Connection Magazine Winter 2021 — Challenging our social justice lens

C NNECTIONS Winter 2021 | Volume 3, Issue 3

C NNECTIONS

C NNECTIONS CONFRONTING ANTI-BLACK RACISM The Activism of Delores Mullings (page 28)

Repositioning social work practice in mental health What We Heard (page 18)

CHALLENGING OUR SOCIAL JUSTICE LENS 2021 Conference & Annual General Meeting Online, May 14-15 2021 Register at nscswconference.org A series of crises has highlighted a few of the realities we witness – and perhaps perpetuate – as social workers. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the intertwined effects of social determinants of health that have been systemically neglected or ignored: inequities in income, employment and housing; racism, including our own; violence in relationships; and vulnerabilities and gaps in health and mental health service delivery.

This virtual conference will create opportunities for members of the Nova Scotia College of Social Workers and others to connect online, plan, discover, and collaboratively develop social justice praxis.

Questions? Contact Annemieke Vink at annemieke.vink@nscsw.org.

Montserrat

C NNECTION C NNECTION

Winter 2021 | Volume 3, Issue 3

Published three times a year by the Nova Scotia College of Social Workers 1888 Brunswick Street, Suite 700 Halifax, NS B3J 3J8 Phone: 902.429.7799 Fax: 902.429.7650 Web: nscsw.org Connection is © Copyright 2021 by the Nova Scotia College of Social Workers, and also reserves copyright for all articles.

Reproduction without written permission from the publisher is not allowed.

Next issue: Spring 2021

COVER PHOTOGRAPHY: Martin Brown CREATIVE DIRECTION & DESIGN: Brittany Pickrem, Branding & Design EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: Jodi Butler (RSW) Rebecca Faria (College Staff) Bessie Harris (Associate, Retired) Shalyse Sangster (RSW) Alec Stratford (RSW, College Staff) Annemieke Vink (RSW, College Staff) ADVERTISING IN CONNECTION: To advertise please contact the College’s Communication Coordinator Rebecca Faria at rebecca.faria@nscsw.org.

See advertising rates at bit.ly/advertiseConnection CONNECT WITH THE COLLEGE: facebook.com/NSCSW @NSCSW

Winter 2021 | Connection 3

10

20

24

28

TABLE OF CONTENTS Volume 3, Issue 3

06

Challenging our Social Justice Lens

07

Become a Candidacy Mentor

08

September 2020 - January 2021

YOUR COLLEGE

CULTIVATING MENTORSHIP

WELCOME TO NSCSW

10

IN THE COMMUNITY

14

SPOTLIGHT

16

REPOSITIONING SOCIAL WORK

What Does a Library Social Worker Do?

Anna Deveaux

An Essential Paradigm Shift in Mental Health

20

RESEARCH

22

BOOK REVIEW

24

SOCIAL JUSTICE

26

STUDENT AWARDS

28

FEATURE

Adverse Childhood Experiences

Critical Clinical Social Work

Engaging Men and Boys

Developing the Profession

Confronting Anti-Black Racism

Winter 2021 | Connection 5

Challenging our Social Justice Lens

Here at NSCSW we got off to a running start in 2021. I’m pleased to introduce a new issue of Connection magazine to our members, and other readers throughout our community.

In this issue, our contributors were invited to connect their writing to the theme of the upcoming annual conference in May: Challenging our Social Justice Lens.

In January, we published our mental health research paper, Repositioning Social Work Practice in Mental Health in Nova Scotia. Turn to page 16 for an excerpt; I think you’ll find the infographics interesting, and I hope you’ll find time to download the report and read all 29 of its recommendations.

February was African Heritage Month, and this year’s theme was Black History Matters. For decades the Association of Black Social Workers has worked to support Black communities and individuals to thrive in this province, and on page 24 they’ve shared an update on one of their current projects engaging men and boys.

March is National Social Work Month, and this year’s theme is Social Work is Essential. I’ll be holding regional check-ins to share the activities of the College, discuss our plans for the future, and listen to the perspectives of our colleagues in every part of the province. Check nscsw.org for the schedule of upcoming events; I hope you can join me, or attend one of the professional development webinars we’re hosting with the Canadian Association of Social Workers.

All Nova Scotians benefit from the essential work provided by qualified, compassionate, and committed social workers, and we’re excited to celebrate social workers at every stage of their career and their contributions to the profession. You can read reflections from the recipients of this year’s student bursaries on page 26, and an enthusiastic tribute to a recently retired nephrology social worker on page 14.

Alec Stratford, MSW, RSW Registrar/Executive Director

You can also read in this issue about new research into adverse childhood experiences in Nova Scotia, and its implications for social work (page 20), as well as a review of a recently published book about critical clinical practice (page 22).

This issue also visits the Halifax Public Library, one of a growing number of libraries in Canada with a social worker on staff; on page 10 she shares a glimpse of her praxis, and some of the ways that libraries and social workers can collaborate to serve their clients.

At last, turn to page 28 to meet Dr. Delores Mullings, a social worker, activist and educator in Newfoundland; she will be one of the keynote speakers at our virtual conference in May. Registration for Challenging our Social Justice Lens is open now; while it is still far too soon for a mass gathering of our membership, technology continues to offer ways for us to connect with one another, and I look forward to seeing many of you there.

6 Connection | Winter 2021

CULTIVATING MENTORSHIP Candidacy mentors are an important link in the model for professional development within the membership of the Nova Scotia College of Social Workers. We would like to thank the mentors who have guided our Social Worker Candidates through the successful completion of candidacy since last fall.

Janis Aitken Tod Augusta-Scott Kristen Basque Lisa Benoit Ariel Borden Kimberley Brennan Tamsyn Brennan Malcolm Campbell Angela Conrad Karen Cox

Chris Crooks Denise Crowell Jillian DeLorey Rosemary Fitzgerald Gladys Fraser Sarah Goldstein Winnie Grant Tiffany Hallett Stephanie Inness Erika Jack-Lawson

Wendy Keen Shelley Kingston Jack Landreville Ian Landry Carly MacCuspic Michelle MacIsaac Tom MacNeil Mike Margeson Meghan Mulcahy Andrea Munro

Jennifer Parks Philip Patey Karen Ramsay Jamie Reynolds Tessa Saunders Nichole Stubbert Michelle Titus Beth Toomey

BECOME A CANDIDACY MENTOR Mentorship is underscored by a climate of safety and trust, where candidates can develop their sense of professional identity.

We now offer optional mentor training for members of the College, in the form of a self-directed online course. We also provide resources to help mentors support candidates’ learning throughout their candidacy.

