What Can You Do?

Each of us has some skill, talent or qualification that enables and allows us to contribute to our community.  The question is: "What Can You Do?"

We frequently think of political activism as protest, politicking, campaigning. Well, it can also be helping people to get out to vote. Encouraging people to just be more aware of the issues. Encouraging people to contact their legislators on the local, county, state and federal level, especially regarding a specific issue. Encouraging people to help in parts of the community that are undeserved. Attending minority celebrations, activities and ceremonies. The latter can be solidarity building and uplifting!

Through our churches,religious and community organizations we can be involved in activities that help the poor, homeless, poverty stricken, downtrodden.

There are organizations that embrace our physical talents and help to build and repair homes and community facilities to the benefit of all.

There are a multiplicity of civic, service and community organizations who work to help to provide support, sustenance and assistance to the community. Some are local. Some are local branches or chapters of national or international organizations.

There are organizations that help to foster children, in their home environments, or institutional environments. Organizations help to protect childrens' rights, and advocate for their well being.

There are organizations that seek to protect and defend the well being of developmentally challenged individuals of all ages. And organizations to help to protect minorities, however minorities are defined: race, creed, color, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic background or what have you.

There are organizations that seek to protect pets, other animals, wildlife, the environment.

There are so many options for helping to improve our society, that the question is not "What Can You Do" but "What Will You Do, and What Will It Be, and When Will You Do It?"

Not for Profit Board of Directors

Recently, I was honored with an invitation to join the board of directors of a not for profit Christian social service agency where I had worked years ago.  Just being invited was an honor, and to be elected to the board, a blessing.

My term began in January, and I have been to 2 board meetings.  I am feeling a bit of a "fifth wheel" because I am not sure where I fit or belong.  I know about meeting participation.  I went on line and found some readings about being on not for profit boards. I recall, when I worked for this same agency, years ago, a beloved board member embraced the members and was very caring about them. He set a standard maybe I can achieve? 

I was excited tonight to receive a phone call regarding setting up a new member orientation. The agency has a new director, as of January, so my thought was to let her get settled in, but if by March, new board member orientation did not occur, I would invite myself to the agency and orient myself.

I am truly blessed and honored to serve as a board member for this not for profit.  I hope I am up to the task.

I Did Not Want To Go To Work Today

I am so rarely overwhelmed by what I face at work that I wake up not wanting to go to work. I wake up not wanting to get out of the warm bed.  I wake up, not wanting to face a cold shower (no more), but not wanting to go to work.

Since my vacation at Christmas time, going to work has been difficult. But this morning, it was down right almost impossible.  I had such an overpowering sense of not making a difference, no matter how hard I tried.

Part of the problem is we are short staffed, although we hope to have a new member to our team soon.  We have had so many people out with vacations and illnesses that the load has been spread fairly heavily.

That being the case, I have had to forgo what I enjoy the most at work. I enjoy the counseling/psychoeducational opportunities I have with patients.  But, this is optional, and has to be put aside when I am busy with treatment team, release planning, and psychosocial evaluations.

Well, today, I do not have my new treatment team list; the patient I needed to interview for a psychosocial evaluation was waiting to be moved from seclusion.  And, I am struggling to help the releasing patients on my caseload.  So, I spent a portion of the day doing psychoeducation.  It made me feel better about my work.  Thank you.

It's God

I have recently received several emails or attachments to emails that basically say when things come together, "It's God," or if things do not come together the way we want, "It's God." 

I have to say that I believe this is so true.  We do have free will and can make what choices we want to make, but I see the hand of God in my choices so many times.

I think of all the times I thought I wanted to leave Lubbock, and had some plan or other to do so...Every time, something stepped in to stop me...

I believe it was the hand of God, guiding me along the way so I would be in the right place to do the work I do at the psychiatric prison where I work...

I very often say things to patients that seem to resonate with them so well... But those are not my words...  I believe that God gives me those words, not so I can proselytize, because I do not discuss religion, but so I can offer comfort or wisdom or assistance or solace to the patient with whom I am speaking.

I am frequently reminded, and frequently remind people, that we should not pray for our wishes, but for the strength and wisdom from God to endure or thrive in the setting he has provided for us.

A niece told me about the movie Shadowlands http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108101/.  In it C S Lewis is asked about his habit of prayer.  The gist of the comments he makes is that prayer does not change God, but changes him...

It's God.

