Social Work Special Interest Group
Affiliated 2011
Mission:
The mission of the Social Work SIG is to empower social workers around the world through contextual behavioral science with the goal of improving the health and quality of life for people in their communities.
Click here to join the Social Work SIG and its Listserv!
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SIG Volunteer Opportunities
- Community engagement committee
- Training & development committee
- ACBS World Conference committee
- Board membership
Contact Olga Montgomery or Helen Dempsey-Henofer to learn more about volunteering
2024 Board Members
Olga Montgomery, Co-Chair
Helen Dempsey-Henofer, Co-Chair
Hannah Gold, Member at Large
Evelyn Goldstein, Member at Large
Jessica Jacoby, Member at Large
Janice Keeman, Member at Large
Anastasia Sfiroudis, Member at Large
Alexander Simmons, Member at Large
Hania Tran, Member at Large
Neal Vernon, Member at Large
Founding co-leaders: Matt Boone, Julie Hamilton, Paul Sorenson, US
Past board chairs:
John Armando, US
Caroline Martin, Canada
Maggie Stewart, Canada
Sarah Cheney, US
Board Plans for 2024
• Building awareness of CBS & social work via social media
• Connecting with social work students and graduate programs
• Increasing access to CBS among social workers globally
• Highlighting social workers using ACT/CBS/RFT
• Increasing social and networking opportunities
If you're interested in helping with any of these projects and/or joining the book club or peer consult group, please contact Olga at olgamontgomery.mss@gmail.com
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and other contextual behavioral sciences are well-suited to the practice of social work. All share a focus on context, strengths, and understanding human suffering in ways that avoid pathologizing individuals and communities. The Social Work SIG is committed to supporting the intersection of social work theory and practice and contextual behavioral science. The SIG will strive to do the following:
• Ensure that the social work perspective is addressed in symposia, panels, workshops, and trainings at ACBS world conferences;
• Facilitate social work input in the upcoming ACBS journal, Contextual Behavioral Science;
• Provide outreach to social work programs and students;
• Facilitate shared efforts to publish about the link between CBS and social work theory and practice;
• Increase opportunities for social workers to access resources and network within the ACBS community in all areas, including research, education, job opportunities, consultation, program development, and supervision;
• Increase the proliferation of CBS within the social work community, thereby expanding treatment access to the general public;
• Increase number of social workers training other clinicians in CBS in their communities; and
• Increase sense of connectedness between social workers and the overall ACBS community.
Upcoming Events
New Social Work SIG Webinar Series
The ACBS Social Work SIG board is hosting a new monthly webinar series. One goal of this series is to create a supportive, informal professional development space for social workers to explore how ACT, RFT, and CBS can be applied to a variety of contexts.
Past webinar topics: psychosis, OCD, supervision, substance use, and grief. If you're interested in presenting, please contact Sarah Cheney at sarahcheney.msw@gmail.com
Webinars are free, and a recording will be added to the social work SIG page for viewing by ACBS members. Participants must register in advance (see the links below).
Upcoming Social Work Webinars:
Call for 2024 Webinar Submissions!
The ACBS Social Work SIG is now accepting submissions to fill out the remainder of our 2024 webinar schedule. Our aim is to provide a format where we can learn how other social workers from around the world are using ACT/CBS in their work. In service of expanding our range of offerings, we are hoping to fill out our 2024 schedule with webinars that focus on working with transgendered individuals, families in addiction and treating psychosis from an ACT/CBS perspective. We would also be especially interested in webinars that provide instruction on the use of a unique CBS/ACT intervention, experiential exercise, etc. that has proven to be effective for you.
Webinars are:
- Provided via Zoom
- 1-1.5 hours in length
- Hosted by very supportive ACBS SW SIG Board members
- Submissions are reviewed by the SW SIG training and development committee to ensure the presentation integrates models of CBS (ACT, RFT, etc.) and is a good fit with the ACBS SW SIG platform.
So, send a proposal our way by clicking the link below and come join us in further creating a dynamic learning environment for the ACBS and social work communities at-large. https://forms.gle/vHjjsqBmuwdsLWfB7
For additional information or questions you can contact me at njvernon1@gmail.com or (803) 238-9417.
Previous Webinars are included on the ACT and Social Work Resources Page
Click on this Link for Social Work Resources!