Greetings friends and comrades! I started Critical Healing Moment as a channel to share my radical reflections on social work, healing, organizing, social justice, and higher education through a critical lens. My views on social work and social justice have been shaped by my experiences beyond and outside of professionalized social work as an activist, organizer, youth worker, leader, facilitator, child of immigrants/refugees, and person of color. I graduated with my Master's in Social Work in 2023 and am a Licensed Master in Social Work (LMSW). Viewpoints shared in my videos are personal opinion and should not be considered professional healthcare advice.
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It is so sad that Social work University students in the Caribbean have to do unpaid practicums which are a year long. Some students have loans, bills, mortgages and children. How will they be able to meet their basic needs if they are required to leave their jobs to do an unpaid practicum? Some sort of finance should be provided for an internship of this duration. If other programs can receive a stipend, why not social work students.
It’s like I love the travel opportunities but I hate the extreme volume of work. And I feel like in corporate - non profit environments we do a lot of talking in circles. But I resonate with the mission of the org. I just don’t see the full value in it.
So well organized. A perfect summary of the semester to review ahead of finals. Would love to see more of your content around programs and policies. Thank you for sharing!
I think there’s something to be said about your interpretation of the trend - that the I don’t dream of labor videos for you implied entrepreneurship, or individualistic, capitalism or passive income? They very much felt like a dismal of the idea that we should be emotionally invested in the working world at all - in any respect….
Really appreciate your channel, I’ve had a career in the social sector for over a decade, and I agree with everything you have said - the NPIC is very real - but I do think it’s important that you don’t claim that it’s nonprofit who have a scarcity mindset. As you said, nonprofits exist in a capitalist structure, and it is their funders - government agencies and billionaires - most all of whom have inherited wealth or can legally take it- who demand nonprofits compete, constantly change and constantly prove more impact, leaner teams, cheaper supplies, mass production of “healing”. Think about it, if a community organization serves a population of about 100,000 people, why would a funder ever expect that they would have bigger numbers every year? The number of people who are in need remain the same relatively, get every year, they must prove that they have somehow done more , eventually there’s nothing they can do except skim and skim and cut and cut
thank you for this! I have worked in a nonprofit for the past 2 years and am quitting this week to work in a coffee shop. it’s just like you said - despite me thinking the nonprofit job would give me a sense of “purpose,” I honestly feel like serving folks coffee and providing a material good is more helpful to society than moving numbers around in spreadsheets just to get more funding for programming that ultimately isn’t that helpful for community. I’m hopeful about this next chapter in my life and excited to find new ways to contribute to progress outside of the NPIC :)
My university lecturer linked his students to your channel in Australia. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within Australia suffered genocidal terrorism from British colonialism in 1788; to this day in Australia, First Nations people suffer transgenerational trauma.
In my cohort, most of us are working full-time, and over half of us are more on the “non-traditional” side of the age spectrum, so we have no choice but to work while putting ourselves through school because we are adults with families to support. Even the younger students in our cohort are working at least part time. When students asked about paid internships or internships offered during non-traditional business hours, we were laughed at and told that’s just now how it works and it’s on us to manage our schedules effectively. Paid internships were simply called “rare beasts,” and we were instructed to not hold our breath looking for them. When we asked about balancing work and internship hours, we were told that it was on us to not accept working a job more than 20 hrs a week in order to “protect the integrity of the program,” and we were given silence when people brought up how for some that’s was physically impossible. I mean…I get it to a degree, but if they’re going to tell students they are bad students for working full time during internship time, they should put in more work to get the internships paid.
Because of neoliberal ideas of identity, we're often taught that our community is people who share some common characteristic with us. While this isn't totally false, as you're pointing out here I think community needs to be connected to a location, and ongoing relationships. A lot of people struggle with exactly what you're describing, hope you can continue to build that community in your new home. After the last time I moved, it took about 1-2 years before I really felt like I knew people.
psychiatric diagnosis is not only a social construct but a tool of oppression. there is very little scientific basis for it. the move away from psychoanalytic and psychodynamic thinking in the mental health industry is not conducive to healing because pathological/psychiatric frameworks do nothing to address the root of a problem. the pathological/psychiatric framework does not serve the best interest of patients, it serves the profit-first model of our health system and pharmaceutical companies. it also serves abusers and oppressive systems in our culture like sexism, heterosexism, classism, and racism. yes, it's a conspiracy and it runs deep. it is completely rooted in systems of oppression and cannot be separated from that. the only way to approach mental health holistically is through a psychoanalytic and psychodynamic framework which considers social circumstances. the mental health system is a carceral system.
