REFLECTIONS NARRATIVES of PROFESSIONAL HELPING Special Issue on Families of Origin: Implications for Practice Lloyd L. Lyter and Sharon C. Lyter Guest Editors Volume 21, Number 4 Fall 2015 REFLECTIONS NARRATIVES of PROFESSIONAL HELPING www.rnopf.org PUBLISHED BY CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK REFLECTIONS EDITORS AND STAFF Cathleen A. Lewandowski, Ph.D., Director and Professor (Cleveland State University School of Social Work, Publisher) Michael A. Dover, Ph.D., Editor (Cleveland State University School of Social Work) Robin Richesson, M.F.A., Art Director (Professor of Art, California State University Long Beach) Beth M. Lewis, D.S.W., Associate Editor, Field Education (Bryn Mawr College School of Social Work) Johanna Slivinske, M.S.W., Associate Editor, Review Quality (Youngstown State University Department of Social Work) Arlene Reilley-Sandoval, D.S.W., Associate Editor, Issue Quality (Southeast Missouri State University) Jennifer Bellamy, Ph.D., Associate Editor (University of Denver School of Social Work) Priscilla Gibson, Ph.D., Associate Editor (University of Minnesota School of Social Work) Julie Cooper Altman, Ph.D., Research Reflections Section Editor (California State University, Monterrey Bay) Carol A. Langer, Ph.D. (Colorado State University Pueblo) and Arlene F. Reilly-Sandoval, D.S.W. (Southeast Missouri State University), Teaching and Learning Section Co-Editors Jon Christopher Hall, Ph.D., School of Social Work, U. of North Carolina at Wilmington, Historical Reflections Editor Maureen O'Connor, M.S.W. Candidate, Graduate Assistant, Cleveland State University Kailie M. Johnson, B.S.W. Candidate, Editorial Associate, Cleveland State University Steven "Leo" Leopold, M.S.W., Issue Production Manager Elisabeth P. Weems, BA-Candidate, Journalism and Promotional Communications, Cleveland State University NARRATIVE REVIEW BOARD, VOLUME 21 Margaret Ellen Adamek; Robin W. Allen; Mari Lynn Alschuler; Julie Cooper Altman; Jennifer Bellamy; Gary M. Bess; Valerie Borum; Kimberly A. Brisebois; Mary Ann Clute; Sandra Edmonds Crewe; Jennifer Davis-Berman; Priscilla Day; Sister Nancy M. Decesare; Vaughn Decoster; Michael DeMattos; Mary Kate Dennis; Brenda Joy Eastman; Catherine Faver; Charles Garvin; Sheldon Gelman; Priscilla Gibson; Jane Gorman; Ruby M. Gourdine; Jon Christopher Hall; Melissa Anne Hensley; Erica Goldblatt Hyatt; Katie Johnston-Goodstar; Shanna Katz Kattari; Martin Kohn; Carol L. Langer; Monica Leisey; Patricia Levy; Beth M. Lewis; Sadye Logan; Kim Lorber; Lloyd L. Lyter; Carl Mazza; Joshua L. Miller; Augustina Naami; Ashley O’Connor; Lynn Parker; James Petrovich; Phu Phan; Arlene Reilly-Sandoval; Alankaar Sharma; Johanna Slivinske; W. Patrick Sullivan; Lara Vanderhoof; N. Eugene Walls; Jim Williams; Dianne RushWoods. (With much thanks to over 100 other reviewers for their contributions to this double-blind peer-reviewed interdiscipinary journal.) Current Issue Cover Art and Caption: Robin Richesson ISSN - 1080-0220. Published using the Public Knowledge Project's open source Open Journal Systems software. Hosted at Gossamer Threads. Indexed in Social Work Abstracts and Social Services Abstracts. Full text available in EBSCOhost SocIndex and Proquest Research Library. Please see website at www.rnoph.org for information on supporting the journal as an individual or institutional Friend of Reflections. This issue was published in Ocobert The backdated volume and issue numbers are as noted on the cover and in the table of contents. This standard journal practice will continue until the journal is up to date with its publishing schedule, which will be achieved in 2016. REFLECTIONS NARRATIVES of PROFESSIONAL HELPING Volume 21 Fall 2015 Number 4 1 Introduction to the Special Issue on Families of Origin: Implications for Practice Lloyd L. Lyter and Sharon C. Lyter, Guest Editors 4 The Journey of a Real Social Worker Manako Yabe 14 Box 62: A Mother-Daughter Search Katherine Mary Kranz 19 The Trumpet of Hope and Change Boniface Odong 23 Resolving Family of Origin Issues in Clinical Practice Steven Granich 32 “Borrowed Light”: Reflecting on Learning to Be a Social Worker Kielty Turner 35 The Holocaust among Holocausts: A Child’s Lessons Became the Teacher’s Kim Lorber 40 A Coming Out Narrative: Discovering My Queer Voice, My Social Worker Superpower George Turner 51 Pain and Joy in School: Reflections on Becoming a Social Worker Judy D. Berglund 55 Family of Origin: Lessons from Exile Hadidja Nyiransekuye 60 Holding the Hope: A Path to Becoming a Social Work Educator Nancy Meyer-Adams 63 The Effects of Adoption Throughout the Life Course: A Personal Reflection on Adoption, Work and Family Pamela A. Viggiani Introduction to the Special Issue on Families of Origin: Implications for Practice Lloyd L. Lyter and Sharon C. Lyter, Guest Editors Abstract: Our own family histories, including relationships with our grandparents, parents, siblings, children, and grandchildren, have impacted, and continue to impact, our own evolving narratives. Because