Seattle University Master of Social Work

05/01/2026

Check out this event hosted by Social Justice Fund NW on how to make your giving anti-racist and values-aligned!

Don't forget to join SJF next week for our redesigned Anti-Racist Giving Plan Workshop.

We'll break down wealth inequality and explore how to align your money with your values. In this workshop, we’ll cover:

• Deciding when, where, how much to give
• How ID shapes our relationship to money
• Giving as part of our anti-racist practice

Tickets are sliding scale: Free, $25 standard, or $50 solidarity (covers you and another attendee)

Event details:
Tuesday, May 5
5:30 p.m. Pacific Time
6:30 p.m. Mountain Time
Virtual event

Register at http://bit.ly/antiracistgiving 🔗

[Image description: Graphic promoting a virtual Anti-Racist Giving Plan Workshop by Social Justice Fund Northwest. Event details appear over a black-and-white photo of a presenter motioning with their hands and speaking to a roomful of people.]

04/27/2026

Join the fight for worker and immigrant power at Cal Anderson, 12PM, this Friday on May 1st / May Day / International Workers Day.

SEATTLE MAY DAY
International Workers’ Day

SOLIDARIDAD, HECHO A MANO Y SIN PERMISO
Workers & Immigrants Build Power Together

Friday, May 1, 2026
12 PM Rally | March until 3 PM
Cal Anderson Park
1635 11th Ave, 98122

Here in Washington and across the country, working people are organizing in the spirit of justice, dignity, and collective liberation—values that align with El Centro de la Raza’s mission to build the Beloved Community where all people are respected, supported, and able to thrive.

This May Day, we stand together to demand a nation that puts workers over billionaires and invests in the wellbeing of our communities. We are committed to a future rooted in equity, opportunity, and human dignity for all.

We march in the streets to make our voices heard and our power visible.
Join us: https://tinyurl.com/WAMayDay

04/23/2026

We're back with another MSW student book recommendation!

One student reflects on the experience of reading The Great Psychotherapy Debate: The Evidence for What Makes Psychotherapy Work, by Bruce Wampold and Zac Imel:

“This book's thesis is outright revolutionary for clinical practice. If you have gripes with the medical model of mental health, and I know you do, then you need to read this book. It's a bit heavy on the statistical analysis, but if you can wade through or past those chapters, there is real gold to be found here.”

04/17/2026

Our MSW students still somehow make free time for reading amidst all their assignments, practicum obligations, and course learning! Stay tuned for more student book recommendations in the coming weeks.

One of our specialized year students highlights Living Through Loss: Interventions Across The Life Span, by Nancy R. Hooyman, Betty J. Kramer, and Sara Sanders.

"This book explores grief from a humanistic point of view and integrates individual factors of the bereaved, death related factors such as type of death or closeness of person to bereaved, as well as cultural or social factors related to how death is perceived by others. This is one of the few resources I found that discusses the different theoretical perspectives of grief and acknowledges common criticisms of each without discounting them. For example, stages of grief vs tasks of grief vs integrative and meaning making of grief."

"As the title suggests, the authors have separated out how loss and grief can be experienced during different life stages and linked this to developmental considerations, the type of loss, social factors, and presence or absence of resilience or protective factors. Each chapter details a specific lifespan and is followed by a chapter focusing on interventions appropriate for that life stage."

"I found it fascinating and useful in my own understanding of how grief looks different and unique for each of us."

04/14/2026

Honor the twenty-five more lives who have died unsheltered, in public, or by violence this year in our city with WHEEL : Grassroots organizing of homeless and formerly homeless women and Homeless Remembrance Project. As they continue to advocate and emphasize, without shelter people die. Join them in mourning and witnessing each name of our community members who have died at the City Hall Steps (4th and James) from 12pm - 1pm tomorrow, 4/15. See also the advocacy opportunities they lift up to support shelter expansion in our neighborhoods.

04/10/2026

This Sexual Assault Awareness Month, we want you to know about King County Sexual Assault Resource Center.

As they define: “Anytime someone is forced, coerced and/or manipulated into any unwanted or illegal sexual activity, it is a sexual assault. Sexual assault or abuse are terms we use in our work to talk about the broad spectrum of unwanted or illegal behaviors.”

Their 24-hour resource line is staffed by experienced advocates offering free, judgement-free, confidential support, whether you need immediate help or want someone to hear your story.

Call for help, support, and guidance at 888.998.6423.

Learn more at https://www.kcsarc.org/en/.

03/31/2026

As Social Work Month comes to an end, we asked MSW students what social work means to them and/or why they choose this work. Fostering hope and strength within ourselves and together emerged as a core theme.

In dark and distressing times, change happens both within ourselves and with each other. May we as social workers employ both our own inner power and our collective historical, ancestral, and present power as interconnected community to endure and build towards a future of liberation, love, and life - together.

03/19/2026

Check out Dr. Danna Bodenheimer's insights into neurodivergent-affirming clinical work and specifically assessment! A very valuable and necessary integration into our practice.

Continuing with Part 3 of Dr. Danna Bodenheimer on neurodivergence.

https://www.socialworker.com/feature-articles/practice/anxiety-trauma-neurodivergence-why-differential-gets-it-wrong/

A neurodivergent-affirming lens does not dismiss anxiety or trauma. It contextualizes them. It asks whether the nervous system’s responses make sense given both lived experience and inherent design.

03/15/2026

03/12/2026

During this time of intense fear, anger, uncertainty, overwhelm, and grief for many of us, specifically for those of us with immigrant backgrounds and those of us who belong to the global majority, we want to highlight a few resources that may be helpful to social workers supporting clients and community members facing immigration enforcement activity.

Family Safety Planning Guide: https://www.ilrc.org/community-resources/know-your-rights/step-step-family-preparedness-plan

What to Do if You Are Arrested or Detained by Immigration: https://www.nilc.org/resources/know-your-rights-what-to-do-if-arrested-detained-immigration/

How to Find a Loved One After a U.S. Immigration Arrest: https://www.nilc.org/resources/how-to-find-a-loved-one-after-a-u-s-immigration-arrest/

Know Your Rights Signs: https://www.ilrc.org/community-resources/know-your-rights/solidarity-signs

Block It! A Mini Toolkit to Take Action to Disrupt the ICE Kidnapping, Detention, and Deportation Machine: https://www.interruptingcriminalization.com/block-it

Art by Loren Dann (https://againstapartheid.art/downloads)

03/03/2026

March is Social Work Month! We recognize the strength, persistence, and resilience of each of our students, faculty, staff, practicum instructors, and field liaisons for choosing social work each day, showing up for their clients and their communities amidst crises, collective trauma, and barriers to equitable care.

03/02/2026

This School Social Work Week, we want to highlight the indispensable role that school social workers play in our communities! School social workers practice across systems - home, school, and community - to provide daily care for the well-being of students. When provided with adequete resources, school social workers are uniquely positioned to contribute to inclusive, safe, equitable, and trauma-informed school environments and to understand and address the root causes of student challenges.

Did you know that the recommended student-to-school social worker ratio is 1:250? Many school social workers serve far more than 250 students in their school, or even serve multiple schools across districts. Structural lack of investment, leading to inappropriate staffing ratios and inequitable pay and benefits, means limited access to care for students and families. Schools need increasingly more support while social workers are spread thin.

We encourage you to learn more at sswaa.org (School Social Work Association of America)!