To learn more about the rewards of being a mentor, visit candidacy.nscsw.org/mentors

Winter 2021 | Connection 7

WELCOME TO THE NSCSW New Private Practitioners, Registered Social Workers, & Social Worker Candidates September 2020 – January 2021

PRIVATE PRACTICE Véronique Brideau Cormier Robin Cann Terri Cooper Lee Covin Leah Cunjak Bethany Dempsey Carrie Evely Georgina Fraser Marlene Furey Jane Gavin-Hebert Rachel Goldie Shannon Hardy Melanie J. Lapointe Adam Matthews Angela Peh Kimberly Primmer Natalie Steele Quinn Shauna Stuart Michelynn Touesnard Allison Wood

8 Connection | Fall 2019

REGISTERED SOCIAL WORKERS Erin Abbott Yousef Al-Nasrallah Jessica Bannon Veronica Rose Bernard Amanda Boutilier Meagen Bowers Tess Carrigan Jessica Cholock Eileen Clark Andrew Cleveland Samantha Cluett Erin Cotie Kevin Delahunty Michelle DePodesta Venessa Downing Eric Eisner Alyssha Ferguson Jena Given Kari Goodman Ami-Lynn Goulden

Kara Hayes Grace Henry Kyle Jackson Polo Jean-Louis MacIsaac Jenna Crystal John Shannon Johnston Cynthia Kabatay Freya Kaiser-Derrick Joanna Karner Kristine Kelly Niveditha Krishnan Tammy Macaskill Cynthia MacQueen Olivia Mahtab Paula Martin James Maynard Kaleigh McConnell Jillian Murphy Kathleen Murphy Kristin Nickerson Tanya Nixon Leonard Omwenga

Juliana Paul Debra Philpitt Kimberly Primmer Emily Purdy Lydia Ritcey Laura Roberts Kirsti Roxburgh Jody Rudderham Basem Samaan Gillian Saunders-Druz Pamela Secci Curtis Stevens Tara Theriault-MacLeod Asheley Vallee Chloe Walls Krystn Webster Jodi White Turner Wolfe Jody Yurkowsky Jordan Zarvie

SOCIAL WORK CANDIDATES Ariella Aburto Kelly Adamson Ayeshah Ali Dayna Barnes Chelsey Barron Nikhea Bernard Megan Burggraaf Caelin Campbell

Kiana Casey Riviera Casey Katherine Chamandy Cheng Chen Vanessa Cheverie Samantha Cluett Elise Comeau Emily Connell Elizabeth Corkum Kathryn Csernyik Angela Davis Kristina Lorraine Fifield Jeremy Foote Kalip Fraser Lea Fulton William Gloade Faith Gould Karen Haag Lisa Hanke Sarah Held Jana Henderson Jasmine Hochman Christine Hussey Emma Ingraham Dawn Johnson Katelyn Junus Meaghan Landry Andrea Lebel Emma Maggie Jean Macdonald Emilee MacDougall Rebecca MacDougall Caitlynn Mace

Christie MacInnis Sarah MacKinnon Sean MacLean Trish McCourt Jacqlyn McIver Emily Neily Alexandra Nelson Lisa Nguyen Dylan Nichols Olivia O’Shea Adrianna Pilgrim Naomi Richardson Laura Roberts Madelyn Kaye Ross Neethu Sam Gillian Saunders-Drutz Emma Shaw Kaleigh Dawn Simpson Cassandra Sinyerd Kelsey Smith Tegan Stairs Deborah Stevens Candace Strong Yvette Sylliboy Tonia Sylliboy Carly Taggart Marsha Tanner Chao Tian Chantal Vien Elizabeth Wallace Angela Wallace Heather Whale

Join the conversation Facebook.com/nscsw

Twitter.com/nscsw

NSCSW Blog: www.nscsw.org/category/blog

Winter 2021 | Connection 9

Photo from Halifax Public Libraries. Security officer Dayton Goree welcomes visitors to the central branch of the Halifax library.

IN THE LIBRARY What does a library social worker do?

BY SHEENA JAMIESON, BSW, RSW

“A palace for the people” and “the community’s living room” are sometimes phrases used to describe the function and purpose of a public library. If you haven’t been inside one lately, you might not know how much they’ve changed. They aren’t muted stacks with shushing staff; they are lively and vibrant hubs of the community. There are books, yes, those are a constant. But there are also creative labs, cooking programs, performances, e-books, streaming services, light therapy lamps, musical instruments, and free snacks.

Free and accessible social infrastructure is key to community participation and inclusion, and a public library is one of the few public spaces you can be in for free.

You can eat there now.

Does this sound familiar? Social work and public library service are complementary professions, and are starting to work together more closely. Starting in 2009, the San Francisco

You can sleep at the library too, if you need to.

10 Connection | Winter 2021

Especially important for those whose lives are impacted by poverty, addiction, mental health struggles, homelessness, discrimination, oppression, and isolation. Removing barriers to information and meeting the relevant needs of the community is work libraries do every day.

Public Library was the first to include a social worker among its staff, with more libraries in the US and Canada to follow.

This evolution stems from the recognition that as more vulnerable people came to the library, there is an increased need to understand and respond to the issues they face.

Much like social work values, there is a code of library values that guides the work of public libraries. Among them is democratic access to information and service: the library is for everyone. For those whose lives have been shaped by trauma, substance use, mental health challenges, and other systemic inequities, they may face additional barriers that need consideration and a willingness to adapt, to meet them where they are.

Library students are not given much education or training on, for example, the impact of trauma throughout the lifespan, and how that may influence behaviour. They are aces at information management, but not offered much about the “public” part of a public library, even if they want it. They may also not be introduced to topics like vicarious trauma or compassion fatigue, or how to care for yourself when you work in these areas. It can be difficult to know the best way to help, even when customers come to library staff because they trust them.

Enter social work.

I have been the Community Navigator at Halifax Central Library since 2019, and a social work lens is what my position brings.

What does a library social worker do? I get that question a lot. I asked that question a lot, in the beginning. There are approximately 15 roles like mine across Canada, and we’ve all had to carve out a unique practice for ourselves. My job is partly working with staff to feel better prepared to help vulnerable customers, and partly working on the floor directly with customers. I’ve had the opportunity to talk about boundarysetting, self care, and the intersections of trauma, substance use, mental health and behaviour. I have trained our staff in overdose recognition and naloxone response. We also focus on verbal de-escalation strategies and interventions. Part of that overall approach means fostering compassion for our most vulnerable, understanding the ways systemic inequities have structured their (and our) experiences, and how we practice or respond in that reality.

This role also directly supervises security staff, and works with them to ensure the library is safe and accessible. My

security colleagues at Central are library staff, and not an outside company. They work hard to be welcoming and build rapport with customers, instead of being a punitive or policing presence. We recognize seeing a security guard is not a positive experience for many, and try to change that. They are also the eyes and ears of the library. They can see when someone might need a check-in, a referral to another service, or work with them to change a challenging behaviour. As we say in social work: the relationship is the resource, and the daily relationship-building we do helps us support the thousands of people who come through the doors.

