Psycho-education for the People

Are social workers just as scared about change as clients?

Are social workers professional co-dependents? That is, are we driven to fix, rescue, and help?  Or do we endeavor to truly empower - help the client figure it out?

It would be so much easier if we did it for them.  It would be way more efficient.  We would feel pride of accomplishment.  But then where would the client be?  Where is their pride of accomplishment?  And what happens the next time they gotta do it and we're not around?

When the literature is teeming with evidence about what works, what helps, what makes a difference for whom - what makes social workers hesitant to adopt these practices?

There is a lot of money being spent to determine the best way to implement and disseminate evidence based practices. That is, to sell what works to practitioners.

I am not as passionate about this as I used to be.  Now I just wanna take the evidence straight to the people who need it most.

I envision developing social marketing campaigns as a form of mental health treatment.  If social marketing can be used to change health behavior - that is, behavior that promotes health and well-being or prevents disease - then it can probably be used to promote mental health behaviors that are protective (for example, family communication about traumatic events).

That's my hypothesis anyway.  I am banking my research agenda on it.