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Welcome to the web page of the Metropolitan Chapter of the New York State Society for Clinical Social Work. The Metropolitan Chapter covers New York and Bronx Counties. The Metropolitan Chapter Board convenes in Manhattan on the second Friday of every month (except July, August and December) to review and plan Chapter events as well as to stimulate interest among members in volunteering to work on one of the Chapter’s committees. In December and again in the Spring, the chapter hosts holiday parties that are open to all chapter members. In addition to educational opportunities sponsored by a number of committees, the Membership Committee sponsors three intervening smaller social/networking events for prospective, new and current members. Also available to chapter members are 'Food for Thought' dinners at restaurants that combine networking and good old social fun with an educational presentation. You may check the Metropolitan Chapter Calendar for information about these meetings. The Chapter has a number of committees which are the bulwark of the structure of the Chapter. Some of the committees help carry out Chapter functions (Education Committee, Listserv Committee, Membership Committee, Mentorship/Peer Consultation Committee, Newsletter/ Photography Committee, Nominating Committee, and Website Committee) or liaise with larger Society committees which address statewide issues (Legislative Committee). Other committees are practice committees which bring together members who are interested in particular areas of clinical social work practice (Addictions, Clinical Ethics, Clinical Social Work Practice Group, Trauma Studies and Treatment Committee (TST), The Committee on the Aging Client and the Aging Clinician, Family Practice Committee, Multicultural Committee working the 'Cross-Cultural Divide', Legal issues Committee, and Psychoanalysis Committee). If you have any questions about a committee or wish to join a committee, you may contact the committee’s chairperson listed below. You may check the Metropolitan Chapter Calendar for information about committee meetings and programs. We welcome you to attend our monthly Board meetings, educational programs and other activities, to learn about the Society and the Metropolitan Chapter, to join with us and to participate actively in Metropolitan Chapter activities. Please contact the Chapter President to explore issues of concern, current or future goals, and suggestions for new committees. With respect to an interest in or suggestions to fill vacant board positions, please contact the Met Chapter President.
Contact the Chapter President: Karen Kaufman, Ph.D., LCSW(212) 639-9614 karenkaufman17@gmail.com
Chapter Leadership President: Karen Kaufman, Ph.D., LCSW First Vice President: J. Michelle Cuevas, Esq., JD, MPA,, LMSW Immediate Past President: Ariane Sylva, Ph.D., MSW, LCSW Secretary: Nina Sandy, MSW, LCSW Treasurer: Elizabeth Ojakian, LCSW, CASAC, CEAP Member-at-Large Emiritus and Past President:
Chapter Committees The Addictions Committee covers all addictions including alcohol, cocaine, narcotics, food, debt, sex and co-dependency. The focus of educational programs is the integration of the recovery process of the 12 Step Program with the practice of psychotherapy as well as theories of psychodynamic psychotherapy; this includes ego psychology, object relations and attachment theories. In addition we explore all avenues of recovery such as harm reduction. Programs include workshops and study groups on different subjects related to addiction. We encourage members with an interest in addictions to serve on the committee. Betsy Robin Spiegel, LCSW Education Committee The Education Committee plans, coordinates and implements periodic educational brunches where a speaker discusses a particular topic of interest to the Metropolitan Chapter membership, followed by a Q & A session. These programs are free to members. You may check the Metropolitan Chapter Calendar for information about these programs. For further information about the Education Committee or to volunteer to serve on this committee, you may contact the committee chairperson. Susan Appelman, MSW, LCSW, ACSW, CASAC Legislative Committee The Legislative Committee discusses legislative issues and works closely with the Society’s Legislative Committee to help implement the Society’s legislative agenda. The chairperson of the Legislative Committee is a member of the Society’s Legislative Committee, which organizes all of the Society’s legislative activities. For further information about the Legislative Committee or to volunteer to serve on this committee, you may contact the committee chairperson. Bobba Jean Moody, MSW, LCSW Listserv Committee Since 2006, the Chapter has had a listserv. Our listserv enables Metropolitan Chapter members to learn about various educational activities sponsored by the Chapter and the Society, as well as having an interactive function that allows chapter members to interact and network directly with one another regarding referrals, office space rentals, managed care and insurance concerns, practice issues, educational activities sponsored by other organizations, and other issues of interest to our members. This members-only listserv has proven to be an invaluable resource to our chapter, creating a supportive, networked professional community. All new members are added to the listserv upon joining the Met Chapter. To apply to join the listserv, see the Listserv Committee listing below. The web address for the listserv is:
