This is my first blog ever. I never really thought I would write a blog for a class, especially a class on community practice. After thinking more about it, using the internet in community practice makes sense, the internet is limitless in that it is not limited by physical distance; it can cross any border. With the internet, people can socialize and even join around causes which might not otherwise happen. (I must acknowledge that accessibility to internet is a limitation.) Hardcastle & Powers (2004), in Community Practice: Theories & Skills for Social Workers 2nd Edition, highlight the internet's role in globalized communities; while the internet (specifically social networks and blogging) allow us to join into a diverse array of e-communities, it can also be said that our "modern sense" can bring us to join many e-communities that lack the level of cohesion, commitment and loyalty when measured against the traditional idea of community. While I can understand and respect both sides (To blog or not to blog that is the question), I must say that I believe nothing can replace face to face human interaction; however, I do see the benefits of networking and organizing through the internet. I wonder how I will feel at the end of this assignment. As for now I feel like one more tool for the toolbox never hurt!
Before I go any further i should tell you about myself...
I’m a graduate student at Humboldt State University, in the “real Northern California,” about 5 ½ hours north of Frisco. It’s a beautiful spot, redwood trees, rivers and ocean. And plenty of fog! I am getting my master’s in social work in about a year (yikes!); one of my classes is in community work and believe it or not, blogging is one of the course assignments. With that said, I make a commitment to any readers to make this well, what should I say, totally awesome?...No, let's just stick with interesting and at best, thought-provoking.
What really struck me about the first class on community work was how the topic of neuroplasticity was incorporated, to include physical activities, forced yawning and grabbing our earlobes while squatting. (The most unique class beginning in one of the most unique places I have every lived.) Neuroplasticity is an interesting topic to me and certainly relevant to my work with clients. I currently work with people with traumatic brain injury at a non-profit, Making Headway Inc.
Last year, I interned at Humboldt County Mental Health and am now interning at Redwoods Veterans Center, which has a focus on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). After working at mental health, I gained more understanding of the brain and its role in mental illness. While there is scientific knowledge regarding brain functioning and mental illness, clients I have worked with face stigma on many levels. They are often treated as though their mental illness is something they could just power over, implying they are somehow weak. Don’t get me wrong, will to change and optimism are great, but mental illness is much more complex than that--biological and environmental factors, etc. It you're interested, check out the National Alliance of Mental Illness website at http://www.nami.org.
Checking out a website on neuroplasticity (http://www.memoryzine.com/neuroplasticity.htm), it reminded me of this piece of artwork I have seen depicting the brain, created by someone with serious mental illness. It is composed of interlocking pieces, circular components reminding me of gears and various nooks and crannies; everything seems to fit together perfectly, while it seems busy, almost chaotic. With so many things going on in the brain there’s bound to be difficulties in brain functioning somewhere, causing some people to feel and/or perceive things in a unique way. Sure, everyone has their own reality, but how different is it from the dominant idea of reality? I think that is where conflict and issues occur. Symptoms presented, experienced and defined as mental illness, are identified as such because they are deviations from what is generally viewed as the norm. With that said, the dominant perception ("reality") can be distorted itself, even tweaked to some people’s advantages, creating oppression and circumstances where community work can be the intervention point and hopefully solution. Though it had not occurred to me before, it seems it would be helpful to think of community work and working with clients on other levels through the context of neuroplasticity.