I love your take. It's so rare to hear this from someone who identifies themselves politically with Marxism and resides in the social work field. I hate DEI as well. As you say, due to its implementation as a business strategy, it's almost always devoid of the requisite spirit that brings these types of movements alive. That's also why land acknowledgements end up feeling like empty housekeeping notes. I believe these types of policies are often used in bad faith by Cluster B types in the workplace in order to wield social capital. I'll be saving this video to show others when discussing the topic.
Wonderful to hear from you and so glad this job is going well! Best of luck on the home search. I have family who work in social work and after hearing their experience I also wish social workers were more educated on the historical context of why social work is important and necessary. However, I do believe that most folks are generally looking for a job vs a cause to support. I wish there was a happy medium because I think even folks who haven’t joined this field for the same social justice context as you should still be able to work in a mind frame that supports better social health.
Hi Vi. I’m glad you are well! Congrats on your new role. It sounds really interesting. And I get your internal conflict with feeling like “my job is to work at a school that feels segregated but not to advocate for integration of the students I work with”. I find that Social Work is filled with these interesting contradictions. We learn one thing in school, but once we first enter the ‘real world’ we have to work within structures and systems that currently exists; and not these ‘perfect’ dream systems. Ofcourse the goal is always to make a bit of change along the way; but typically that’s further along in our careers once we get more tenure. It’s very interesting. Also, good luck with the bells for the kitties! That’s a good idea because I also accidentally step on my cat a night, not knowing he’s there 😅
Hi Gabby! Social work surely is about tons of contradictions -- and it's also about not getting locked into that black and white thinking that we try to address in our individual clients, right? I'm learning to find peace and satisfaction with where I am while holding onto a bigger vision for things.
im about to make a video about my healing jounrey as well. Being Vietnamese and always being so hurt about my families past and the trauma that affects other people. A lot of Vietnamese people want to keep it quiet and not do anything about it. I am far from that. We only heal once we acknowledge there is a problem. You are going to encourage so many people.
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughtful introspection. I was also an undergraduate business major and relate to your inferiority complex. When I took courses such as Theories of Personality and World Cultures during my last year of undergrad, I felt more engaged and knowledgeable than the liberal arts majors. I am currently taking some psychology and philosophy courses at a local community college and have considered a career in social work because psychology often ignores cultural and political context. I might continue my education beyond community college and earn a second bachelor's degree in psychology. Your background in business will certainly help you establish a private practice. I wish you nothing but the best and brightest future as a clinical social worker!
Thank you so much for this video! I'm currently looking to exit my role within a big 4 consulting firm, and this have incredible insight into the NFP space! I feel so heard! Absolutely love your channel!
Congrats on graduating and getting a job!! I have enjoyed your videos so much over the years as a fellow radical social work student/social worker. I would love to hear your thoughts on the ASWB exams. I am in NY where there is a lot of conflicting viewpoints around the exams because of the pass rate analysis that came out last summer. I hope one day we can abolish all social work exams.
thank you so much for this video! some of my reflections after watching this video as a non-profit worker who left one of their non-profits jobs previously this year: non-profits often use the language of abolitionist grassroots groups to freshen up their image, their mission and legitimize maintaining regan economics. in my experience, non-profits are often places for de-radicalizing youth, and containing their imaginations within realistic grant applications. the non-profit i worked at was “abolitionist” and focused on implementing restorative and transformative justice in prisons, and holding community circles for survivors of serious harms. i initially joined the organization as a participant in a community circle. after, the facilitator of the program invited us to work for the organization as part-time employees. the shift of someone being a facilitator in a healing group i was in to being my boss was stark. it was also difficult because the organization espoused that we all had influence in decision making. so, when there were basic labor rights violated (being paid in a timely manner, the cooling of unionizing amongst part-time workers) - rather than turning to the NLRB to file a complaint and run the risk of being called a cop, i would hold these tensions in myself. as a poor person in this org this was unsustainable, because i wouldn’t be paid for 2+ months and then be told to cope because i was expecting the *productivity* of white-capitalist spaces, and our non-profit *embraced messiness*. meanwhile, my director was salaried and making 6 figures a year. i went from a youth who was organizing large-scale mutual aid and holding occupations to a non-profit worker that was trying to argue that i should be cared for because i am human and not because of my labor output. i really recommend watching dean spade's lecture: should social movement work be paid. it helped me process a lot of the harmful aspects of mixing work with my visions of liberation.
