Message for the Class of 2020

Congratulations, Class of 2020! YOU DID IT!

As you take your next steps in your path as social workers, we’d like to take a moment to applaud you for your hard work, perseverance, and commitment, especially during these last few months.

Through it all, you demonstrated the ability to adapt to changing needs and circumstances, learn new ways of coping with disruption and loss, and prepare for the unknown—critical strengths that are needed as we seek to move forward in our new reality, and which make you, the next generation of social work leaders, invaluable to the larger community.

For those who have shared job updates with us, an additional congratulations to you! (If you recently landed a job opportunity, we would love to hear from you; email us at [email protected].) Your successes provide encouragement and hope for many others embarking on the job search process.

For those who are actively seeking opportunities, please note that career support will remain available to you. You can continue to use your Career Connect account to schedule appointments and access resources.

Thank you, 2020 graduates, for allowing us to be part of your journey! We look forward to staying in touch with you as you continue this journey as alumni.

Warmly,

Tomomi and Rawlisha
Office of Career Services and Leadership Management

Warm Wishes to Pamela Picon ’20

We are so grateful and fortunate to have had the opportunity to have Pam Picon ’20 work with our team over the last two years in career services!

Pam was instrumental in conducting research on our graduate outcomes, drafting marketing and communications material, updating resources and handouts, and so much more.

Thank you for supporting our office and our initiatives in your time throughout CSSW. We’re so proud of all you that have accomplished, including beyond our office, and will miss your presence. Congratulations, and all the best!

Jade Luo ’19 and Rachel Smith ’20 Selected as PMF Finalists

Congratulations to Class of 2020 Presidential Management Fellows Finalists Jade Luo ’19 and Rachel Smith ’20!

The PMF Program is a highly competitive, flagship leadership development program at the entry level for advanced degree candidates, created to develop a cadre of potential government leaders. Those who are selected as finalists and meet necessary requirements become eligible to be placed in a two-year appointment in a participating agency.

There were 4,900 applicants, and Jade and Rachel were among 402 chosen finalists, six of whom are from social work programs and 19 from Columbia University at large.

Record Number of Columbia School of Social Work Students and Graduates Selected as 2019-2020 CSWE Minority Fellows

Columbia School of Social is Work is thrilled to have a record number of students and graduates selected for the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Minority Fellowship Program this year for both the Masters and Doctoral Program!

CSWE’s Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) serves to “…reduce the effects of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities by increasing the number of individuals trained to work with underrepresented and underserved racial/ethnic minority persons with or at risk for mental health and/or substance abuse disorders.”

Congratulations to all our MFP Fellows!

Master’s Fellows

  • Victoria Draper ’20
  • Victoria Guen ’20
  • Yajaira Hernandez Trejo ’20
  • Joya Joseph ’20
  • Kyra Russell ’20
  • James Sampson ’20

Doctoral Fellows

  • Gilbert Nick ’14
  • Luis Ramirez ’13
  • Mariama Diallo ’11
  • Matt Ignacio ’08

Student Spotlight: Nancy Gershman ’20

Tell us about how your experience led you to your interests in dreamscaping and social work?

Social work has been my life’s calling, only I didn’t know it until I met Maureen, a social worker with three decades of experience in hospice and palliative care. It was while volunteering at a 25-bed hospice run by Visiting Nurse Service of NY that Maureen taught me how to take the temperature of the room to gauge whether a patient wants to share their emotional truth privately or within the family group.   

It was also in this New York City hospice where I did my first clinical work as a memory artist and bereavement volunteer. My work with hundreds of end-of-life patients and their families became the basis for my book, “Prescriptive Memories in Grief and Loss: The Art of Dreamscaping” (Routledge, 2019), co-authored with psychotherapist Barbara E. Thompson. 

What is dreamscaping?

Dreamscaping is a breakthrough intervention that is rooted in how the emotional brain encodes new memories.  Imagine one organizing principle—”bring me your favorite or good-enough memory” fulfilling an intention, wish, dream or longing. 

Here’s a story from the book to give you an idea:

Jane is a photographer, unable to work after the death of her mother, with whom she was very close. As I got Jane to focus on fun memories of Sylvia, she began to remember how much the two of them loved Christmas, despite being “atheist and Jewish.” During our exchange, I heard that rare bird of a memory that suddenly got Jane laughing. She recalled that as Sylvia lay dying in hospice on Christmas Day, she had this fleeting fantasy of Santa coming back for Sylvia so they could go off together on his sled. Before dreamscaping, Jane had never breathed a word of this to anyone, and yet here was a perfect example of a hidden resource that translated beautifully into a prescriptive memory, making it more available for use in coping with the loss of her mother. Later, when we constructed it as a tangible dreamscape, Jane was able to change her perception of a white marble sculpture by Sylvia (who was a sculptor) that seemed to be waving goodbye to one that was now waving hello. In Jane’s words, “…my feelings changed,” and dreamscaping “showed me you can make yourself believe different things.” (From Chapter 3, “Elicitation of Humor, Positive Emotion and Play in Dreamscaping.”)

What was your inspiration for writing this book?

I wrote this book knowing there was a community of learners out there, a wide range of therapists, end of life practitioners, and even spiritual care counselors drawn to short-term, novel, strengths-based interventions. These included art therapists who longed to work more collaboratively with clients and clinicians who wished to investigate what happens when you invite a memory artist into the therapeutic dyad. 

My goal in pursuing my MSW in Advanced Clinical Practice at a prestigious university like Columbia University was to be able to teach and practice dreamscaping, globally, and on a deeper level.

It sounds like you’ve already made a significant impact in the field. In what ways has your experience here at CSSW impacted you?

In my first year of field at FDNY Counseling Service Unit, I was dropped into group work with firefighters and EMTs —journaling, anger management, relapse prevention. Some days there would be up to 20 men and women around the table. I had stage fright at first until I learned that the “group does the group’s work.” In the same way that social workers learn not to fix people, I learned how to let things roll, intervening only when I felt a pearl had dropped and not marking that moment would be a lost opportunity.

As someone who entered the program with prior professional experience, what insights or advice would you like to share with other students?

Success can mean many things, but for me it was the opportunity to be taken seriously by my peers who were credentialed and spoke the identical language of advanced clinical practice. And if you have to do your life backwards as I have—proposing a job description to a Director of Bereavement Services that no one had ever heard of (“memory artist”), getting bereavement volunteer training at that hospice before being assigned to a floor, authoring a book based on clinical experiences with end-of-life patients and their families on that floor, going to graduate school, and requesting field placement with a population I never worked with before—DO IT. You can never be too young or too old to venture into the brilliant unknown and test yourself.

Caitlin McGuire ’18 and Mary Roh ’19 Selected as PMF Finalists

Congratulations to Class of 2019  Presidential Management Fellows Finalists Caitlin McGuire ’18 and Mary Roh ’19!

The PMF Program is a highly competitive, flagship leadership development program at the entry level for advanced degree candidates, created to develop a cadre of potential government leaders. Those who are selected as finalists and meet necessary requirements become eligible to be placed in a two-year appointment in a participating agency.

Caitlin and Mary were among 351 chosen from a total of 4,045 applicants and a select group of 6 finalists from social work programs across the country and 12 from Columbia University at large. Finalists represent 113 separate academic institutions from 56 disciplines; 12% are veterans.

UPDATE (1/25/19): Read more about what inspired them to apply and where they hope to direct their passion and energy here.

Learn more about the Presidential Management Fellowship here.