Robert S. Berger, Ph.D., MSSW, LCSW (Co-chair) Lisa Beth Miller, MSW, LCSW (Co-chair) Lois Akner, MSW, LCSW Jane Gold, MSW, LCSW Marilyn Sulzbacker, MSW, LCSW Contact the Listserv Committee at i.m.c.moderators@gmail.com Membership Committee The Membership Committee welcomes new members to the Society and acts as a conduit for sharing interests and needs of members with the board and other committees of the Chapter. The Committee plans, coordinates and implements various activities which provide opportunities for networking among Chapter members. You may check the Metropolitan Chapter Calendar for information about these programs. For further information about the Membership Committee or to volunteer to serve on this committee, you may contact the committee chair. Richard B. Joelson, DSW, M.S., LCSW (Chair) Chris Ann Farhood, MSW, LCSW M. Katherine McEwen, MSSW, LCSW-R Antoinette Mims, MSW, LMSW Mentorship/Peer Consultation Committee The Mentorship/Peer Consultation Committee provides opportunities for MSW students, recent MSW graduates and MSW members who are early in their clinical social work careers, to partake in mentorship groups where they can network, discuss topics pertinent to their development as clinical social workers and can receive guidance, support, nurturance and advice to further their professional development as clinical social workers. The Committee also provides opportunities for more advanced clinical social work practitioners to come together in a supportive, sharing and collaborative environment to network, discuss clinical practice issues and to obtain consultation from their peers. For further information about the Mentorship/Peer Consultation Committee, to join a mentorship or peer consultation group, or to volunteer to serve on this committee, lead a mentorship group or to form a peer consultation group, you may contact the committee chair. Helen Hinckley Krackow, MSW, LCSW Nominating Committee The nominating committee solicits the membership both for open Board positions and other posts as needed by the Chapter. The Committee interviews candidates who have expressed an interest in serving the Chapter in one of these positions and then recommends candidates to the Met Chapter Board for further discussion and approval. If you are interested in chairing,developing or serving on a committee or if you wish to recommend a member to fill any of these functions, please contact either of the co-chiars. Robert S. Berger, Ph.D., MSSW, LCSW (Co-chair) Richard B. Joelson, DSW, M.S., LCSW (Co-chair) Website Committee The Website Committee makes sure that the Society’s website remains current and responsive to the needs of the Society. Each chapter has a chapter website coordinator who is a member of the Society’s Website Committee and is responsible to enter their chapter’s news and events onto their chapter’s web page on the Society website. If you have any chapter news to be placed on the Metropolitan Chapter web page, any chapter events to be placed on the Metropolitan Chapter Calendar on the Society website or want to join this committee, you may contact the chapter website committee chairperson. Robert S. Berger, Ph.D., MSSW, LCSW (Co-chair) Lisa Beth Miller, MSW, LCSW (Co-chair) Chapter Practice Committees Clinical Ethics Committee The Clinical Ethics Committee addresses the increasingly complex ethical dilemmas in clinical practice. Through a collaborative format supported by informative interaction, members are invited to present the ethical dilemmas they face. We then integrate the principles of the NASW and Clinical Social Workers Codes of Ethics, ethics theoretical matrices and exemplary texts to develop individual strategies to resolve the dilemma. Monthly meetings at 80 Fifth Avenue, 10th Floor begin in September. Please join us in our vibrant focus on the exploration and resolution of ethical dilemmas in clinical practice. New committee members are welcome. Chair Position currenlty open. If interested, please contact Board President Karen Kaufman Trauma Studies and Treatment Committee (TST) This Committee will focus on current issues pertinent to treating traumatized individuals/populations, as well as offer a discussion group with evolving themes relevant to treatment issues, countertransference, and special concerns pertinent to doing trauma work, i.e. secondary traumatization and the therapist’s self-care.We will also be following case vignettes including working with veterans having PTSD and addiction problems as well as the impact of witnessing a traumatic event on the individual. In addition, we will be geared to respond to acute situations (like Hurricane Sandy), by hosting meetings related to disaster and shared trauma for our membership. An eclectic approach (different theoretical orientations) in attending to traumatized clients will be encouraged. Chair: Gwenn A. Nusbaum, LCSW, BCD, CGP Shelley R. Messing, MSW, LCSW The Committee will address transference and countertransference issues as they relate to work with older patients as well as the impact of the aging clinician’s health or retirement on the treatment Other topics will include stereotypes, and helping patients face multiple losses including physical health, family, friends and other support networks. In addition, the possibility of accomplishing unfinished goals will be explored. Helen Hinckley Krackow, LCSW (Co-Chair) Henni Fisher, LCSW (Co-Chair)
Family Practice Committee The Family Practice Committee brings together clinical social workers who are interested in learning more about family and couples therapy to discuss and explore issues, theories, literature and case presentations, and attend lectures and workshops by various experts. The agenda for the year is planned at our June meeting for the following year. These periodic education programs are free. You may check the Metropolitan Chapter Calendar for information about committee meetings and educational programs. For further information about the Family Practice Committee or to participate in that committee you may contact the committee chairperson. Rita Gazarik, MSW, LCSW
Psychoanalysis Practice Committee The Psychoanalysis Practice Committee brings together clinical social workers who are interested in psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. A major activity the committee has been involved in for the past few years is planning movie nights, where we screen and discuss a movie with psychoanalytic themes led by a discussant who is an expert in the movie's themes (e.g., loss, transgender issues, sibling issues, addiction). We have also begun a series of psychoanalytic salons in members' apartments with brunch to discuss vignettes of psychoanalytic interest in an informal setting. For further information about the Psychoanalysis Practice Committee or to participate in that committee (we are actively seeking new members) you may contact the committee chairperson. Libby Kessman, MSW, LCSW(212) 595-8373 libbykessman.lcsw@yahoo.com |