What Do Ron Artest & Catherine Zeta Jones Have in Common?

In the past one would never have asked the question, what do Los Angeles Laker superstar forward Ron Artest and actress Catherine Zeta Jones have in common? On the surface they appear not to have much, if anything in common. However, these two are now inextricably linked. They each, under very different circumstances announced their struggle with mental illness. 

While celebrities impacted by mental illness is not new, the way Zeta-Jones and Artest chose to announce their struggle is. A few weeks ago Catherine Zeta-Jones announced to the world via social media her struggles with Bi-Polar II Disorder and her plan to seek treatment. This was a major announcement and those of us in the field were pleased that she embraced this challenge with grace and humility. It is our hope that her strength will encourage others who struggle with mental illness to also seek treatment.

In 2010, the L.A. Lakers won the NBA championship and while still on the floor celebrating the win a sports reporter interviewed Ron Artest.  Artest, shocked the sports world when he publicly thanked his psychiatrist during the impromptu interview. In the year since his public announcement, Artest has proven to be a staunch supporter of mental health services. He auctioned his championship ring and helped raise over $500,000 for his charity which focuses on high risk youth and mental health. 

Zeta-Jones and Artest are very, very different individuals, but they do have a lot in common. Today, they are each seen as courageous role models who were willing to take control of their lives as best they could by announcing their personal challenges with mental illness. They also share the ability to positively impact others on a broad scale, especially those who in the past may have never sought mental health treatment due to stigma.

Thanks for the Memories...

On April 8, 2011 I had the pleasure of co-delivering a three-hour Continuing Education workshop for Social Workers at the Annual NASW Michigan Conference. I was very excited to deliver this workshop along with an equally committed faculty colleague. My colleague and I are interested in contributing to the advancement of technology in Social Work practice and research and have resolved to deliver similar workshops at other conferences nationally.

We submitted our abstract to NASW-MI to deliver the topic, "Social Work & Cyberspace: An Emerging Area of Practice and Research for Social Workers" several months ago. We were very pleased when we received an email from the state chapter informing us our topic had been selected. Integrating technology and the internet in direct practice within the field of Social Work is a very new concept and there are Social Workers that question its (the internet) efficacy.  This is a legitimate concern given that very little research exists relative to the effectiveness of Social Work practice in cyberspace. Consequently, best practices guiding work in this area is currently non-existent.

Social Work in cyberspace will continue to grow and develop, creating many opportunities for rich and fertile research. Innovative/creative Social Work scholars and practitioners are needed to move our profession forward in this area. We also need Social Workers who are willing to integrate technology in their direct practice. I am dedicated to educating Social Workers and Social Work students with whom I have contact to explore using technology to deliver services to clients, while advancing this area of study.

I must say that I enjoyed tremendously the experience of co-delivering the Continuing Education workshop at the NASW-MI Annual Conference, as it had been several years since I delivered a conference workshop. To the staff at NASW-MI who organized an incredibly successful conference and the 19 Social Workers that attended our session, I would like to genuinely say, "thanks for the memories... ".