Our "Wellness Wednesday" emails have become a great way for us to stay connected as a community during the pandemic. We would like to continue our efforts of highlighting alumni, sharing school news, resources and upcoming events.

We want to hear from you! Let us know about the work you do and/or how you are using your social work degree. Please submit your story and photo to alumni@ssw.umaryland.edu.

Alumni Spotlight
Jennifer Tomko, LCSW, MSW '06 
Psychotherapist, Owner, Clarity Health Solutions
Jennifer Tomko is a psychotherapist and owner of Clarity Health Solutions in Jupiter, Florida. Jenn graduated from University of Maryland Baltimore with a Masters Degree in Social Work in 2006 and has been counseling patients ever since. She worked in the hospital and school settings before opening her own concierge practice in February 2015.

She works with teens, adults, and senior citizens struggling with a wide variety of issues including stress, depression, trauma, grief, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, parenting, marriage, divorce, low motivation, sexuality, domestic violence, addiction, and dissociative identity disorder. Jenn is trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) and certified by the World Trade Center Health program.

In 2006, she founded a cutting-edge e-therapy company, Elite E-Counseling, LLC, to provide HIPAA compliant video conferencing sessions for Florida residents. In addition to one-on-one counseling sessions, Jenn leads and supervises multiple support groups. She recently launched an online support group specifically for people struggling with the stress of COVID-19. To see all her areas of specialty and treatment approaches, please visit her profile on psychologytoday.com.


“Social workers offer a unique perspective that you don’t get in many other fields of clinical work. It’s essential to understand multiple facets of what shapes people’s behaviors. It’s when we merge these facets of understanding cultures, communities, groups, families, and individuals that we get a true picture of how we are most likely to create change. This is what social workers offer.”- Jennifer Tomko, LCSW-C, MSW '06
  
SSW Students Launch The Disruptor Journal
The Disruptor is seeking submissions for its April issue, which comes out on April 20th:

This month, the theme of The Disruptor is the underbelly of health. Student editors want to explore various aspects of the war on drugs, preventative healthcare versus big pharma, increasing social work competence & knowledge through exploration of a dual degree program with the school of pharmacy, nutrition and mental health through mind & body, holistic and alternative healthcare, maternal health, etc.

The Disruptor is looking for all types of submissions: reflections, papers, commentary, creative writing, art, photography, or any other form of expression that we can share online. Art submissions can be related to the theme, but it is not necessary. For informal commentary and reflections we will take up to 750 words and up to 1,500 words for academic work with an option to share the authors' contact information to obtain the full-length work.

Please email submissions to sswstudentjournal@gmail.com by April 5th for consideration. Every submission goes through a 2-step review and editing process, after which it is returned to the author for approval. See our website for more information about The Disruptor.

The leadership team at The Disruptor is:

Mavlyn Bazil
Eva Bialobrzeski
Anna Britton
Jenna Fairbanks
Steven Isaacson
Omayra Kazi
Lucy Zhao
Lane Victorson, Faculty Advisor
Alumni Career Services
Our new “Handshake” option allows job seekers to create custom dashboards to serve as profiles to potential employers. Handshake also exposes employers to many more potential, qualified candidates. Handshake is used by hundreds of schools and universities across the globe.

Please join us at https://www.joinhandshake.com to create an account. Upon doing so, search for the University of Maryland School of Social Work and submit a request for approval to post on our portal. We look forward to connecting with you on Handshake!
Employer Feature

The University of Maryland School of Social Work is currently hiring Educational Director for our Title IV-E Education for Public Child Welfare Program. This role maintains a close relationship with the Maryland Department of Human Services to successfully prepare BSW and MSW students for social work practice with families and children in Maryland's public child welfare programs. Click here to apply for this position.
Upcoming Events
Studying the Dominant Identity (White Practitioners) with
Nicole Palmore, MSW
Thursday, April 1st
Multi-day Webinar
Daniel Thursz Social Justice Lecture
We look forward to seeing you on Monday, April 19th! Click here to register for the event.
Resources
University of Maryland
School of Social Work | Website

Chrishna Williams, MS
Director of Alumni Relations and Career Services 
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