Ericka Freeman is a licensed clinical social worker and social work professor at UT Tyler. She discusses what social workers do, who they help, and a March 3 conference at UT Tyler that will help participants better understand social work and consider it as a potential career.
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Transcript
Mike Landess: For UT Tyler Radio 99.7 KVUT. I’m Mike Landess. March is social work month and beginning Friday, March 3rd. The social work programs at UT Tyler are partnering with Tyler Junior College to present a conference entitled, “What Is Social Work?” Joining us to talk more about the conference and its importance is UT’s Tyler, Associate Professor of Practice, Erica Freeman. Welcome.
Erika Freeman: Thanks for having me.
Mike Landess: Tell us about this conference and what is going to feature. .
Erika Freeman: You bet. So for the first time, we are offering a conference or an event to educate Tyler and Smith County and basically all of East Texas on what the profession of social work is really all about. Because I know people have different ideas or maybe no idea what social workers do.
So we will be featuring some very prominent social workers that have been very active in the Tyler community and they will be doing some speaking. We have an essay contest that students from UT Tyler and TJC (Tyler Junior College) have entered, and the winners will receive scholarships. And then we have a kind of a fun, open mic so that, the community and social workers can kind of exchange and learn more about what social work is.
Mike Landess: Now you have five speakers. What elements will each of them bring?
We have, we cover the gamut. We have someone that is going to speak on, children’s issues and specifically, health issues for children. We have someone that works with the older and aging adult population through Adult Protective Services.
Erika Freeman: We have, of course, a fan favorite or maybe not Child Protective Services, which has to do with child welfare. And then East Texas Crisis Center will be there to educate us and talk about interpersonal violence.
Mike Landess: Now, this begins on Friday morning, at 9:30. and how long does it last?
Erika Freeman: It lasts until one.
Mike Landess: Okay. And lunch is provided, is that right?
Erika Freeman: Yes. A brunch. A brunch.
Mike Landess: Okay. yes. I will like it. no. Mimosas. We’re just …
Erika Freeman: Alas, no.
Mike Landess: We’ve got high school kids here.
Erika Freeman: That’s right.
Mike Landess: So tell us a little bit about now the social work, program at UT Tyler is about a year old, and you work with Professor of Practice, Rich Kenny. You’re an associate professor of practice. Tell us what that means exactly. This, obviously you have a background in this field.
Erika Freeman: I do. I’ve spent about 20 years of my, working life, working in social work. The last 12 have also spent, been spent in higher education. And a lot of what we do, because we’re a practice profession like doctors and nurses and teachers, we need people who have practiced in the profession that are licensed to also talk to the students and educate them so they too can become professionals.
it’s interesting that, social work is obviously a much needed element of our society, but often we hear stories about failure rather than success, someone fell through the cracks, a dangerous situation didn’t get reported in time. child protective services gets a bad rap. In fact, more lives have been probably saved than we know.
Erika Freeman: Yes, most definitely. Social workers are there. We don’t get a lot of press, but we’re there in hospitals, we’re there at hospice, at, the end of life. We’re there at the beginning of life and all the stages in between.
This is for high school kids and if you believe the pollsters, it sounds like many members of Gen Z are more interested in giving back. This seems like a great group to court.
Erika Freeman: Oh, definitely. I have seen such a surge and interest of social work over the last, I would say, five, six years. typically female, but now we’re seeing a lot more male students and non-binary students that are very excited about social work.
Mike Landess: What is it they say excites them about it?
Erika Freeman: fact that they want to be a part of something bigger. They see a lot of gaps in services within their own community, and within the world and they wanna address them.
Mike Landess: How has social work improved over the last 10 years? What elements have been added or taken away to improve the performance and the results?
Erika Freeman: So specifically here in Texas, a lot of attention has been given, when you think about things such as school shooters or child welfare issues, or the health and wellbeing, mental health especially. Those are all things that social workers are trained to do and licensed to do. In fact, social workers across the United States make up over 60% - more than the majority - of mental health professionals in the United States.
Mike Landess: And when you say mental health professionals, they are actually they’re on the ground, they’re in the trenches, boots on the ground, dealing with the individuals one-on-one.
Erika Freeman: Absolutely, yes.
Mike Landess: Now, what kind of training does it take to do that? How long does it take to become a licensed social worker in Texas?
Erika Freeman: Well, to become licensed at the bachelor level, you need to get your bachelor’s degree in social work and then sit for a licensing exam. For those that wanna take their career further and do more in-depth work in terms of mental health, maybe working in a school setting, you would need to get your master’s in social work and then sit for another licensure.
And then we have those unique animals out there that are licensed clinical social workers who actually provide therapy, talk therapy, and groups, individuals, and they hang out their own shingle and they’re therapists.
Mike Landess: How do you go about explaining to a high school kid, this path that you’ve just talked about? In other words, you are talking about an investment if you were talking to the point where you would actually hang out a shingle - you’re talking what, seven, eight years almost.
you, I’m glad you brought that up. It’s actually the quickest path to becoming a therapist that there is out there.
so four years. For your undergrad, a year or two for your masters, usually a year. and then a couple of years of experience out working. So you were close about six.
Mike Landess: It’s just about that.
Erika Freeman: Yeah.
but it is a big investment and certainly it requires, a lot of dedication. the people who are really terrific at social work, and I’m sure, you would be one of these people, this is something that has to be a calling.
Erika Freeman: Yes, yes. A lot of people who come to the field of social work say feel, it’s like a calling. it’s something that really, either they’ve been touched by a social worker in a positive way, or their family has, or they just are really passionate about a certain group of people.
Mike Landess: Share with us a success story that you personally were involved in, one that made you feel like, “I am in the right field. I’m doing the right thing, and I’m glad I’m here.”
Erika Freeman: Let’s see. There’s actually so many to choose from. I would say there was a time when I was working with a young man - and one of the things about interpersonal violence is the fallacy that we believe that it only happens to women, and it happens to men too.
And a lot of times they fall through the cracks because there’s not necessarily shelters out there for them, or sometimes other helping professionals think, oh, you’re a man, you can protect yourself. And I worked with a young man for several years who was involved with stalking and,just needed to get to enhance and restore his functioning.
And so we were able to get him set up in college, get some protective orders set up for him. I went with him to every court case, went with him to every deposition, and he was able to graduate from college, protect himself, stay safe, and he actually now is very active in a movement for trying to get more interpersonal violence awareness to men.
Mike Landess: That is a great success story. Any final thoughts before we.
I encourage everyone, even if you only have 20 minutes to drop by and see us and learn more about social work.
Mike Landess: Our guest has been UT Tyler, associate Professor of Practice, Erica Freeman, the UT Tyler, TJC. What is Social Work Conference begins at 9:30 Friday morning.
You’ll find a link for more information on our website, KVUT.org. I’m Mike Landess for UT Tyler Radio 99.7 KVUT.
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