March is National Social Work Month, and here at the Hogg Foundation, we see firsthand the major role social workers play in the upkeep of mental health.
We are joined today by Catherine Wilsnack, a doctoral candidate in the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin. Catherine earned her B.S. in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her M.S.W. from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice. Prior to pursuing social work, she worked as a mental health clinician. She discusses the unique perspective that social workers have on mental health and the collaboration between academic researchers and practitioners at the heart of the field.
Making Mental Health a Collaborative Effort
“People from different vantage points are going to see different changes, and they’re going to see different opportunities,” Katy Bourgeois says. When it comes to community-based mental health projects, a mutual desire to collaborate doesn’t necessarily promise a job...
Raising the Voices of Individuals with IDD
“They need to understand that people with disabilities need to be believed,” James Meadours says. Earlier this year, National Public Radio (NPR) aired a five-part series on the “hidden epidemic of sexual assault” against individuals with intellectual and developmental...
Activism for Mental Health
“I’m not looking for a utopia,” Latasha Taylor says. “I’m looking for balance. Nature shows us that balance is the best way for any entity to move forward and be successful.” In 2016, the Hogg Foundation started its Mental Health Peer Policy Fellows Grant Program to...
WNBA Athlete Speaks Up on Mental Health in Sports
“If I give 100 percent, that’s good enough,” McGee-Stafford says. “It really doesn’t matter what other people expect me to do, because I’m doing this for me.” From January 17 to 19, The University of Texas at Austin hosted the fourth annual Black Student-Athlete...
When Recovery Meets Social Entrepreneurship
“How do we empower the voice of lived experience to help shape policy and programming?” Jason Howell asks. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) defines recovery as a “process of change through which individuals improve their health...
How to Build a Healthy City
“People are part of many different communities,” Dr. Clay Johnston says. “Not just their physical community, but also the communities in which they work, and in which they share religion and other cultural commonalities.” The notion that individual well-being can be a...