HALIFAX LIBRARIES AND COVID-19 RESPONSE The pandemic-related shutdowns highlighted the barriers to access for many in Nova Scotia. No access to the internet or phone meant for many there was no way to file things with government agencies, communicate with friends and family, or find reliable information. In response, staff at Halifax Central Library boosted our wifi signal range and loaned wifi kits out to transitional homes and shelters. Public washroom use was gone, a serious public health concern. In response, we partnered with HRM and set up fully accessible portable washrooms, a hand-wash station, and menstrual supplies, staffed by Security so it could be safely accessed. Our food programs were on hold, so we donated food to local agencies and created safely-packed snack packs that community members could take. We offered curbside pick-up for materials and take-home activities/crafts. While not a replacement for face-to-face interactions, our virtual programs could offer some connection. For others, our Ask The Library phone line kept them connected to reliable information and library materials.

We also started a weekly lunch program.

COULD WE HELP YOUR CLIENTS? What’s amazing about all 14 branches of Halifax Public Libraries is the amount of programs and services on the go. I want to highlight some of the things Halifax Public Libraries offers the public social workers should know.

• We have gone fine free! This means we no longer accrue late fees. Anyone with outstanding materials can return them to have these fines wiped.

• Everyone with a library card gets $5.00 in free printing every month.

• At the central branch you can book a media studio, with instruments and tech, to record your own music, podcasts, or whatever you like.

• Need a safe place to catch some z’s? You can fall asleep in the branch and we won’t disturb you. We might wake

Winter 2021 | Connection 11

Photo from Halifax Public Libraries. Food and drink are temporarily disallowed in the library due to pandemic precautions, but patrons can still pick up a free snack pack to go.

someone up to check on their health, or maybe if there’s some loud snoring going on.

• Free snacks and a once-a-week lunch program are for everyone in the library. No registration or sign-up is required.

• To sign up for a library card, we require 2 pieces of identification, or for a limited account, 1 piece of ID. This can be anything with your name or information on it. Or you can sign up for a temporary digital library card to access online materials and services.

• We have a musical instrument lending library.

• We believe in fresh starts. If someone has fines on their account for lost or stolen items but would benefit from access to the library, they are encouraged to get in touch with me. My message is, “We’d rather have you back.”

• We have in-branch light therapy lamps, and also some you can borrow to take home.

• We offer conversation groups for learning English as an additional language.

12 Connection | Winter 2021

• Our e-library offers e-books, streaming services, magazines and newspapers, learning tools. They include car repair instructions, cookbooks, language learning, and more.

• There are free menstrual supplies in all washrooms.

While COVID-19 does have us adapting quickly between shutdowns and different levels of restriction, it’s worth checking out what your local library branch has to offer.

SHEENA JAMIESON, BSW, RSW, is the Community Navigator with Halifax Public Libraries. She has a gender studies degree from the University of King’s College, and a social work degree from Dalhousie University. She can often be found in the sci-fi & mystery sections on the library’s 5th floor.

To connect with Sheena or learn more about how the library can support your work, contact her at jamiess@halifax.ca or 902-478-9927.

SHARE YOUR MESSAGE WITH NOVA SCOTIA SOCIAL WORKERS Connect with Nova Scotia’s social workers, advocacy, community groups, healthcare professionals and more.

WE INVITE YOUR ORIGINAL ARTICLES ON:

WRITE FOR A SPECIFIC SECTION OF CONNECTION:

• New developments in any area of social work

• Ethics in Action

• Findings from research related to the practice of social work or social justice • Opinion pieces on issues related to social justice and social work

• Social Justice • Private Practice • Diverse Communities • Research • Social Work Spotlight

ADVERTISE WITH US Reach 1900+ social workers across Nova Scotia and beyond.

NSCSW members receive HALF PAGE, $200 FULL PAGE WITH BLEED $400

• safe area: 7.5”x10” • trim size: 8.5”x11” +.125” (bleed) • with bleed: 8.75”x11.25”

FULL PAGE w/o BLEED $400

Size: 8.5”x11”

7.5”x4.75”

1/4 PAGE

1/8 PAGE

1/4 PAGE $100 size: 3.5”x4.75” 1/8 PAGE $50 size: 3.5”x2.125”

a 25%discount on all advertising FILE FORMATS • Preferred file format is a print quality PDF • All images in artwork must be no less than 330 DPI • All fonts to be converted to outlines Your ad must be sent to us with the proper magazine specs as identified above.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR INQUIRIES, EMAIL REBECCA FARIA at rebecca.faria@nscsw.org

Winter 2021 | Connection 13

Anna Deveaux, RSW

14 Connection | Winter 2021

ANNA DEVEAUX An Outstanding Career

BY MICHELLE JENSEN, MSW, RSW

It is my great pleasure to shine a spotlight on Anna Deveaux, MSW, RSW. Anna retired in June 2020 after a remarkable 30+ year career as the renal social worker at Cape Breton Regional Hospital. She was awarded the Canadian Association of Nephrology Social Workers (CANSW) Jane Dicks Award in September 2019 in recognition of her significant achievements within the profession of Nephrology social work in Canada. This spotlight is submitted to acknowledge and celebrate Anna’s significant achievements within the profession of social work, and the ways in which she has gone above and beyond throughout her career, including outstanding contributions in the following areas: • Excellent clinical work in the renal program of the Cape Breton Regional Hospital, Nova Scotia Health Authority, Eastern Zone.

• Exceptional contributions to CANSW through service on the Executive as Atlantic Regional Representative, Conference Presenter, Chair and member of conference planning committees, including fundraising efforts.

• Extensive community work and involvement with the Kidney Foundation, Atlantic branch – volunteer, Kidney Walks, Board member and member of the Patient Services Committee.

Anna personifies the values of social work and the multifaceted role of a nephrology social worker. She is a passionate advocate, a compassionate and creative social worker and a caring, supportive colleague. Anna’s longtime colleague, Dr. Tom Hewlett, Nephrologist, provided this tribute: “Anna has been a cornerstone of the renal team in Cape Breton for more than 30 years. She has always been a strong advocate for patients and their families. Anna is always prepared to put the extra effort to improve the experience for everyone. She has managed the renal social work portfolio single handedly while balancing other responsibilities. She

has always been an advocate for supporting The Kidney Foundation in its role in supporting patient and families, advocacy and research. From renal program management, peer support, renal rehabilitation and intradialytic cycling, patient picnics, education sessions, kidney walks, kidney transplant workups, intractable transportation issues, education packets for rural clinics, we can always count on Anna to get the job done. With our patients spread out over a large geographic area Anna has been adept at overcoming the barriers to getting care delivered as close to home as possible. Anna has a true passion for dealing with advanced care planning and end of life care with compassion and empathy. To say she is irreplaceable is obvious if not a bit disheartening because I don’t know what we are going to do when she retires.”

This captures Anna beautifully – her commitment, compassion, dedication and generosity in her role as the sole nephrology social worker working on Cape Breton Island is extraordinary.

Anna has made significant contributions to kidney patients and the renal program as a whole, throughout Cape Breton Island. I believe it is important for NSCSW members to have an opportunity to recognize the extensive contributions Anna has made throughout her remarkable career, and to congratulate her on her recent retirement.

MICHELLE JENSEN, MSW, RSW is a nephrology social worker with the NSHA, and Past President of the Canadian Association of Nephrology Social Workers.

