From November 2001 NASW NEWS
Copyright ©2001, National Association of Social Workers, Inc.

Social Work in the Public Eye

Elaine McDowell

NASW Maryland Chapter member Elaine McDowell, who holds an MSW and Ph.D. in social work from the University of Maryland, has been elected chairperson of the General Services Board of Alcoholics Anonymous, after serving for the past nine years as a Class A (nonalcoholic) trustee. McDowell, the first woman, African-American and social worker to be elected to the position of chairperson, has more than 28 years' experience administering treatment, research and prevention programs in the substance abuse and mental health fields.

She has served as deputy director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and as acting administrator of both the Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. From 1988 to 1996, she was director of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.

"This appointment is a high honor," said McDowell. "It fulfills the mandates of our profession to volunteer at this level."

New Jersey Chapter member Ruth Kreitzman was featured in a front-page New York Times article on the mental health profession's challenge to meet the psychological needs of children who lost parents or were otherwise affected by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"We've never been faced with anything of this magnitude simultaneously," Kreitzman was quoted as saying. "Even people who have dealt with bereaved kids a lot are struggling to understand now how this will be interpreted by children."

Kreitzman, a clinical social worker and clinical coordinator for the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services' Loss and Bereavement Program for Children and Adolescents, said her agency has set a goal to be flexible.

"What we're seeing keeps changing week to week. We may offer group therapy for families, we may offer groups for children and groups for adults. We just have to wait and see what the demand is."

Kreitzman said that she expects the agency to be deluged with clients, but not until they have had time to grieve privately with family and friends.

Kreitzman said in the article that she does not yet know whether the usual methods for working with bereaved children will apply to the new, blistering scenario. Ordinarily, she said, children do not like to talk about the loss of a parent because it makes them feel singled out from their peers. But the widespread nature of this trauma may change that.

"There are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds," she was quoted as saying. "Does that create a collective identity for children, knowing there are others? Or does it make it harder, because it is so collective, and in some ways anonymous?"

Mila Ruiz Tecala

Metro Washington Chapter member Mila Ruiz Tecala, head of the Center for Loss and Grief in Washington, D.C., was quoted in an article in The Wall Street Journal on likely grieving and healing patterns for employees traumatized by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. Tecala said that counseling sessions, in which employees talk about their fears and look at the triggers that make them anxious, are the best way to try to stave off post-traumatic stress disorder.

PTSD is characterized by constant distress, depression and withdrawal.

Tecala conducted critical-incident stress debriefings with three American Airlines flight attendants the week of the attack and has been working with them ever since to try to overcome their fear of flying. She has suggested that they visit the airport they normally work out of, just for lunch with a friend, and even sit on a grounded plane for 20 minutes or so to familiarize themselves with those once-comfortable quarters.

She said the longer the client avoids returning to normal life, the harder it will become. She has taught the flight attendants relaxation techniques and suggested that they avoid caffeine and alcohol and engage in daily exercise.

"I tell them they have to acknowledge their feelings," Tecala said. "They have to try to understand what those feelings represent."

Janice Kopelman

Pennsylvania Chapter member Janice Kopelman, an employee of the Pennsylvania Department of Health's Bureau of Communicable Diseases, in June attended the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS as a member of a 60-person U.S. delegation. Kopelman pinpointed the establishment of a global AIDS fund as "the single most significant accomplishment of the special session, because it moved participants beyond rhetoric to action."

She said the fund would establish an international, public-private partnership to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. It aims to collect contributions of approximately $6 billion a year from U.N. member nations and other entities, such as corporations and foundations.

She said the negotiations she witnessed at the special session were the kinds of negotiations social workers are skilled at: hearing the feelings behind the words and understanding other points of view.

"Eleven Islamic nations objected to the participation of a 'civil' society called the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) in a roundtable discussion on HIV and human rights because they believe homosexuality is illegal and immoral," Kopelman said. "But the other delegates affirmed the IGLHRC's participation."

She said every speech she heard by member nations stressed the importance of community-based organizations in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

She said social workers can be involved globally in the fight against AIDS by acting as advisers and consultants to international HIV prevention and services organizations. She also said that because social workers are involved with serving people "from all walks of life," working with the global community would only enhance their already attuned cultural competence skills.

The special session ended with the adoption of a Declaration of Commitment by more than 190 nations, "clearly signaling a strong level of resolve," said Kopelman.

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