Social Work is more than a job - it’s a versatile toolkit for change. In honor of Social Work Month, NASW is hosting a special conversation on the incredible breadth of our profession. Join us to celebrate our diverse community and unlock new ideas for your own professional journey.

Presenters:  Maureen Underwood, LCSW has been a social worker in the field of suicide assessment and prevention for over 40 years. She has trained clinicians nationally on standards of care for risk assessment, served as an expert witness in malpractice claims against social workers related to standards of care, and co-chairs the NASW Taskforce for Standards of Care for Suicide Prevention. She has also written questions for the clinical part of the LCSW licensing exam.

Michelle Scott, PhD, MSW, Professor and Director of SRF Suicide Prevention Research and Training Project, School of Social Work, Monmouth University. She is the evaluator of the Columbia Suicide Screen used in the Columbia TeenScreen Project. She is also the Project Evaluator for New Jersey, New York, and Arkansas’ Garrett Lee Smith (GLS) Suicide Prevention State Initiatives and two campus GLS grants. She is a member of the State of New Jersey’s Child Fatality Near-Fatality Review, Suicide Subcommittee and co-chair of NASW Taskforce for Standards of Care for Suicide Prevention.

Sometimes people do or say things that can be difficult for us to understand and tolerate.  In a healthcare setting, this might look like “refusing” care or reactions that are often labeled as “behaviors.” Even with increased recognition of trauma-informed care, the power dynamics in our work environments can make it difficult to respond to clients in a way that does not compromise care. Moreover, even our well-intentioned approaches may perpetuate the ageism that pervades our society, and to which healthcare settings are not immune. In this session, we will explore Nonviolent Communication (NVC), a communication process designed to radically shift the way we think and use language in everyday situations to enhance the quality of our relationships. Social workers will learn how NVC principles and skills can stimulate a paradigm shift for a more collaborative way of providing care and creating a therapeutic environment in healthcare settings. While this session focuses on older adults, the material applies across age groups and settings and supports social work values of advocacy, an individual’s dignity, and our collective humanity.