Hello friends, comrades, and radical social workers! Since I have put this video out (and it's now approaching 10,000 views), I have been made aware of this video being used in social work education curricula at higher education institutions, which I think is both pretty neat and brings up some contradictions for me. If you are an instructor or faculty who has been using my video in a course that you teach, please consider the contradiction of using my freely accessibly video to supplement the teaching you are paid to do at an institution where students (such as the past me who made this video) are paying for their increasingly unaffordable education and/or provide unpaid labor at their internships/practicums. If you use content that I create in the context of a higher education institution please consider supporting my Ko-Fi page so I can continue sustaining this project: ko-fi.com/criticalhealingmoment
Right on! As a homeless person (couple) doing organizing from radical theory & praxis, I want to thank you & express how great to find your channel. It helps reinforce for me what I'm fighting against, also from my perspective being adopted by christo-fascist racists, from infancy, & raised in their cult, kicked out at 15 y.o. for no longer wanting to attend... I've been better prepared...w 5 yrs university, I try my best to do poverty scholar work as I can, circumstances are hard though. Community Organizing, now in a small town where we've been 3 years, we formed Mutual Aid group, now meeting weekly this summer. It's what works. It's complex but also a Sundown Town here, & fighting City Council 'devils'. Recent 'No Camping Ordinance', we're appealing on unconstitutionality. Incl all 3 orgs that "help" here are christian church-based & corrupt. Anyway, your focus caught my eye as lately I realized - Healing for Homeless ppl - is not on the radar. Been generating ideas and what's radically interesting about that. Always more ambition than ppl hours but we'll see. So many good ppl out there no matter how ill-portrayed in media. Ty again!
Hi, I go to your former university and I just want to let you know the BSW program is using your video as course material online. Are you aware of this? I know you used to have a video up about how you felt abused by the institution and that it caused you to leave and transfer.
Hi there, I am aware that this video has been shown in the context of the program I just graduated from, but not the one I transferred from. If you'd like to discuss in more detail please dm me on Instagram or email me since I am not comfortable being specific with my location on my social media platforms. As of now there is not much I can do as I'd like this knowledge and information to be free and accessible to all in the field.
Oh my god I love your channel. Do you have advice on choosing MSW schools? Im seriously interested in getting into the field .. willing to move anywhere
Maybe I should make a video about it? There's a lot of things to consider depending on where you currently are in life, if you need flexibility, and where you imagine yourself going within the field of social work. Some programs emphasize different parts of social work (clinical vs. macro for example). Having attended two programs now I can see each of their pros and cons. Know what you need as a learner and how you are going to get the most out of the experience for the amount of investment you are putting in. I'm a spreadsheet lover so when I was researching I made a spreadsheet with all the programs I was interested in so I could compare them side-by-side. At the end of the day though, school recruiters are basically marketers and what you see is not always what you get. If you can talk to current students I think they will give you the best impression of what it will be like to attend.
@@CriticalHealingMoment Yeah when you put it that way it doesn't really make sense to talk to school recruiters. I have an undergraduate in psychology and am interested in doing therapy but I've never really been a fan the way mental health is approached. I'd like to get a better understanding of the societal/ environmental factors that affect people.
@@sherrimusic9172 I think talking to people from the school can give you specifics on logistical things with your application and processes when you're in the school but in terms of student experience, I think other students would be your best source.
Thank you for this video. The moralism of NPs is used to demand unreasonable expectations of employees. The liberal ideology of the NPs will pay lip service to social justice, but ultimately not hold themselves accountable at all or work to transform society. In some ways, they have cult-like potential and tendencies.
Ok, look... I think we go into dangerous territory when we make an affirmation such “psychiatry and psychology are subjective sciences”. Like, I kinda understand what you mean, though. Psychiatry is a field in medicine that relies almost entirely in observational studies, since most psychological diseases can only be diagnosed by behavioral observation. However, the whole point of science is providing an objective framework to explain reality. And this framework has to rely in concrete proof and evidence to be build, not just interpretations and personal experience. Psychology works the same. Now, that doesn not mean that these fields cannot be improved and/or change. As a matter of fact, there is still a lot of things we dont know regarding the human mind. So even though I completely understand the need to constantly revise this framework, if we start opening it to interpretation and subjectivity a lot, we might be opening a door that might be quite hard to close afterward. A door that will lead to negationism.
There's a substantial movement in a lot of sciences right now to break away from supposed objectivily, and embrace and analyze the inevitable subjectivity that comes from living as socialized, fallible human beings. Objectivity is a myth, and mental health diagnoses are human made constructs that are useful insofar as they enable people to seek help, not that they describe objective immutable reality imo
I recently discovered your channel and what you discuss resonates a lot with me. I graduated with my MSW in August of 2022 and passed the licensing exam a month later and I still feel lost as to what I want to do. I’m working in a primarily clinical role and it’s definitely not for me. I need some more variety, and as you mentioned, there are so many options with social work. That said, it’s also harder to transition from one population to another, which I don’t think many folks realize before entering this field.