Winter 2021 | Connection 15

AN ESSENTIAL PARADIGM SHIFT IN MENTAL HEALTH Sharing our sense of urgency for structural change

BY DR. WANDA THOMAS BERNARD, RSW

This article was originally published as a foreword in Repositioning Social Work Practice in Mental Health in Nova Scotia, which can be downloaded online at nscsw.org/reposition.

There is a growing body of research in Nova Scotia which recognizes the profound and harmful effects of racism on the health and well-being of individuals and communities, with calls to address disparities and inequities in health care, including the provision of mental health services (Beagan et al. 2012; Bernard et al. 2014; Etowa et al. 2017; James et al. 2010). In one research study, participants called for major systemic changes necessary for effective intervention and treatment to reduce the harms of mental health and addictions issues in the African Nova Scotian community (Willis, Berry & Bernard forthcoming). Many of the suggested changes focus on breaking the silence about these topics and reducing stigma. Furthermore, research findings have highlighted the need for more community-based supports

16 Connection | Winter 2021

and services to provide outreach, intervention and treatment for African Nova Scotians throughout the province. The Association of Black Social Workers (ABSW) has been attempting to fill the gaps in service provision for over forty years, yet the stigma prevails and efforts to ensure more culturally relevant mental services have not been realized.

As I read this research report, I became excited about the potential for systemic changes in mental health and addictions services at this time in our collective history.

I was especially drawn to the principles that have been identified for guiding mental health policy and approaches to clinical services. On their own, these principles could lead to

a transformation of mental health and addictions services.

The outcomes of the study Repositioning Social Work Practice in Mental Health in Nova Scotia clearly highlight the sense of urgency for structural change that my colleagues and I have been advocating for over many years. The study is comprehensive, inclusive and multifaceted, with multiple sources of data collection and analysis. The review of the literature is extensive and provides a rich context for the current study.

In Repositioning Social Work Practice in Mental Health in Nova Scotia, Drs. Catrina Brown, Marjorie Johnstone and Nancy Ross bring to light many of the problems with mental health and addiction services in Nova Scotia. It aptly points out ways in which the neoliberal government agenda has failed to adequately fund services that address some of the root causes of mental health issues as identified in the social determinants of health that are essential to health and well-being. In addition, the push towards victim blaming, pathologizing and individual responsibility, with little to no emphasis on culturally and socially specific services is very problematic. Critiques of the ‘bio-medical model’ and the adoption of managerial practices that promote efficiency, but are not trauma-informed, are clearly articulated through the voices of social workers, service users and supervisors who contributed to the research. The data analysis reveals the hard truth that social workers are undervalued and disempowered in mental health and addiction services. Furthermore, it is noted that social workers lack a strong voice to address the shortcomings that they are left to address in their work when caught at the intersection of the ‘dissonance between the dominant bio-medical and DSM-based model and the biopsycho-social social justice-based social work approach.’

Repositioning Social Work Practice in Mental Health in Nova Scotia concludes with a strong set of recommendations that are intended to transform the provision of mental health and addictions services in Nova Scotia. The recommendations cover a range of themes, including the need to reposition social work, to provide a guaranteed livable income and to integrate a more social justice-oriented approach in mental health and addictions practices. It is anticipated that the study’s findings will influence policy, practice and education in Nova Scotia which, if implemented, will certainly transform mental health and addiction services. There is significant emphasis on the need for a paradigm shift away from a biomedical model towards a ‘bio-psycho-social model’, that is rooted in social justice and the social determinants of health, for both prevention and service delivery.

In essence, this study can serve as a guidebook for actions that will improve conditions that will help to address some of the root causes of mental health and addictions issues.

However, it can also be considered a blueprint for changes

in policy and practices that reposition social workers in the service delivery models in Nova Scotia. Most importantly, it will provide clear direction to the Nova Scotia College of Social Workers’ Social Justice Committee to develop strategic priorities and directions to advocate for the desired outcomes.

As you read Repositioning Social Work Practice in Mental Health in Nova Scotia, consider actions that you can take, based on the position you hold. What will you do to help the Nova Scotia College of Social Workers move this work from research to action for change? As a social worker, and a founding member of ABSW, who happens to be moonlighting as a Senator, I look forward to continuing the essential dialogue needed to help shift the paradigm. I am deeply committed to help lead policy changes in mental health and addictions to more bio-psycho-social social justice-based social work practices.

REFERENCES: Beagan, B.L., Etowa, J., & Bernard, W.T. (2012). ‘With God in our lives he gives us the strength to carry on’: African Nova Scotian women, spirituality and racism–related stress. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 15(2), 103–120.

10.1080/13674676.2011.560145.

Bernard, W.T., Maddalena, V., Smith, D., & Njiwaji, M. (2014). The role of spirituality at end of life in Nova Scotia’s Black community. Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought, 33(3-4), 353-376. doi: 10,1080/15426432.2014.930622 Etowa, J., Beagan, B., Bernard, W. & Eghan, F. (2017) “You Feel You Have to be Made of Steel”: The Strong Black Woman, Health and Wellbeing in Nova Scotia. Health Care for Women International. doi/ 10.1080/07399332.2017.1290099 James, C., Este, D. & Thomas Bernard, W. (2010). Race & wellbeing: The lives, hopes, and activism of African Canadians.

Black Point, N.S.: Fernwood Pub Willis, R., Berry, K. and Bernard, WT (forthcoming 2021). Out of the Shadows: Race and (dis)Ability among Black African Nova Scotians., in Africentric Social Work, Editors

DR. WANDA THOMAS BERNARD , RSW, is a highly regarded social worker, educator, researcher, community activist and advocate of social change. Dr. Thomas Bernard is an independent senator for Nova Scotia (East Preston), and a founding member of the Association of Black Social Workers.

Winter 2021 | Connection 17

WHAT WE HEARD Selected highlights from Repositioning Social Work Practice in Mental Health in Nova Scotia We are grateful beyond words for the moral courage of the social workers who participated in the survey and focus groups for this mental health research paper. We hope you see your voices and experiences reflected in its pages.

Read the full report, and its 29 recommendations for change, at nscsw.org/reposition.

SUMMARY OF PARTICIPANT RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Value social work professionals 2. P romote and strengthen social work professional identity and collective voice 3. A ddress institutional influences on social work practice (Dalhousie School of Social Work, NSHA, IWK, NSCSW, CASWE) • Nova Scotia College of Social Workers should increase advocacy for social work profession.

4. S ocial workers need to have a specific Nova Scotia social work union 5. R estructure model of care: Reimagining the choice and partnership approach (CAPA) model • Move away from efficiency and fiscally constrained services to client-centred service that is multidimensional rather than a one size fits all medical model.

• Incorporate bio-psycho-social collaborative and relational models for social workers that do not individualize, decontextualize and medicalize peoples struggles.

• Recognize the continuum of mental health distress that needs support, rather than focusing on the most extreme.

• Social work needs to work within the system to be the voice of social justice.

