Clinical Assistant Professor Michael Lynch, Alum Kristie Bailey, and colleague publish article, "Addressing Self-Care for Students and Field Educators with Mindfulness: A Collaborative Approach to Field Placement"

Kudos to Clinical Assistant Professor Michael Lynch, MSW alum Kristie Bailey and their colleague on the publication of their article, "Addressing Self-Care for Students and Field Educators with Mindfulness: A Collaborative Approach to Field Placement" in The Field Educator.

Lynch, M., Daun-Barnett, S., Bailey, K. (2021). Addressing self-care for students and field educators with mindfulness: A collaborative approach to field placement. The Field Educator.

Field education faces unique and daunting challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Partner organizations have been forced to upend their service-delivery models, students are facing new levels of stress and isolation, and field faculty have been forced to rethink the nature and form of field education. Through field education, students should develop their professional identity, learn how to work as part of a team, and learn how to interact and communicate with clients and stakeholders. With social distancing and the challenges associated with moving traditional in-person social work to remote models, field faculty must develop new and innovative models that allow students to gain those skills. Additionally, the pandemic has dramatically altered the context in which students and agencies operate. Students and agencies are facing higher levels of stress and insecurity; these factors must be taken into consideration, and models of field education should adapt to better suit the new context.