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 at The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work. 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. 

Catherine Wilsnack

Mental Health and Media: Stop Raising Awareness Already

“Awareness does not always associate with action or effectiveness,” Carrie Baron says. “Just because you’re aware doesn’t mean that you’re changing the situation.” Earlier this year, an article published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review urged organizations to...

Peer Support in the Criminal Justice System

“Coming out of the criminal system, for many, means starting over with nothing,” Zarate says. “Our objective is to reduce hospitalization, reduce recidivism, and have them be successful in re-entering the community.” The more we learn, the more obvious it seems that...

Political Climate as a Chronic Stressor

We speak with Dr. Christopher McCarthy, a UT Austin professor of educational psychology and leading authority on stress and coping in educational settings, on how his work translates to the current political climate.

Hogg Foundation Policy Priorities 2017

“We have reason to be hopeful about where we’re at on mental health in this legislative session,” says Greg Hansch, public policy director for National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Texas. The Hogg Foundation recently released its list of policy priorities for...

Youth in Transition: From Support to Empowerment

“Statistically I’m not supposed to be here. I should be in prison, homeless, or dead.” -LaQuinton Wagner Statistics are not necessarily the end all. With the overhaul of Texas' child welfare system dominating headlines during the 2017 legislative session, we revisit...