• Services need to be more varied in terms of choices, models of delivery, and number of sessions clients can be seen.

18 Connection | Winter 2021

• Government needs to invest in basic needs.

Increase client mental health service accessibility; address barriers.

• Client resources need to be increased.

• Community options need to be increased.

• Diversity and mental health inequity needs to be addressed in a culturally responsive way.

6. C o-occurring issues of mental health, substance use and trauma need more services • Specific training related to addiction and substance use is needed, including harm reduction and gender-specific and culturally appropriate approaches.

• Specific training related to working with the effects of trauma is needed.

• An increased range of services specific to addiction services should include increases in non-profit community based programming and harm-reduction treatment programs. The programming needs to address the common co-occurrence of mental health issues and trauma.

Source: Brown,C., Johnstone, M., & Ross, N. (2021) Repositioning Social Work Practice in Mental Health in Nova Scotia. Available online: nscsw.org/reposition

Survey Results: 97% indicated that they did not believe there were adequate resources in the community to support the well-being of their clients (i.e. affordable daycare, affordable leisure, affordable housing).

98% believed that there need to be changes made to the current provision of mental health services.

85% believed there are not sufficient day programs or services available within the community for their clients such as drop-in programs, faithbased group activities, or volunteer work support.

82% reported that their training and perspectives do not have enough recognition in the current service delivery system.

96% responded that they experienced barriers to providing services which include a lack of resources, lack of control and lack of opportunity to implement change.

Only 35% of social workers indicated they were satisfied with their current role.

Winter 2021 | Connection 19

ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES Implications for Social Work Practice

BY DR. NANCY ROSS, RSW

This brief article argues that the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences in Nova Scotia is an urgent public health ‘epidemic’ and signals a need for a paradigm shift in healthcare and community-based responses that can be defined and led by the profession of social work.

Our team, funded by Research Nova Scotia, conducted the first adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and resilience study in Nova Scotia within the Lunenburg Family Health Centre, and found that among the 226 patients who completed the survey 73 per cent reported one ACE and thirty one percent reporting four or more.1 These results differ significantly from ACE surveys in both the United States and Canada where typically the range of survey respondents reporting four or more adverse childhood experiences is between 13 per cent2 and 18 per cent3 and signifies the need for further research.

20 Connection | Winter 2021

The ACE questionnaire identified ten categories of childhood adversity including: physical, sexual and emotional abuse; physical and emotional neglect; and five measures of household dysfunction that included domestic violence; parental mental illness and/or substance abuse; an incarcerated relative and separation/divorce.2 Our research found that the four most commonly reported ACEs were living with someone who abused drugs and/or alcohol (39.8%, n =90); living with a household member with mental health challenges or attempted suicide (39.4%, n=89); parents separated or divorced (34.5%, n=78) and verbal abuse and afraid to be physically hurt (32.7%, n=74).1 Research has demonstrated that persons who experience one ACE are potentially at risk for long term health and social consequences and that there is a dose-response relationship where persons with total ACEs score of four or more are twice as likely to be smokers, seven times more likely to be alcoholic, have a 400 per cent increased risk of emphysema

The ACE questionnaire identified ten categories

REFERENCES:

of childhood adversity including: physical, sexual

1. R oss, N., Gilbert, R., Torres, S., Dugas, K., Jefferies, P., McDonald, S., Savage, S. & Ungar, M. (2020) Adverse Childhood Experiences: Assessing the Impact on Physical and Psychosocial Health in Adulthood and the Mitigating Role of Resilience. Child Abuse and Neglect Journal, 103(2020) 104440.

and emotional abuse; physical and emotional neglect; and five measures of household dysfunction that included domestic violence; parental mental illness and/or substance abuse; an incarcerated relative and separation/divorce.

2. F elitti, V., Anda, R., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D., Spitz, A., Edwards, V., Koss, M. & Marks, J. (1998) Relationship of Childhood Abuse and Household Dysfunction to Many of the Leading Causes of Death in Adults. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14 (4): 245 – 258.

3. P oole, J. C., Dobson, K. S., & Pusch, D. (2017). Childhood adversity and adult depression: The protective role of psychological resilience. Child Abuse & Neglect, 64, 89-100.

and are 1200 per cent more likely to attempt suicide.

Persons with an ACE score of six or more are at risk of shortening their lifespan by 20 years.2 Outcomes most strongly associated with multiple ACEs, including interpersonal violence, mental illness, and substance use, pose ACE risks for the next generation4 by causing disruptions in parental ability to provide safe, stable and nurturing family relationships, and pose risk for trauma and chronic and toxic stress for their children.5

The Adult Resilience Measure6 measures socio-

4. H ughes K, Bellis MA, Hardcastle KA, Sethi D, Butchart A, Mikton C, Jones L, Dunne MP (2017) .The effect of multiple adverse childhood experiences on health: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Public Health.2(8):356-e366.

5. B ethell, C., Carle, A., Hudziak, J., Gombojav, N., Powers, K., Wade, R., & Braveman, P. (2017). Methods to Assess Adverse Childhood Experiences of Children and Families: Toward Approaches to Promote Child Well-being in Policy and Practice. Academic Pediatrics, 17(7), S51-S69.

6. U ngar M & Liebenberg, L (2011) Adult Resilience Measure (ARM) User’s Manual: Research. Halifax: Resilience Research Centre.

ecological factors that include having people you respect in your life and a sense of belonging within your community.

Our research found that people with high ACE scores and high resilience reported significantly fewer health problems compared with those who had high ACE scores and low resilience. Bethell et al. (2017) indicate that evidence from assessments of ACEs in adults suggest adult respondents do not object to it and find dialogue about ACEs empowering with some even seeing failure to inquire about ACEs as denying their occurrence and effect5. Adverse childhood experiences occur in the context of relationships as do factors that support resilience. A social and relational focus is central to social work practice and therefore, I argue social workers are best positioned to lead a paradigm shift in healthcare.

NANCY ROSS , PhD, RSW, is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work, Dalhousie University. Her previous work as a clinical therapist in Mental Health and Addiction Services informs her research interests which include a focus on the role of social work in mental health, gender-based violence, adverse childhood experiences and resilience. She applies a peacebuilding and intersectional lens to analysis of justice system responses to domestic violence and systemic and policy responses to adverse childhood experiences. She has produced a short film, Women of Substance, which profiled stories of women meeting challenges of substance misuse, and co-produced a second film, I Work for Change, which explored the complexity of social work while celebrating the profession.

Dr. Ross is also a co-author of Repositioning Social Work Practice in Mental Health in Nova Scotia, the mental health research paper published by NSCSW in January 2021.

