Join #MACROSW 6/11 AT 9PM EST About Financial Social Work

Join #MacroSW Twitter chat on 6/11 at 9 PM EST hosted by Sunya Folayan, MSW, ACSW @SunyaFolayan as she interviews her mentor and friend Reeta Wolfsohn, MSW, CMSW @FinancialMSW, the visionary founder of Financial Social Work and the Financial Therapy Network.

Financial Social Work is an emergent Macro practice discipline that is gaining traction within the profession. Financial Social Work is now in the new Oxford Encyclopedia of Social Work.The mission of Financial Social Work (FSW) is to empower social workers and their clients to establish healthy money habits that lead to long-term financial security. 

On this chat we'll discuss:

1. What is Financial Social Work?
2. How is Financial Social Work an emergent macro practice discipline?
3. How do advocacy, social justice and research fit into the discipline of Financial Social Work?
4. What skills are needed to be an effective financial social worker?
5. How is Financial social work being integrated into professional schools of
social work?
6. What are the goals of the Center for Financial Social Work?
7. What will be the impact of FSW on the profession of social work?

For more details about this chat, visit #MacroSW website. 

Career Building Skills for Social Workers: #MaroSW Chat 5/14 9 PM EST

Are you a newly graduated social worker looking for a job? Thinking about going back to graduate school for that MSW? Then join the #MacroSW chat on May 14 at 9 PM EDT featuring guest experts Melissa Whatley & Joy Jones from the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s (UAB) Career & Professional Development. They will be answering your most pressing questions about searching and interviewing for that first social work job, how to tell your professional story through a resume, and best practices for networking, off-line & online.

We also invite social workers to share their own experiences about finding a social work job, especially a macro position, how they made the decision to go back to graduate school, or their best tip for networking, interviewing or building a resume.

For details about how this chat will work and for resources, visit #MacroSW website.  This chat will be hosted by Laurel Hitchcock, PhD, Assistant Professor of Social Work, University of Alabama at Birmingham, @laurelhitchcock.

Making the Most of Your Mental Health Story

 A song, a movie scene, or book can trigger memories both good and bad. These recollections are fragments of our stories, which in many cases have brought us to the social work profession. In your life, you may have encountered a situation that changes your perspective forever or gives you that fire in your gut to do something meaningful—to right all the wrongs in the world.  Given the prevalence of mental illness, most likely you or someone close to you may have suffered from a tragedy or mental health disorder. These events are a powerful call to action, and how you harness your unique story makes a difference.

I’ve thought a great deal about my own history and how it has influenced me. My story is intertwined with the taboo subject of pornography. My father distributed the classic adult film Deep Throat in the 1970s and was prosecuted by the federal government on obscenity charges. Chaos ensued in my family after dad’s indictment. My mother suffered from depression and attempted suicide. We all survived and eventually thrived, and my family’s experience culminated in the publication of my memoir, The Pornographer’s Daughter. 

Read the full post on The New Social Worker.

Book Review: The Last Days of Video

Reading The Last Days of Video by Jeremy Hawkins is likely to elicit nostalgia for a generation that trekked to the video rental store. And reminder of this lost ritual may compel some to embark on a fruitless search for the local Blockbuster, though some supermarkets still seem to offer these rentals.

The Last Days of Video is about a small movie rental store, Star Video, on the verge of going out of business in 2007. Star Video’s owner and devoted employees are colorful and quirky characters who bring this story to life each with their own neurosis and obvious love of film.  

Read my full review on New York Journal of Books. 

Filmmaker Fights the Stigma Against Mental Illness

The best thing about the #MyMentalHealthStory campaign I launched in December of 2014 is I have had the opportunity to meet some amazing people. In this interview, get to know filmmaker, Jeff Holiday. Here Jeff shares what inspired him to become a storyteller and how his family's experience with mental illness and suicide has shaped the making of his short film, Boulevard. - tweet this-

Read full interview at Huffington Post. 

Visit www.jeffholiday.com and www.boulevardthefilm.com to learn more about Jeff and his film.

Going Back to Where it All Began

My Teacher Rick Walter

It’s always good to reflect back to the beginning. It gives you a chance to see how far you have come and gives clarity for future plans. On Sunday, March 22 I presented at The Writer’s Center and it was wonderful to recall the start of my writing career.

I first came to The Writer’s Center in 2006, and I didn’t have grand plans to be become a famous writer (although it would be nice) I just wanted to become a better writer for work. I enrolled in a business writing course where I met Rick Walter, teacher extraordinaire and perpetual optimist. Rick was the catalyst for me embarking on this crazy endeavor to get published. He took a genuine interest in my efforts to improve my writing and even after the workshop ended, we would meet to review my work. Most importantly Rick believed in my writing potential. 

Read full blog at First Person Plural.

Calling All Book Clubs

If you're in a book club, consider adding The Pornographer's Daughter to your club's reading list.  I'm available to meet with your group, online or in-person in the Washington, DC area, to discuss details of my story and answer questions that arise from your read.  

This will add a little something extra to your book discussion and is an opportunity to delve into aspects of my story you might not have otherwise learned about. I love hearing directly from readers about what they liked and did not like about my memoir, so I look forward to meeting you.

For book clubs I'm offering small discounts on group purchases and book discussion guide. Request your visit today on my book club page.  Happy reading!  I hope this makes your experience with my book much interesting and entertaining.

Book Review: Spice by Jenna Jameson and Jaime Schmidt

Fairy tales might just come true for porn stars, or at least this seems to be the theme in the erotic novel Spice (Skyhorse 2014) by Jenna Jameson and Jaime K. Schmidt. This is the third and last book in a trilogy (Sugar and Honey) that features former porn stars who find love (and sex) after a career in the adult industry and despite some big obstacles.

The book's main character, Liz Carter (aka. Spice) is a former international porn star and jet setting party girl. Liz leaves her fast track life behind in Los Angeles and moves to New York City after becoming pregnant and ditching her deadbeat boyfriend. We meet Liz as a single mom who is struggling to make ends meet as a graphic designer. She lives a simple life now: no more designer clothes, no more parties and no more sex. Liz is also a breast cancer survivor and the scars of her double mastectomy are a stark reminder. She is not bitter or unhappy about her life, just glad to be alive to watch her nine year old son, Jonathan, grow up.

Read the rest on The Huffington Post.