In celebration of National Social Work Month 2012, CASW is pleased to present a free one-hour National Educational Webcast for social workers who are members of CASW Partner organizations and CASW individual members centered on the theme, 'Social Workers: Building Relationships, Strengthening Communities, and Partnering for Change.'

In this presentation, Michael will show how social workers are particularly adept at nurturing resilience among individuals and families who face complex problems. He'll argue that because of our ecological perspective and clinical, case management and community development skills, we are ideally suited to creating the conditions that make resilience more likely to occur. Michael describes resilience as more than an individual quality of the people with whom he works: it is the result of how well people's social and physical ecologies provide access to the psychological and instrumental supports people need to thrive. Unfortunately, thinking about people's interactions with community services, mental health professionals and child protection agencies has made our work seem bureaucratic and dull. And yet, changing systems and advocating for services that match people's needs is exciting practice that warrants it's own television show. With a little humour, and reference to his recently published novel, The Social Worker, he will show that social workers deserve recognition for the very unique skills we bring to helping people overcome adversity and live fulfilling lives. He'll use examples from clinical practice and studies of resilience across many different cultures and contexts to demonstrate the practical strategies we can use to help clients cope with the marginalization that results from their socio-economic status, ethnoracial background, sexual orientation, level of ability, gender, or age.