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| Executive Committee |
The Executive Committee shall be responsible for acting for the Board between Board meetings and for taking any and all actions that the full Board can take, subject to ratification by the full Board. (GWSCSW By-laws, Article V, A, 1)
President – Development: Susan PostSusan received her MSW from Catholic University in 1986. She has a background in education and served as vice president and treasurer of a non-profit association prior to becoming a social worker. She worked with adolescents and families at The Psychiatric Institute for 10 years and has maintained a private practice in DC and Maryland since 1990. She has served as co-chair of the Society’s Outreach Committee for two years and works on the Newsletter.
Vice President – Education: Joel Kanter
Joel graduated from the Smith College School of Social Work and has been a practicing social worker in the Washington are since 1974. He currently works part-time as a Senior Clinician with the Fairfax County Mental Health Services. He published an acclaimed book about Claire Winnicott. He has been serving as the Educational Vice President of the Society for several years.Vice President – Development: Jane Nielson
Jane Nielson received an MSW from the University of Maryland at Baltimore. She is the past director of the Adele Lebowitz Center for Youth and Families and is co-chair of the Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Training Program at the Washington School of Psychiatry. She also serves on the steering committee of the DC area Children's Psychotherapy Project. She has a private practice in Rockville, Maryland working with children, adolescents, and adults and providing clinical supervision.
Vice President - Legislation and Advocacy: Margot Aronson
Margot served as GWSCSW president from July 2002 through June 2005; she had previously been the Society’s newsletter editor. After earning her MSW in 1985, she worked in child protective services and then at the Regional Institute for Children and Adolescents (RICA) in Rockville. She now maintains a private psychotherapy practice in Washington, DC. Previously, Margot worked as a university instructor in Korea and in Thailand, was editor of Sawaddi Magazine, and directed Peace Corps’ information exchange and technical publications program.
Secretary: Barbara Tahler
Treasurer: Ted BillingsTed is a 1994 Smith College MSW graduate. He had an earlier career as a lobbyist representing health advocacy groups before Congress, federal agencies, and state governments, including the American Heart Association, Center for Science in the Public Interest, and the American Cancer Society. He has worked at the Whitman-Walker Clinic, Forbush School at Sheppard Pratt, and The Frost Center. Presently he is in private practice and holds support groups for George Washington University Cancer Institute and Affirmative Psychotherapy Group.
Past President: Diana Seasonwein
Diana has had a private psychotherapy practice for over 33 years in Washington. She received her MSW from New York University in 1972 and has received advance training at the Washington School of Psychiatry and the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute. She has been an active member of our Society for many years and is currently the President. She has presented papers at conferences and workshops and has a special interest in bilingualism and biculturalism.
Director at Large: Beth Altman
Beth is in private practice in DC and Maryland, providing individual and couples therapy to adults and adolescents. She received her MSW from Catholic University and has post-graduate training in family therapy. She is a long-standing member of GWSCSW and has held various positions on the board.
Director at Large: Jante Dante
Janet was a psychologist in her first career, then became a Clinical Social Worker and developed a private practice of psychotherapy in 1995. She joined GWSCSW in the 1990’s and served as chair of the Ethics Committee prior to taking on the Treasurer’s position which she held from 2003 to 2006.
Director At Large: Amy Scott
In addition to her clinical practice with Counseling and Psychotherapy Services of Washington, Amy Scott is the coordinator for the Montgomery County Chapter of the Stepfamily Association of America. She facilitates a group step-couples, and also writes and presents on step-mother and step-family issues. A graduate of Smith College School for Social Work, Amy completed The Washington School's advanced training program in group psychotherapy.
Director At Large: Adele Redisch
Adele was a teacher in her first career, and returned to school to get her MSW degree from the University of MD in 1982. She worked at the Psychiatric Institute of DC for more than 10 years, and American Day Treatment Center for an additional 2+ years with adults, adolescents, and their families. She has been solely in Private Practice since 1996 in the Rockville and Gaithersburg areas. Adele served as Chairman, and Co-Chairman for Continuing Education programs in Montgomery County for GWSCSW.
| Disaster Response Network |
The Disaster Response Network (DRN) was started in 1991 as an agreement between the American Red Cross and the American Psychological Association as a way for psychologists to offer volunteer mental health services in times of a disaster. Together they developed the Disaster Mental Health training that ARC provides. ARC later offered the training to any licensed mental health professional. DC DRN asked GWSCSW and NASW Metro to join DRN, provide joint sponsorship of training and opened the membership to social workers in the DC metro area. About 5 years ago DRN joined forces with the Capital Area Crisis Response Team. CACRT does basically the same thing as the DRN and it made the administrative part much easier for DRN.
If people are trained by the Red Cross, they are on a list for DRN call up. There are three levels of Red Cross training. If they are trained in the NOVA (National Organization for Victims Assistance) model, they are called up by CACRT. If they are trained in both, they can be called up by either group. The names and numbers of anyone who notifies our liaison, Tybe Diamond, that they are trained by these groups are given to the DRN. This work is an entirely volunteer effort.
Mental health workers who want to be on the DRN need to take the Introduction to Disaster Services and the Disaster Mental Health courses through their local Red Cross chapter. They then need to give the GWSCSW liaison their contact information to be placed on the list. If it is a 'small' emergency, the DRN designees will call people directly and ask if they can help. If it is a big call up, a broadcast e-mail with information on reaching someone at the DRN or at ARC will appear on our Society’s listserv.
Some of you have completed the John Hopkins training or training from other quality programs. Regrettably (and surprisingly) none of these programs and certifications are recognized through the agencies discussed above. This is an unenlightened policy that hopefully will change in the future. Should you have comments to make about this please send them to Tybe Diamond, the Society’s liaison with the DRN, and they will be passed on to the appropriate decision makers re: this policy.
For further questions and comments about the DRN please contact Tybe Diamond, DRN liaison to GWSCSW at 202-966-1381 or ibtybe@aol.com.
| GWSCSW Continuing Education Seeks Instructors |
Approximately 15 years ago, the GWSCSW Continuing Education Committee formed the Continuing Education Courses Committee. Its goal was to develop an annual curriculum of course offerings taught by social workers for social workers. Our members are talented, accomplished clinicians. Many have developed an expertise or are pursuing studies that are also of interest to other members.
If you meet the criteria listed below and would like to participate as an instructor, we invite you to submit a course proposal and become a member of the continuing education courses faculty.
There are some formal requirements for faculty selection as stated in the Faculty Handbook:
Evidence of expertise in the proposed course topic based upon a combination of training, clinical experience, teaching and/or supervisory experience and publications
Current clinical social work license, at the highest level
Board Certified Diplomate or equivalent
Membership in the Clinical Society
Commitment to the CSWF Code of Ethics (in our annual GWSCSW Directory)
Current malpractice insurance.
Exceptions to these criteria can be made on an individual basis by the Continuing Education Courses Committee.
From the beginning, fees for GWSCSW continuing education have been set at an artificially low per-class-hour rate, in order to ensure that courses would be readily affordable. The instructor pay rate is $75 per class hour for a class of six or more (pro-rated for fewer than six). Some instructors choose to donate their pay to the Society.
Call Ted Billings 202-232-2001 to request a Continuing Education Courses Faculty Handbook spelling out the application process.