Adolescents who are required to live away from their families of origin face many challenges that can affect mood and mental health. Milieu therapists (mental health associates) working with adolescents in a residential treatment center may be expected to provide group activities that promote mental health. It is important for new group leaders to…

In its history, professional social work has long given at least lip service to the idea of building on client strengths as a part of the helping enterprise. This article provides an overview of the strengths approach to practice as it has evolved in social work and how that method and style might be applied by school counselors in their work with…

Barbara Wootton, a prominent British social scientist and educator of social workers, examined the status of social work in the 1950s. Wootton argued iconoclastically that the social work literature presented a profession that was arrogant and far removed from the common concerns of the populations served. In addition, Wootton felt that the social…

An individual's constructive development, or system of meaning making, is relevant to the process of career counseling. A description of constructive-developmental theory and how that theory may be integrated in career counseling is provided, focusing on a case study that addresses issues of sexual orientation and religious identity. Methods for…

The authors examine the concepts of ego integrity, life review, and narrative reconstruction as cornerstones of theory that inform counseling practice with aging adults. Contemporary theories of grief reconciliation are proposed as useful models for understanding and creatively addressing the needs of adults who are 60 years and older.

The establishment of positive relationships between home and school has long been recognised as a desirable state which can have a significant bearing upon the success of students both academically and socially. By contrast, when relationships between schools and parents or carers falter, the consequences can be detrimental to all parties and in…

When school counselors team and collaborate with school personnel, families, and community members to foster strengths-based partnerships, they are able to implement classroom, schoolwide, and community-based programs and interventions that support and empower children and families. Strengths-based partnerships utilize the assets found in schools,…

Background: Active Support (AS) is an approach for promoting increased engagement in activities by people with intellectual disability (ID). Method: We critically reviewed the available research on AS, and added a commentary to help guide future research and practice. Results: Despite weaknesses in the research design of some studies, there is…

Although existing family preservation program research has focused on identifying the components of effective treatment, we remain far from fully developing empirically supported interventions (Barth, Chamberlain, Reid, Rolls, Hurlburt, Farmer, James, McCabe, & Kohl, 2005; Dufour, Chamberland, & Trocme, 2003). The current longitudinal study…

This paper presents a complex, but realistic, picture of the lived experience in assisted living (AL), and provokes thoughtful reflection about the operational and ethical challenges faced in the delivery of care to an increasingly frail population in a typical AL facility. Developed from the findings of a two-year qualitative research project,…

Youth workers operate within a professional climate in which competence is perceived to be linked to a worker's ability to respond quickly and effectively to whatever situations clients may present. Many youth workers perceive their own inability to respond in moments of stuckness as indicative of their own failing and lack of professional skill.…

Transitional care encompasses a broad range of services and environments designed to promote the safe and timely passage of patients between levels of health care and across care settings. High-quality transitional care is especially important for older adults with multiple chronic conditions and complex therapeutic regimens, as well as for their…

There is increasing awareness that domestic violence (DV) and child maltreatment often overlap and that there are significant negative consequences to women and children who are victims in the same families. The present study contains data from a participatory evaluation of a multisite national demonstration project on family violence (the…

There is a national shortage of social workers who have the knowledge and skill competencies needed for practice with our rapidly growing older adult population. In the last decade, research has identified many reasons for the lack of interest in gerontological social work and steps that could be pursued within social work education to remedy the…

A gap exists between research and practice within the field of intellectual disability. In particular, researchers suggest that personal choice enhances quality of life. Following Bourdieu's suggestion to focus on improving the practice of theory rather than the theory of practice, this paper is a reflexive ethnography detailing my struggles to…