Emotionally Focused Therapy with Couples — The Social Work Connection
from Social Work Today
Social workers are finding emotionally focused therapy to be a good fit with a strengths-based perspective. In 1982 as a doctoral student assigned to see couples for therapy in a clinic setting, Sue Johnson, PhD, now a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Ottawa, "was appalled by how much pain people were in" and "the huge emotional drama." She found herself unprepared to deal with the couples, especially those who were overly angry or those who were distant and had shut down. As a result, she set out to find a way to help these people. More

New Chapter Leaders, CapWiz, and More on the State Budget...
from NASW IL
Early June usually coincides with the last Chapter Board meeting of the fiscal year and an annual training of new Board members. That took place this past Thursday and Friday. Both incoming and outgoing Board members joined together for two days of work and a little bit of fun as well. The fun part was taking a break Thursday evening to see the Second City production of "Rod Blagojevich Superstar." More

Intermittent Explosive Disorder Affects 1-in-20
from The Chicago Tribune
A man who died in an apparent murder-suicide that left his wife and her son dead in Wilmette, Ill. last week, killed his first wife in 1985 and mounted an unsuccessful insanity defense claiming that he suffered from "intermittent explosive disorder." One in 20 Americans may be susceptible to repeated, uncontrollable anger attacks in which they lash out in road rage, spousal abuse or other unjustifiably violent actions, researchers from Harvard University and the University of Chicago have found. More

Children Dying in Chicago a 'National Catastrophe'
from WEEK-TV
Two weeks ago, 3-year-old Jaquan Reed was fatally shot on Chicago' West Side. While the case shook the city, such shootings involving children are no longer rare in the Windy City. Within the current academic year, 36 Chicago-area students were killed. More

Children's Suicide Study: Researchers Link Multiple Moves, Higher Suicide Risk
from The Chicago Tribune
The more often a family moves, the higher the likelihood that a child relocating to a new home will attempt or commit suicide, a new study of Danish children suggests. Combing through a Danish national database of children who have attempted or committed suicide, researchers at Aarhus University in Denmark found that a majority − 55 percent − of these children had changed residences more than three times in their childhoods. More

Veterans and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
from WEEK-TV
It was somewhat unexpected. In the middle of his highly publicized trip to Germany this month, President Obama got personal. “Because my great uncle, my grandmother's brother, was part of the unit that first liberated Buchenwahl… He suffered what we now know, what we call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder," Obama said. But for some, what may be an unexpected anecdote, for others may be much needed recognition. Because while it's a disease that's plagued many for generations, it's only recently been brought out into the open. More

Intolerable Rise in Soldier Suicides
from The New York Times
Nearly the entire military corps at Fort Campbell, Ky., was summoned last month to hear an anxious general make an extraordinary plea about the alarming rate of suicide by soldiers. "Don’t take away your tomorrow," the general beseeched his audience of thousands of men and women at the base, where 14 suicides in the first half of this year leads what many fear could be a record toll across the military services. More

Study: TV may Inhibit Babies' Language Development
from TIME magazine
As most parents of small children will reluctantly admit, nothing can occupy a child quite like television. Unfortunately, the scientific evidence suggests that using the boob tube as a babysitter has its price: the more time babies spend sitting in front of the screen, the more their social, cognitive and language development may suffer. Recent studies show that TV-viewing tends to decrease babies' likelihood of learning new words, talking, playing and otherwise interacting with others. More

Pediatricians Take On the Schoolyard Bully
from The New York Times
Next month, the American Academy of Pediatrics will, for the first time, address the problem of childhood bullying when it publishes a policy statement on preventing school violence. Goals include changing school culture and re-socializing the bully to change behavior. In this week's 18 and Under column, pediatrician Dr. Perri Klass discusses the role of pediatricians, parents and schools in solving bullying problems. More

Gender Differences Should Be Considered in Treatment of Addiction
from Psychiatric Times
The molecular events that accompany drug abuse and addiction are different for women than for men, according to new studies presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association. As yet, little if any of this knowledge has made its way into gender-based differences in pharmacological and behavioral treatments for addiction. But according to some of the speakers, it could and it should. More

Tourette's Most Common in White Kids, Boys
from USA Today
Tourette syndrome occurs in three out of every 1,000 school-aged children, and is more than twice as common in white kids as in blacks or Hispanics, according to the largest U.S. study to estimate how many have the disorder. Tourette's — known for its physical tics and, in some cases, shouted obscenities — has long been considered a rare condition. The new number means it's more common than some past estimates, but confirms that it's far less common than other neurological conditions like autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. More

Upcoming Events Ethical Considerations with Emerging Areas of Practice: Integrating Non-Traditional Interventions (6/12/09) LSW/LCSW Review Course in O'Fallon, IL (6/19/09) LSW/LCSW Review Course in Chicago, IL (6/26/09) NASW IL Job Fair (7/16/09)