of all of this, we knew we would get a rich and broad range of narrative submissions. We have decided to allow each story to stand alone, making no attempt at grouping them, simply presenting them in the order we received the manuscripts. The breadth of the stories is great, the depth as well. The authors’ stories tell tales that respect their own families of origin and have value to those of us who are being honored to read them. Keywords: Family of origin, social work practice, adoption, alcoholism, deaf, war, Christian faith, secular Judaism, Holocaust, coming out, queer, child sexual abuse, genocide, Rwanda, death, single parenting We are pleased to have had the opportunity to edit of being a Deaf person in a hearing world. Readers this special edition of Reflections: Narratives of will see that sometimes the word deaf is capitalized, Professional Helping. Our combined careers in and sometimes it is not. This reflects the author's academia span a number of decades of teaching recognition that use of the capital D refers to a specific courses in research, human behavior, policy, and person who identities as culturally Deaf, while small d practice, as well as monitoring field experiences, refers more generally to deafness or to deaf people advisement, and interviewing students for who may or may not be associated with the Deaf admission. It was through those varied experiences community. In addition, where referring formally to that we have had the honor to hear hundreds of things like Deaf Studies and the Deaf community, students’ narratives of their lived experiences, most capital D is used. of which showed a specific focus on their families of origin. Katherine Mary Kranz’s “Box 62: A Mother-Daughter Search” is the story of growing up in a household Our own family histories, including relationships heavily impacted by alcohol and the decision to search with our grandparents, parents, siblings, children, for her family’s history. She primarily focuses on her and grandchildren, have impacted, and continue to mother’s adoption and ultimately uncovers the impact, our own evolving narratives. Because of all adoption records. She identifies “themes of secrecy, of this, we expected a rich and broad range of shame, and the suppression of emotions” that impacted narrative submissions. We have decided to allow her lived experience. Her discoveries led her to each story to stand alone, making no attempt to communicate with her deceased mother via writings group them, simply presenting them in the order we she had left behind. received the manuscripts. The breadth and depth of the stories are great. The authors’ stories tell tales Boniface Odong’s “The Trumpet of Hope and that respect their own families of origin and have Change” is the story of growing up in war-torn value to those of us who are being honored to read Uganda as one of ten children. Their father died when them. he was still a child and his mother subsequently adopted eight more children, as well as cared for the Manako Yabe’s “The Journey of a Real Social children of family members. He credits his mother’s Worker” details her evolution in life as a Deaf child Christian faith and solid role modeling as being in Japan who attended Deaf Schools in Tokyo, important in his development until she died, also Atlanta and London, and later earned an during his childhood. His life changed drastically after undergraduate degree in Deaf Studies, then an his mother’s death and the subsequent “miserable MSW. She credits the support of her parents and the existence” that resulted from relatives taking his role of faith in her life as being instrumental in her mother’s belongings. The impact of these early life and her brother’s (also Deaf) lives. Her story experiences led to his goal of becoming a social outlines the many stages of her life and the impacts worker and bringing hope to the lives of children and REFLECTIONS VOLUME 21, NUMBER 4 1 Introduction to the Special Issue on Families of Origins families in similar circumstances. “queer voice” while acknowledging that the doubts and voices, his own and others, from his past lingered Steven Granich’s “Resolving Family of Origin for some time. But today he is an “authentic self - a Issues in Clinical Perspective” addresses the queer male, social worker.” He honors the voices of influence of his own family’s story in his evolution his clients in his own evolution. to clinical practice in social work. He describes it as a relatively healthy, in part formed by secular Judy D. Berglund’s “Pain and Joy in School: Judaism, but emotionally distant childhood that Reflections on Becoming a Social Worker” confronts centered on stress among his father, mother, and her own childhood sexual victimization, both in school sister. He speaks to the impact of his family and at home. She attributes the start of her healing to dynamics on his early social work career. In part, he “Leo,” the person she worked with through much of attributes international travel, discovering a new her adolescence.