Winter 2021 | Connection 21

CRITICAL CLINICAL SOCIAL WORK Book Review

BY JIM MORTON, MSW, RSW

In Critical Clinical Social Work: Counterstorying for Social Justice, the book’s editors, Catrina Brown and Judy E. MacDonald, offer what they describe as “an original critical clinical approach to social work practice” (p. 2). The book includes both their own perspectives and those of 29 other contributors, most of whom are affiliated with the School of Social Work at Dalhousie University. The editors rightly point out that this focus on clinical practice is significantly overdue because radical social work, for the last fifty years, has viewed “clinical practice as focusing on the individual and not contributing to social change” (p. 2). Their timeline is unerringly correct. In March 1969 the Committee on Psychiatry and Social Work published a monograph expressing alarm that “during the past decade...especially in the schools of social work…adequate training in the methods of casework is being or soon will be dangerously curtailed by the increasing focus on social theory and techniques at the expense of attention to the problems of the individual client” (Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry, p. 36). Books like Critical Clinical Social Work are indeed overdue and urgently needed.

Critical clinical practice is an “approach to social work practice that intentionally ensures that critical theory and understandings of problems or struggles people experience are reflected in the approach to therapeutic conversations” (p. 16).

Feminist and narrative methods of therapy are emphasized, and problems are understood to emerge in a social context.

This context is influenced by neoliberalism, which tends to medicalize human problems, placing responsibility for difficulties on individuals, while ignoring larger structures that generate troubles. In addition to the editors’ introductory and concluding commentary, the book’s 17 chapters cover content that ranges from critical clinical theory to mental health issues, violence against women, substance abuse, child welfare,

22 Connection | Winter 2021

immigration services, spirituality and African Canadians, chronic pain and an interesting overview of the functioning of the Dalhousie School of Social Work Community Clinic.

Critical Clinical Social Work has many strengths. The content choices speak to matters that regularly confront social workers and these issues are, for the most part, deftly handled. Clinical problems are ‘unpacked’ with a clarity that demonstrates the authors’ familiarity with the research and their commitment to scholarship. Each of the chapters explores its theme with reference to professional social work roles and principles and links individual experience to community and the larger socio-economic and political environments. The critical clinical approach to practice describes a refreshing commitment to listening deeply and to collaborating with clients who are understood to bring essential expertise to the clinical encounter. In this valuing of clients who find themselves struggling in the neoliberal vortex, Critical Clinical Social Work offers an important alternative to the prescriptive and dominant biomedical model and calls on our profession to double down on its commitment to social justice.

The book also left me wishing for more in three key areas.

I was surprised that so little is said about the connections between biology, epigenetics, social relationships and individual functioning in the discussion of human challenges. Critical clinical practice links problems, and the solutions it offers, to language, philosophy and the creation of new, more hopeful narratives. In this sense the approach is largely cognitive, ignoring advances in neurobiology and its implications for individuals and the family systems and communities they inhabit (Noone and Papero). This area of science is clearly relevant to clinical practice, as well as to social work’s core concern with the person in society.

Secondly, I was struck by the extent to which the authors ignored families. “There were 14.1 million private households in Canada in 2016, 9.5 million (67.7%) of which were composed of at least one census family” (Statistics Canada) yet it is

not until page 201 in this 409 page book that the reader is encouraged to recognize, not humans, but companion animals as family members. Oblique references to families occur in discussions of child welfare, immigration, indigenous culture, and work with older people, but nowhere within this collection of articles is the family itself recognized as a structure worthy of focused attention.

This is no small point. As a species we evolved within family groups. Millions of years of evolution and millennia of lived social experience mean that individuals are closely attuned to each other and that families can be understood as ‘emotional units’ (Kerr, 2019). The immediate social - and genetic contexts of social workers and their clients are those we identify as mothers, fathers, siblings, cousins, grandparents and aunts. (If there is doubt about this, check out postings on social media.) It seems odd to recognize community and social culture while ignoring the immediate social systems that influence everyday lives from conception to death.

Family theory, like clinical work, tends to get little attention in Canadian schools of social work (Pirie & Morton, 2019). This may mean that families are not so much misunderstood as ‘invisiblilized,’ to use the language of critical clinical theory.

epigenetics, the nature of family systems, and about the clinical encounter itself. We’ve been worried about this gap for more than 50 years. It’s time to focus on clinical work. Critical Clinical Social Work is a good start.

REFERENCES: Finally, as someone who has spent many years in the consulting room and decades as a supervisor of social workers and students, I would like to see more exploration of the actual clinical encounter. Critical Clinical Social Work touches on the clinical relationship, but emphasizes theory. It’s one thing to intellectually appreciate the connections between symptoms and family and larger social systems. It’s an entirely more daunting matter to be a social worker, sitting alone with a troubled client or a client-family, in the consulting room. Clinical work means experiencing the anxiety of a recent assault. It involves exposure to a parent’s panic following a teenager’s suicide attempt. It demands being present with clients whose anger and despair are frequently directed at the social worker.

How does a clinician find ways to remain calm and thoughtful in such moments? How does one find a way to work with the anxiety in the room while moving toward a richer understanding of the client’s experience? What do effective clinical encounters look like? When is it productive to explore family and other relationships and how can this best be managed? How is an interview ended when the issues remain muddled and the next client is in the waiting room? We need conversations about being in the clinical room and more literature that validates the legitimacy of such dialogue.

Critical Clinical Social Work: Counterstorying for Social Justice makes a valuable contribution to the social work literature. My hope is that it will be widely read and studied and that it sparks a lively discussion about the place of clinical activity within social work and its many specialties. I also hope it stimulates research, writing and conversation related to neurobiology and

Brown, Catrina and MacDonald, Judy (Editors). (2020) Critical Clinical Social Work: Counterstorying for Social Justice. Toronto: Canadian Scholars.

Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry. (1969). On Psychiatry and Casework: A position statement formulated by the Committee on Psychiatry and Social Work. New York.

Kerr, Michael E. (2019) Bowen Theory’s Secrets: Revealing the Hidden Life of Families. New York: Norton.

Noone, Robert J. & Papero, Daniel V. (2015). The Emotional Family System: An Integrative Concept for Theory, Science and Practice. New York: Lexington Books.

Pirie, Anne and Morton, Jim. (2019) Reclaiming Our Place: Successful Social Work Practice in Medical Model Settings.

Connections Volume 2 Issue 3. Halifax: Nova Scotia College of Social Workers.

Statistics Canada (2017): Retrieved from: https://www150. statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/170802/dq170802a-eng.htm

JIM MORTON , MSW, RSW is a social worker with interests in mental health, family systems theory, politics, and social change. He lives in Kentville, Nova Scotia.

Winter 2021 | Connection 23

ENGAGING BLACK MEN AND BOYS ABSW Non-Violence Project

BY DIVINE GBEVE-ONYENIKE

This past year, the Association of Black Social Workers (ABSW), in recognition of the limited culturally-specific resources available to African Nova Scotian men and boys, provided two six-series workshops that focused on encouraging Black men and boys to take an active role in ending men’s violence against women. The sessions provided culturally-specific information and resources on how Black men can make a difference in preventing dating and domestic violence against women and girls.

They were able to identify how to step in when witnessing violence or hearing negative talk about women in their families, schools or communities.

