Director, National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse
1211 Chestnut Street, 11th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19107
, ext. 3812

2. Questions?
Please hold questions until everyone has presented.

3. Social Work Recovery to Practice Steering Committee
Charles Rapp (lead consultant) University of Kansas Gwen Foster CalSWEC Wallace Gingerich Case Western Reserve University
Joseph Rogers
National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse
Susan Rogers
Lauren Spiro
National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery
Patrick Sullivan
Indiana University

4. Social Work Situational Analysis: Methodology (Qualitative)
Focus groups
Interviews
Discussion forums
Peer comments
Syllabi review
Review of state documents and training materials
Literature review
Review of professional organizations
Site visits

5. Social Work Situational Analysis: Methodology (Quantitative)
CSWE Annual Survey of Social Work Programs
NASW Workforce Studies
Mental Health, United States

6. Social Work Situational Analysis: Methodology
Stakeholders engaged:
Consumers
Practitioners
Students
Educators
Field Education Directors
Field Liaisons

7. Background: Social Workers and Mental Health
More than 100,000 students enrolled
Master’s level concentrations:
49 programs offered “mental health”
39 offered “health and mental health”
111 offered “direct practice/clinical”

8. Background: Social Workers and Mental Health
Social workers are estimated to provide almost half of all mental health services
36.8% of licensed social workers identify mental health as primary sector of employment

9. Contextual Conditions: Broad Findings —The Positive
Strong theoretical connections
Recognition of the term recovery
Ready “acceptance” of the idea of recovery
Integration of some recovery components
Longstanding commitment to cultural competency and social justice
Some programs have begun to infuse trauma-informed practice
Social workers can play a unique role

10. Contextual Conditions: Broad Findings —The Negative
Cognitive dissonance between social work theory and practice
Weak integration of some recovery components
Confusion about definition of recovery
Wide use of medical model and deficits thinking
Only small number infusing recovery as a whole
Need to enact organizational policy change
Funding uncertainty

11. “The Real Choice . . . Bertha Capen Reynolds, 1951 (1885 – 1978)
“. . . before us as social workers is whether we are to be passive or active Shall we be content to give with one hand and withhold with the other, to build up or tear down at the same time the strength of a person’s life? Or shall we be conscious of our own part in making a profession which will stand forthrightly for human well-being, including the right to be an active citizen?”
Bertha Capen Reynolds, 1951
(1885 – 1978)

12. “Powers-that-be” realize that recovery-oriented, peer-run services are key to recovery
SAMHSA recognizes Peer Support as one of the 10 fundamental components of recovery. The 10 are:
Strengths-Based
Peer Support
Respect
Responsibility
Hope
Self-Direction
Individualized and Person-Centered
Empowerment
Holistic
Non-Linear
SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde (top); CMHS Director A. Kathryn Power (bottom)

13. One Example: Struggles with Self-Direction
“Hardest of all to understand that in order to ‘make good’ psychologically a person must be allowed not only to make good by his own efforts but also to make good in his own way.” – Gordon Hamilton, 1940

14. “I worked with a client for four to five years. We had a rocky start
“I worked with a client for four to five years. We had a rocky start. Then we had a conversation about what she wanted. Over time, she came up with goals. We used her passion for art, and medication management, to get her part-time work in the art field. Her motivation was her work.”
- Practitioner interviewee (2010)

15. Peer Participation in the CSWE Project
Steering committee
Focus group
NAMI members
University consultants
Interviews
Alternatives discussion
NAMI listserv
Solicitation via flyer

16. Peer Participation in the Social Work Profession
Stand-out examples exist:
Via peer support
Co-teaching of courses or class guests
Participation in organizational policy
“I’ve learned more from my data collecting of personal stories than from any of my mental health courses.”
- APM Discussion Participant, 2010
Not the norm

17. Culturally Competent Practice
“…Recovery cannot take place outside the context of a person’s culture, sexual orientation, or spiritual beliefs” - Faculty interviewee, 2010

18. Culturally Competent Practice
Necessity of culturally competent practice has been included in:
*Conferences/training events
*Code of Ethics
*Educational Policy and
*Accreditation Standards
Needs constant attention

19. Trauma-Informed Care
Literature clear on importance of recognizing signs of trauma and trauma-informed care
Peers said this was an area where social workers are lacking....

20. “I felt dismissed, patronized, demeaned and ignored in the system
“I felt dismissed, patronized, demeaned and ignored in the system. Everything I was taught as a child in my trauma was reinforced in my journey through the system.”
-Alternatives 2010 Discussion Participant A

21. - Alternatives discussion Participant B
“The biggest thing that was so frustrating was that, even though it was in the record that I had a traumatic brain injury, they had no under-standing whatsoever of the effects of trauma…. It was me educating them about what I needed.”
- Alternatives discussion Participant B

22. Trauma-Informed Care
16 social work programs had trauma in their mental health syllabi (of 35 that submitted)
Trauma practice certificates are being offered in some programs
More work to be done, but resources available to help

23. Summary Strengths to build on Special role for social workers
Some early adopters who can be resources
Focus on recovery as a whole
Provide concrete steps for implementation
Change needs to be systemic

24. Target Audience Field instructors Build on existing partnerships
Practitioners supervising students in the field
Students complete 400 hours BSW and 900 hours MSW
Socialize students to perform the role of practitioner
Build on existing partnerships

25. Opportunities Broad acceptance of ideas of recovery
Special role of social work
Council on Field Education
Offering CEUs
Online clearinghouse
Online training
Field placement contracts
Building on existing partnerships

26. Challenges Competing definitions Putting theory into practice
Differentiating recovery from strengths-based
Getting buy-in from schools
Linking recovery to field assessments
Training level and content
Funding and program constraints