Rigorously Relevant

An ongoing conversation on social work research, evidence-based practice, and practice-based evidence.

Episode 6 Stephen Cummings writes about social work and technology. Stephen is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Iowa School of Social Work, where he is the Distance Education Administrator. Stephen has been involved in the field of social work for over 20 years, initially working at an agency for people with disabilities as an employment specialist, before earning his MSW in 2002 at the University of Iowa. For 10 years, Stephen worked as a medical social worker at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, primarily in Surgical Intensive Care, inpatient psychiatry, and the Emergency Treatment Center. Throughout his practice, Stephen nurtured an interest in the use of technology in the social work profession. He brought this expertise to his Distance Education Administrator role, focusing on ethics and technology as part of his scholarly work. Stephen is also a member of #MacroSW, a collaboration of social work leaders dedicated to the promotion of macro-based social work practice. 

Episode 4: Jonathan B. Singer, Ph.D., LCSW is Associate Professor of Social Work at Loyola University Chicago, President of the American Association of Suicidology and coauthor of the 2015 Routledge text, Suicide in Schools: A Practitioner’s Guide to Multi-level Prevention, Assessment, Intervention, and Postvention. He is a two-time winner of the National Association of Social Workers Media Award (2012 and 2016). He was a 2014 Visiting Scholar at Fordham University, the 2017 Lucille N. Austin Scholar at Columbia University, and the 2018 Distinguished Lecturer at Weber State University. Dr. Singer is a well-regarded international speaker who has given hundreds of continuing education workshops, keynote addresses, and presentations on youth suicide, ethics, technology, adolescent development and attachment-based family therapy in the USA, Latin America, and Europe. He is the author of over 75 publications and his research has been featured in national and international media outlets like NPR, BBC, Fox, Time Magazine, and The Guardian. His co-authored article with Arielle Sheftall and John Ackerman about the news media’s reporting on the suicide deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain won the prestigious 2019 SDX prize for research on journalism. He is an NASW Expert, Healio Psychiatry Peer Perspective Board member, and on several national youth advisory boards including Sandy Hook Promise, JED Foundation, and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. A pioneer in the integration of technology and social work, Dr. Singer is an original member of the online suicide prevention social media community #SPSM, the Treasurer for the international human services Information Technology association (http://husita.org/), co-lead for the Social Work Grand Challenge initiative “Harness Technology for Social Good” (https://grandchallengesforsocialwork.org/harness-technology-for-social-good/), and member of CSWE’s Technology Advisory Group. Dr. Singer is the founder and host of the award-winning Social Work Podcast (www.socialworkpodcast.com), the first podcast by and for social workers. The Social Work Podcast has over 40,000 followers on social media, listeners in 208 countries and territories, and a million podcast episode downloads per year. He lives in Evanston, IL with his wife and three children and can be found on Twitter as @socworkpodcast and Facebook at facebook.com/swpodcast.

Episode 3: Annie Grier (she/her/Ms) is a macro social worker advancing inclusion, diversity, equity, anti-racism,  accessibility and sustainability (IDEAAS) in practice, research and education. She is the Senior  Coordinator for Diversity & Inclusion at Florida State University and an adjunct professor at Fordham  University in the Master of Social Work program, where she instructs on working with organizations &  communities and integrating practice with research & evaluation. Ms. Grier is the owner of IDEAAS, LLC.  

Ms. Grier is an ambassador for the Network for Social Work Management and a field supervisor for  several social work schools across the country. Prior to working in diversity and inclusion, she spent 8  years doing criminal justice research and 7 years developing programs within the criminal justice system  in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Missouri and Florida.  

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and communications from the University of North Carolina at  Chapel Hill and a Master of Social Work, specializing in research, from The Brown School at Washington  University in St. Louis. 

In her spare time, Annie Grier (#59) likes running full-speed at quarterbacks and ball carriers as a  defensive end/tackle for the St. Louis SLAM Women’s Professional Tackle Football Team (retired 2019),  with whom she won three national championships in the Women’s Football Alliance (2016, 2017 &  2019). Also, she volunteers within her local jail and mentors social work students/recent graduates  interested in macro practice. 

“When information we have on ‘good authority’ conflicts with moral authority, we, as leaders, must  take a stand and act justly, whether it makes foes of our friends or fools of our counselors.” — Antoinette “Annie” Grier. The Washington Post. September 28, 2010.

Episode 2:  Amber Keating, LCSW, helps people heal deep emotional wounds through a combination of talk therapy, mindfulness, yoga-based movement, and energetic or spiritual healing.  Ms. Keating discovered yoga more than 20 years ago and it has fueled her passion for holistic healing. Ms. Keating has received extensive training in Medical Therapeutic Yoga, Reiki, and Transpersonal Energy Healing, all of which she incorporates in her practice as a therapist, clinical supervisor, and program manager in non-profit community mental health.  Her specialties include the treatment of anxiety, trauma, abuse, grief, loss, and chronic pain.  Having grown up in a small California town, she brings the calm of the wide open spaces to her work in the hectic Los Angeles landscape.  

Amber’s Article: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/dbSBvyecdjQuq5w9iRi7/full

Episode 1: Ben Capistrant is a social and population health scientist researching social determinants of health and aging. He is interested in population aging, as well as the prevalence and distribution of health conditions that drive care needs in later life (e.g., physical disability, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and dementia). In particular, Ben is interested in understanding who within a family provides support, including caregiving, for a family member with care needs and how that support affects the caregiver’s health.

Ben is currently an Associate Professor at Smith College School of Social Work and affiliated with the Program on Statistical & Data Sciences at Smith College. Previously, he was an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology & Community Health at University of Minnesota School of Public Health and Minnesota Population Center and a Postdoctoral Scholar at Carolina Population Center at University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. He completed my masters and doctorate in social epidemiology at Harvard University.