This is Why I Belong in Prison

I have recently had many casual conversations wtih coworkers that revolve around the topic "This is Why I Belong in Prison."  We talk about how the job fits for us. 

I am not sure why, but this job does fit with me...One aspect is the fact that I wanted to serve the underserved.  I can not think of a more underserved population than prisoners.  

I have often told this story:  When I was a teenager, my mother used to say that if I continued my behaviors I would end up pregnant or in jail.  My first social work job was in adoptions, and I did a lot of counseling with pregnant women. 

So, now, I work in a prison.

Maybe my mother knew me better than I knew myself, and better than I thought she knew me....

Owning the future

I am a licensed bachelor social worker in the state of Texas and I work in a state run psychiatric prison... One of the hardest tasks I face is to give young patients (or old patients)  with long sentences a sense of future.

It is understandable that any prisoner, young or old, with a very long sentence stretching before him or her feels hopeless and helpless.   Sometimes we refer them to read Viktor Frankl's "Man Search for Meaning" (I give you the Wikipedia site, as there does not seem to be a definitive site) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man's_Search_for_Meaning.  And, we look for other motivations.

Some inmates can be motivated to pursue some esoteric interests: reading, education, religion, helping others. Most find it difficult to think of doing anything other than "one day at a time." 

Some can be motivated to help even newer inmates to learn about doing prison time, and adjusting to the very different culture of prison...

Sometimes, I grasp at air straws while trying to help these patients find meaning for life:  a child who may want to know a parent in 20 years; a mother who never stops loving her child; another prisoner who needs help.  Most recently, a patient mentioned that the jury could have given him from 5 to 99 years, but gave him 25 years.  He hearkened to the comment that maybe the jury saw something in him that hoped that he would learn something new and better in 25 years.  A young man, he liked that idea...To implant it further, I told him he had an obligation to that jury to prove them right... He liked that idea, too.  Hope springs eternal..

NASW Workshop

Today, the director of the Texas Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (Vicki Hansen) was in Lubbock to do an all day workshop. Honestly, I would not have planned to attend on my own dime.  But I was asked to work the registration desk (which I do for the South Plains Branch of NASW at our yearly workshop) so my participation in the workshop was free. 

I am so glad I attended the workshop. There was so much current, timely and important information imparted that had much value for me as a professional social worker. 

I grumble at paying the high dues for NASW.  But, when we have successful and helpful events sponsored by NASW, I am always glad I am a member... This was one of those days.  For Lubbock standards, the attendance was low:  30... Generally our workshops are closer to 45 to 60 with as many as 75.  But Vicki thought the turn out was okay...

It was a good day... I am glad I went to the workshop.....

West Side Story

I am watching West Side Story http://www.westsidestory.com/ on TV tonight. It was made in 1961, based on the 1950s play. It is a favorite movie of mine.  Every time I see it, I am struck at how timely it still is.   Of course, it has been timely since Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet. 

The love story is not lost on me... But if I focused on the love story, I would cry throughout the entire movie.

When I watch West Side Story two themes run through my mind:   The first is that there are so many places in the movie where an intervention would have made things turn out different. And at each instance, I cringe.... The corruption and prejudice of the police, the stupidity of the social worker, the passiveness of the store owner, the lying, angry, and vengeful acts. The bullheadedness at the rumble that something violent HAD to happen.

The second is how timely the theme is:  We have gang problems.  We have prejudice problems. We have inter-racial problems. True, they are less divisive and more subtle than 40 years ago.  But, They are still there.

I once watched the movie with a friend. He had not paid attention to the words of "America"  The irony, sarcasm, and juxtaposition of the have and have nots was not something he had noticed...

I also cringe at the "Officer Krupke" song... This is a classic rendition of passing the buck. From one professional to another.  And, frankly, it is still happening today.

March is Social Work Month

March is Social Work Month...    The National Association of Social Work sponsors recognitions of social workers, public citizens, elected officials, and agencies. 

Donut Hole

I am a social worker who works in a men's psychiatric prison in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice system. However, I am not employed by TDCJ, but by Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, which is a contract provider to TDCJ.



Currently, I am assigned to a ward which houses 50 patients in single man cells, which is referred to as Administrative Segregation. What many used to think of as "solitary confinement." Additionally, there are two seclusion cells that are nothing more than concrete walls, floor and ceiling. A drain. A door and an outside window. No padding....



