March is National Social Work Month: Beth Gallion
Beth was born and raised in Iowa until she was 16 years old. After that, her family moved to Arizona, Nevada, Milton and finally Pensacola, Florida. She attended Capella University and University of Phoenix for all four of her degrees. Beth is a Master Certified Addiction Professional in Florida; Internationally Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor in Florida. Bachelors in Management, Masters in Psychology with a Specialization in Addiction Psychology; Masters in Education with a Specialization in Instruction and Curriculum; and is currently in an MSW program and is 2 quarters from completion.
Beth has worked at Arizona State Prison, Southern Desert Correctional Center, Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services (state MH agency), Desert Regional Center (Nevada developmental disability division), Rawson Neal (Nevada state psych hospital), 8th District Court drug court through Choices, Southwest Network, ResCare, and in Florida AmiKids, Sevita Health, and now at NWF Health Network. Beth is the Managing Entity Substance Use Specialist for NWF Health, Circuits 1, 2, 14.
Beth’s advice to a new social worker is “finish the program, you’ll thank everyone for supporting you to get this degree and go for the licensure (LCSW). Her thoughts on self care are “Everyone experiences some level of burn-out in this field so good self-care is crucial. You can’t help others if you aren’t helping yourself.”
Beth enjoys crafting with her Cricut machine and occasionally creates t-shirts, cups, and other fun stuff. Beth also was a member of the Phoenix chapter of The Atlantic Paranormal Society in the late 2000s when ghost hunting was in its prime. She did see and hear a few things that were odd. She stayed at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado and heard a piano playing when no one was downstairs, make of that what you will! Beth stayed at reputedly haunted hotels in Deadwood, South Dakota, and probably the scariest experience was at The Grand Hotel, a very imposing structure high up on a mountain in Jerome, Arizona. “I heard gurneys going down the hallway and maybe it’s staged but it sounded real. It used to be a hospital.”