Throughout this series, participants were able to learn several skills, including: what healthy relationships and healthy

24 Connection | Winter 2021

communication look like, how to have and show respect for women and girls, model respectful behavior with other men and boys, and how to be a “responsible bystander.” They also had opportunities to develop skills and practices that reflect leadership in the community and in the school environment.

The Black Men and Boys Nonviolence Project (BMBNP) had six objectives: 1. B uild awareness and education around the use of violence for control as a pervasive, global problem.

2. E xamine the negative effects of violent behavior on relationships, partners, children, friends, and the participant himself to help create a willingness to change.

3. C onsider the cultural and social contexts in which violence is used against a partner. This can include physical violence, emotional/mental abuse, sexual abuse, and economic abuse.

4. P rovide the participant with practical information on how to change abusive behavior by exploring non-controlling and non-violent ways of relating to women.

5. E ncourage the participant to become accountable to those he has hurt by encouraging him to acknowledge his actions and accept responsibility for its impact on his partner and others.

6. E xamine triggers of violent behaviour and educate on how to shift anger in a nonviolent way with tools and treatments that can help effectively manage those triggers.

ABOUT THE ASSOCIATION OF BLACK SOCIAL WORKERS (ABSW)

Six workshops were created for African Nova Scotian men to help address the above-noted objectives and take participants on a journey of realization of how certain ideals, attitudes and behaviours support violence against women.

After consultation with service providers including the Nova Scotia Brotherhood Initiative (NSBI) and Correctional Services Canada, as well as potential participants on what they would like to see in these workshops, the following themes emerged:

The ABSW is a charitable organization consisting of Black Social Workers and Human Services Workers throughout Nova Scotia. It was formed in 1979 by four women who were concerned with the responsibility of transforming a system that was not responsive to the problems and concerns of African Nova Scotians The key mission of this organization is to act as a support group and professional development resource for African Canadian social workers.

• History of Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence

The ABSW provides structure and a forum through which Black social workers and workers in related fields can exchange ideas, offer services, and develop programs in the interest of the Black community at large. ABSW offers educational and community-based programs ranging from clinical counselling to professional development, and conducts awareness sessions on social issues such as mental health, substance abuse, gambling, parenting bi-racial/ Black children, palliative care etc.

• Anger Management • Emotional Intelligence • Relationship Building • Art Therapy • Qigong

Working with men and boys on such an important and critical global issue as intimate partner violence and domestic violence makes

The goal of the ABSW is to contribute towards the health and wellbeing of people of African descent in Nova Scotia. The vision of this organization is to provide access and equal opportunities for under-represented communities.

a significant contribution to community-based programming for a group that is typically excluded from such programs.

In this workshop series. specifically geared to Black men and boys, awareness was created about the broader context in which violence occurs. The sessions helped to educate them on the connection between domestic and partner violence and the racism, stereotypes, and other forms of oppression experienced by men of African descent. Participant feedback on the sessions highlight the value of the content delivered by various presenters, and the significance of this work to help stop violence.

DIVINE GBEVE-ONYENIKE is a second-year social work student who is doing her field placement with the Association of Black Social Workers. She was born and raised in Ghana until the age of ten when she relocated to Nova Scotia with her family. Her interest in social work stems from her desire to help others; from a young age she has always had a passion for making a difference in the lives of others. She has chosen social work as a career, as she believes it will provide her with the opportunity to make a positive difference in the lives of people who are socially marginalized, disadvantaged and excluded, through helping to meet their basic human needs, promoting the realization of their potential, and helping them recognize and exercise their rights.

Winter 2021 | Connection 25

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2020 STUDENT BURSARY RECIPIENTS These students are members of NSCSW and are completing accredited social work programs at Canadian universities. They have each received $500 to help them achieve their professional goals.

As part of their bursary application, we asked them what professionalism in social work practice means to them, and what they hope to gain from their social work education. We’re happy to share some excerpts from their responses, and we wish them well in their studies.

KAYLIE MACKEEN, DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY An area of social work that I am interested in, is working with individuals who are experiencing homelessness or precarious housing. … Throughout my experiences, I’ve noticed that structurally vulnerable individuals feel shame regarding their current situation and will often apologize or mention how embarrassed they are when entering the shelter. This is likely due to stereotypes that lead to this population having their dignity impaired and being stigmatized and discriminated against. Therefore, as a service provider, when building relationships with individuals, it is important to meet them where they are at mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically; providing ongoing support, so no one falls through the gaps (e.g., harm-reduction, housing first practices, and anti-oppressive frameworks). Often this is a population that feels undervalued, thus the relationship you build with them is vital. Keeping in mind professional boundaries, sometimes you may be the only support person that that individual currently has in their life, thus prioritizing their dignity and letting that individual know that you are going to support them with what they need. This means that we as social workers have a responsibility to them to do things to the best of our ability, and to ensure that our help and support does not damage or disenfranchise them. In doing this, vulnerable individuals feel like their needs are being addressed, and they are being listened to, allowing them to gain trust and respect, further helping with effective practice, crisis support, case management and social accountability.

I think professionalism is combining all your skills, social work values, and knowledge in the field to be the best social worker that you can be. This allows you to work with diverse groups of people in various settings.

26 Connection | Winter 2021

DANI SHERWOOD, DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY Professionalism in social work practice supports emotional resiliency, a strong sense of responsibility, and legal, ethical practice in the service providers, which protects the service provider and user alike. Simultaneously, with professionalism in the field, boundaries are prioritized resulting in better protection and respect for the rights and well-being of both service users and providers. Overall, professionalism in the field allows me to be best supported and most effective in my work with individuals, families, and communities at large, at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels.

The most important values, skills and knowledge I aspire to acquire through my education are those which relate to anti-oppressive practice and a critical cultural consciousness approach. … My hope is that this acquired knowledge will then empower and enable me to advocate for and help implement more progressive policies in the field of social work at the macro-level throughout the duration of my career life as a professional social worker.

MERCY KASHEKE, WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY These past few years have taught me the importance of developing my counselling skills as well as deep trauma work skills. I felt inspired to go back to school to get a better understanding of how systemic issues cause significant internal trauma in children’s lives.

We need to maintain a certain standard of professional behaviour to support those we work with, as well as the fact that we work with vulnerable populations.

Professionalism further helps the public feel safe and confident that it is a regulated profession and therefore there is a piece of accountability that is held towards social workers as they engage with their clients. Finally, professionalism in social work informs other professionals that social workers are educated, adequate to assess, support, and treat service users.

JULIA BARNES, UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO In continuing with my social work education, I look to carry the core value of social justice into my future career as a social worker. I am hoping to acquire more knowledge on theory and evidenced-based practice, as well as the skills necessary to work with people from diverse backgrounds and experiences.

What I will learn during my social work education only covers a part of what it necessary to practice competently. I am looking forward to continuing to build upon this knowledge base with life-long learning throughout my career.

Professionalism in social work is important to me because it holds us accountable to providing the best service to those we work with. It goes hand-in-hand with the many values of the social work profession, and more specifically integrity and practicing within the scope of our practice. These are important to me as the commitment to doing not only reflects back on ourselves as individual professionals, but the profession as a whole.