The ward where I work is populated by some of the sickest patients, and by some of the patients who show extremely bad behaviors, intentionally. They have what we call characterlogical disorders. Some of these intentional behaviors include such things as self mutilation by cutting with anything sharp that can be (illegally) acquired: razors, paint chips, tile, pieces of concrete, staples, wire, plastic. Other behaviors include stabbing oneself, inserting things into the rectum or penis, overdosing, hanging, swallowing things. Additionally these patients do things like spitting, throwing feces, urine, dirty water, blood, food or what have you. The smear some of the same things. They stop up drain pipes and cause flooding. They cover their windows with paper so their safety can not be ascertained.



Sometimes, these patients act out in such a way as to result in the security staff having to use physical force. Sometimes, the patient's intention really is to hurt security, sometimes, amazingly, the patient's intention is to get security to hurt the patient.



A favorite pastime of many of these patients is masturbation. This act is seen by staff for what it is: not an attempt at gratification, but an act of aggression.



This ward has one row, composed of 8 cells, in which some patients with "extreme" behaviors are monitored closely, in an effort to decrease the likelihood of their self-injurious behaviors. The patients have few privileges, but their privileges are reviewed weekly by the treatment team. The intent is to increase privileges, but still have the patients be able to be safe from themselves... As you can imagine, the patients housed on this row may not always be very happy.



The treatment team is composed of a nurse, provider(psychiatrist or PA), social worker, a ranking security officer, usually a Sargent, and a clerk who manages the paperwork. The social worker tends to do much of the preparation of the report, and can take responsibility for notifying patients of treatment team decisions, although security and nursing do so, also. For my ward, I provide a written notification, with reminders, information about upcoming reviews, and comments about expected behaviors. Most of the patients take this for what it is, but some personalize it as coming from the social worker, not the treatment team.



I work closely with the security staff and nurses on this word. We have to communicate frequently and, sometimes, at length about what is occurring. We have to coordinate and support each other. And, we have to trust each other's expertise in their area.



The security staff with whom I work are good men and women. They are subjected to verbal abuse regularly, and can not let it affect their professionalism. I have to believe there is a special place in Heaven for prison security officers. They have to move patients for me regularly, so the patient can be placed in an area in which I can safely interview them. This means a day room or consult room partitioned with expanded metal so there is no opportunity for physical contact by the patient. For the interviewer's safety. This actually affords the patient some modicum of privacy, as a security officer does not have to remain present for the interview, although, I have the discretion to request that, if I feel it is needed. Rarely, I do. But I do.



These security officers do their job well. They like to tease some, and frequently "campaign" for Krispy Kreme donuts. If you are not familiar with Krispy Kreme, think Dunkin' Donut, but richer, lighter, and with more intense flavor. Well, I do from time to time bring the officers some donuts.



Recently, some of the "extreme" patients on the closely monitored row have taken to call me "donut hole." It is true that communication is only 7% the words we speak, the rest being tone and volume, and non-verbal cues. I did not know that two innocent sounding words could take on such a vulgar sounding tone until these patients started calling me "donut hole." The intimation is that I am siding with security against the patients, and possibly in some ways they imagine that are inappropriate. It is meant as an insult, of course.



It makes no sense, to deliberately antagonize me, because I sit on the treatment team that makes decisions about their treatment, privileges, and programming. I am the clinician who offers psychoeducational programming for these patients. I do my best to be professional, fair and consistent with all of the patients assigned to my ward. I find myself advocating for someone who has threatened me, spit at me, or called me names. These patients chose not to know that they are creating their own problems by their behaviors, which is consistent with the fact that they did things to get themselves sent to prison.



Fortunately, there are just as many patients on my ward who are seriously working on their programs. Whose behaviors have noticeably improved, changed for the better, and who are benefiting from their efforts to help themselves. Most changes are small, but all are meaningful... I once had a supervisor who said if you can help one client a year, you can consider yourself successful. Maybe her expectations were too small, but that idea keeps me going...



I lost it last night, after work, thinking about the phrase "donut hole." The disrespect, disgust, and intonation with which it was being said was obvious to me. In the light of day, I realize that if I let it get to me, I run the risk of sinking to the same level as the persons saying those things.



This is the world in which I choose to live. I do feel I have made a difference, and I feel I can continue to do so...

All Things Happen For A Reason

I said this to my family today. But it bears repeating... And has more detail...

