AU Social Work Professor & Field Director Nancy Udolph Presents at NASW Ohio Conference

Nancy Udolph, Associate Professor and Field Director of Ashland University's Social Work Program, presented Paving the Way for Trauma-Informed Organizations at the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Ohio Chapter Annual Conference last Friday.  NASW, according to the Ohio Chapter website, "is the largest professional organization of social workers in the world."

This year's conference, which focused on paving the way for change, hosted breakout workshops, poster presentations, an awards banquet, and keynote presentations on the future of social work practice in America and on harm reductive services in the trans community.

"Trauma-informed care is a best practice in the social work profession.  When incorporated into an agency's mission, philosophy and policies, all practitioners can delivery consistent, quality care that positively impacts client retention," says Udolph. "It also prevents burnout by training and supporting professionals in delivering appropriate and effective services to their clients."

A summary of Professor Udolph's presentation from the NASW Conference site is below.

According to the Trauma Informed Care Project, “Trauma Informed Care is an organizational structure and treatment framework that involves understanding, recognizing, and responding to the effects of all types of trauma” (p. 1). Too often, social workers focus on treatment  without ensuring that their organizations are also supportive of the theory and method behind the treatment. Social workers are becoming trauma-informed but, if their organizations do not get onboard, it will be difficult to pave the way for true community change. This workshop will outline steps to take to create trauma-informed organizations and communities in an effort to avoid re-traumatizing survivors.