Winter 2021 | Connection 27

Dr. Delores Mullings

28 Connection | Winter 2021

CONFRONTING ANTI-BLACK RACISM The Activism of Delores Mullings

BY NICOLE BROOKS DE GIER

Delores Mullings is not here to be your friend, hold your hand or placate your guilt. The Memorial University social work professor and anti-Black racism activist has a bubbly and warm demeanour, but doesn’t mince words when she speaks about transforming institutions rooted in colonialism. This includes the field of social work, in which she holds a doctoral degree.

“Social work is complicit in the concrete death, and the death of the spirit and soul of racialized people,” said Mullings.

“The traditional field of social work has implemented policy and practice that help to create the annihilation of our Black and Indigenous families by destroying children and youth’s connections with their families, elders and communities.”

Mullings continues, “Social workers support police, who have targeted, scrutinized, imprisoned and executed Black children and youth, particularly boys, and, as a result, have done major harm.”

Historically speaking, Nova Scotia has one of the largest Black communities in Canada with 53 African Nova Scotian communities across the province. Yet, despite having first arrived on Nova

“Being Black has been weaponized,” Mulling explained, “and our destruction has been systematic and deliberate.”

To transform these areas into inclusive spaces, Mullings says the answer is definitive: “Stop promoting white people.” “[White] people are afraid of what will happen to their power,” said Mullings, “but you don’t lose your power, by sharing it.

You will only lose your power if you’ve been misusing your power – if you’ve used and kept your power by exploiting it.”

Mullings says that radical employment equity and consistently applied strategic planning are required to dismantle existing colonial structure and install racially and culturally diverse perspectives, faces and bodies.

“Despite existing federal and provincial employment equity policies and strategies, white men and women continue to be overrepresented in leadership positions [in institutions] while racialized, Indigenous and persons living with (dis) abilities are underrepresented.”

When creating these strategic plans, Mullings stresses that they need to be flexible with clear milestone markers so objectives can be adjusted as organizations achieve their goals of recruiting, hiring, training, mentoring, and promoting people of colour.

Scotian soil over 400 years ago, Mullings stresses that African Nova Scotians’ contribution to Canada remains mostly unrecognized.

“We have no belonging, we’re not seen as authentic Canadians,” said Mullings.

The direct consequence of arriving in North America as enslaved people is that the systems and institutions established by colonialists were not established to serve, improve or empower Black people.

“People who have the lived experience of colonization, slavery and racism, and every person’s lived experience with racism is unique, these voices can add a rich array to leadership tables to guide decision making and policy making to transform institutions. These plans should be created and applied across all institutions from [small not-for-profits] to government leadership.”

The plan that Mullings presents sounds straight-forward, uncomplicated and easy to implement. But she knows firsthand the nearly insurmountable opposition these ideas will face by many white people (in positions of power or not), and the violence and vitriol Black-Indigenous-people-of-colour will

Winter 2021 | Connection 29

encounter when, or – realistically – if institutions attempt to implement them.

“Generally speaking” Mullings said, “white people don’t have a vested interest in improving and dismantling racism. When you have no lived experience of racism outside of white privilege, it’s very difficult to understand what being Black, Indigenous and racialized means.”

Empathy does not exist in colonialism. Mullings says colonization teaches self-preservation, and for the colonizers to not care about the plight of their victims, but to only look out for themselves.

This is why when white people are asked to make space in business, academia, government – in collective society – for Black people that they often respond with fear, anger or resentment.

Mullings put it simply, “White people are not fragile, they’re racist.”

Yet, she says, white people already have the tools and knowledge to dismantle the collective institutions rooted in systemic racism and they simply must “want” to make the change.

She likens the eradication of anti-Black racism, to the roll-out and adherence to the public health guidelines for the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“If you’re really committed, it doesn’t take long. We saw that this summer,” Mullings said, in an analogy that speaks to Atlantic Canada being called one of the safest places to live during the summer of 2020. Its provinces quickly took to following the strict hygiene and safety precautions that nearly eliminated the viral infection in the area.

“The same attitude can be applied to anti-Black racism.”

It is inarguable that there are white people who know that racism is wrong; however, Mullings points out, that although some white people may understand the pain and implications of hundreds of years of racism and white privilege, they will never understand the true pain and trauma experienced by Black people.

“Their understanding is often voyeuristic,” Mullings said, “while the pain of being Black runs in your blood – it is generational.

The term anti-Black racism was coined to acknowledge and

30 Connection | Winter 2021

centre the specific experiences of Black people and the way Black people have been victimized, scrutinized, criminalized and murdered and so on because of their blackness.”

Mullings posits that the leadership work of abolishing antiBlack racism and racism must be reserved for those who have experienced its effects first-hand. The idea that it is more palatable for white people to learn and understand the repercussions of centuries of colonialism and their role in furthering racist ideology from a white person, explains Mullings, is rooted unironically, in racism.

“Institutions will pay thousands of dollars to hear white people theorize anti-Black racism and racism to massive audiences of students, administrators, government officials or colleagues, but won’t pay a Black speaker who has being doing the very same work for years, or hire more Black, Indigenous and racialized people within the leadership ranks of their organizations,” Mullings said.

“White people should be put out of the business of teaching anti-Black racism and racism; selling their works on the back and pain of Black people.”

Mullings’ rhetoric is learned and unapologetic and her ask is simple: give Black-indigenous-people-of-colour the privilege to take up space and enable white people to accept their role in maintaining the status quo.

So no, Delores Mullings is not here to be your friend, hold your hand, or placate your guilt.

“It is not my job to make white people feel comfortable. It’s time we ended the Black ‘mammy’ trope and give Black people the space we’ve earned and deserve to transform.”

NICOLE BROOKS DE GIER is a communications consultant, business owner, and freelance writer living in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. She’s also the very proud mother of Audrey and Cameron. Nicole has provided strategic communications and public relations advice to several governments, government agencies, and businesses for the past 12 years. Nicole is a feminist and a member of the African Nova Scotian community. Her website is EmptyScribblerPR.com.

Dr. Delores Mullings will deliver a keynote address at Challenging our Social Justice Lens, the NSCSW annual conference in May 2021. To register, please visit nscswconference.org.

Social Work is Essential Essential

The essential work provided by qualified, compassionate, and committed social workers benefits all people in Canada. Each March, we celebrate the important contributions social work professionals make to our families and communities.

The essential work provided by qualified, compassionate, and committed social Celebrate Social Work Month | March 2021 workers benefits all people in Canada.

Each March, we celebrate the important Get involved! contributions social work professionals Celebrate Social Work Week casw-acts.ca March 7 - 13 make to our families and communities. #NationalSocialWorkMonth Winter 2021 | Connection 31

Repositioning Social Work Practice in Mental Health in Nova Scotia

Research and recommendations for transformative change in Nova Scotia’s mental health care system.

CATRINA BROWN | MARJORIE JOHNSTONE | NANCY ROSS

Read the 2021 Report: nscsw.org/reposition