Since December of 2005, I have borne an incredibly difficult load at work.. A caseload double what most everyone else had. In the spring of 2006, a new psychiatrist signed on... He spent a week with another psychiatrist, then started working one of the pods I worked. The tenured psychiatrist told me they (the other psychiatrists) figured I could help him learn the ropes... The days and months past, and the double case load continued. The new psychiatrist learned his way.

Working with psychiatrically ill people can be draining, and it was. I began to have less and less energy for my life... I was stuck in an unsatisfying relationship.. My mother was very ill. I had too much emotional stress to be able to be a human being. I worked a lot of overtime, but the few times I wanted to do something really special, I did. Taking time off was cumbersome: getting ready was tiring, but returning to the undone load was exhausting...

But, it was what needed to be done, given the staffing pattern at the time. All things happen for a reason..

I was trying to figure out a very emotionally crippling relationship.. I could not do that and survive at work. Work for me has always been a grounding, a constant, even though, more than once, it has impinged on my personal life... It did again. But, supportively, taking over when I needed it to take over, because I could not deal with my life...I ditched the relationship...

Slowly, slowly, I started sorting out the life I wanted to live. Another new provider came on, and I was able to show him the ropes, too... A compliment, a blessing... But as I did some of the emotional chains were loosened.

Sadly, my Mother died, but in her passing a release of tension occurred. Over the summer, I have regained a desire to do the fun things I did before. And the strength to do them no matter what companionship or lack there of there is....

And, now, at work, the prospect of a changed assignment, and maybe, with that, a different load, hopefully, a lighter load... Things happen for a reason.

When I carried the heavy load at work, I could not, did not want to deal with my life.. Now that I am wanting to deal with my life, there is a prospect to lighten my load at work...

God is good....

It's Not As Simple as it Seems

For those of you who are MountainWings recipients, today the posting was about their server problems, and the fact changing out the server and getting the daily postings out was not as simple as it seems, as is true for many things in life.

Yet, in my line of work, as a social worker in a psychiatric prison, one of the things I repeatedly tell people is that what we teach them about self care is deceptively simple, too amazingly simple to sound good enough to be helpful...


And, yet it is helpful, and effective. One of the first things we teach patients when they come into the unit is about self care skills: We start with the basics: nutrition, hygiene, sleep, exercise, medication and treatment compliance. It is amazingly, deceptively simple, but it really lays a good foundation for more involved coping skills, including other behavior and thinking changes, such as relaxation skills, stress management and anger management techniques....


And, because the self care skills are so simple, many of our patients disregard their potential for being beneficial or disregard their importance. Yet, over and over again, when I can convince someone to start taking better care of themselves, they notice an improvement right away. Not a cure, just a better sense of well being...


So, this is one instance that life is truly simpler than it seems. It is not a panacea, but a basic foundation for more changes and improvements that are not as simple as they seem, and, as I am frequently told by patients, changes that are "easier said than done." But changes that can be less stressful when someone has a basically positive self care routine.....

Lessons in Loss

When we have very little, and it is taken from us, it sometimes can mean much more than if we lose something of which we have a great amount. This is a basic lesson and truth. Yet, when people who have lost what little they have are angry, frightened, resentful and acting out on those feelings, some of us react in surprise, and with seeming little understanding or concern for their plight.

In the US, we live in a very consumptive society. We do not realize, sometimes, how very much we have especially in comparison to people in other parts of the world. And, compared to people in the parts of our own society in which poverty is rampant.

I am as guilty as anyone. I want nice things. I live a lifestyle of clinging security. Unlike many people of my age, I do not believe in incurring many debts and I do not live beyond my means. I do enjoy some material things.

I have been provided the opportunity, as a social worker and as I go through life, to see the vast contrasts of wealth and material possessions that reign in our society. As such, I am able to remind myself, regularly, how blessed I am even though I am not very wealthy. I am able to survive, have a safe home, meet my needs and tend to myself.

Most importantly, I have some freedoms of choice and action, which many people, less fortunate than I, do not possess. For that I am grateful.

Over the last several years, I have experienced many losses in many forms. I am amazed at the physical strength it takes to survive such losses. I think that is an important lesson for all of us who work with people: if your energies go into survival, there is not much left for advancement and growth. A basic lesson in life, not just in loss.

There are many lessons in loss to which we do not take heed, so, we never really learn them. Since I am a big believer that we must learn life's lessons before we can proceed, it is time I start part closer attention.

What loss have you incurred, from which you have not heeded the lesson?