[{"id":5431,"date":"2026-03-16T12:11:54","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T16:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/social-work\/?p=5431"},"modified":"2026-03-16T12:11:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T16:11:56","slug":"alums-book-spotlights-workplace-attunement-new-textbooks-focus-on-anti-racist-research-school-social-work-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/social-work\/2026\/03\/16\/alums-book-spotlights-workplace-attunement-new-textbooks-focus-on-anti-racist-research-school-social-work-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"Alum’s book spotlights workplace attunement; new textbooks focus on anti-racist research, school social work practice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

VCU School of Social Work alum Nidhi Tewari<\/strong><\/a> learned a deeply personal \u2013 and disappointing \u2013 lesson about workplace culture, used it to develop a philosophy of care and fine-tuned her message speaking in front of Fortune 500 companies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This month, the culmination of her knowledge is being published in the book \u201cWorking Well: How to Build a Happier, Healthier Workplace Through the Science of Attunement,\u201d<\/a> (Penguin Random House) as she hopes to \u201cscale impact\u201d by sharing her ideas more broadly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Portrait
Nidhi Tewari (M.S.W.’14), a licensed clinical social worker and therapist, and a new author.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tewari (M.S.W\u201914) is one of five people with ties to the school who have authored, edited and\/or co-authored chapters for new books, including two social work education textbooks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c \u2018Working Well\u2019 is deeply informed by social work principles,\u201d says Tewari, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist who has spoken at TEDWomen and TEDNext, and has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post and Forbes, among others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt delves into both the macro and micro factors that influence work culture and organizational dynamics, and it acknowledges that individual behaviors cannot be addressed without simultaneously changing the system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tewari became a caregiver when her best friend was diagnosed with stage IV brain cancer, then experienced the deterioration over time of support from her workplace leaders and colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey were initially supportive and understanding, but after a couple of months, the good graces ended,\u201d she says. \u201cI was told to compartmentalize my grief, and when I struggled to function at my usual, high-performing level, accommodations were not offered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tewari characterizes this disconnect as \u201cmisattunement, or a lack of one\u2019s ability to be deeply aware of, responsive to and aligned with the emotional and interpersonal dynamics of colleagues, clients and the organizational environment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019d worked for a variety of organizations ranging from for-profit to nonprofit to government agencies, and they had a common thread: well-meaning leaders lacking the skills to adequately support their teams, and teams that were too exhausted to support one another,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI knew that there had to be a better way to work.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tewari partnered with an industrial and organizational psychologist, Mallory McCord<\/strong>, Ph.D., of Old Dominion University, to study the workplace in regard to flexibility, reading cues, self-regulation and collaboration.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe found that attunement was correlated with improved outcomes in each of the aforementioned domains,\u201d she says. \u201cConversely, misattunement negatively impacted those same outcomes. It was evidence that attunement is not just good for work culture. It\u2019s good for the bottom line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy hope is that readers will go on the journey of becoming more in tune with themselves before learning how to tune into others. Self-leadership precedes organizational leadership, so reflecting on the way that our unique experiences inform how we show up at work is essential.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tewari says her M.S.W. degree from VCU \u201claid the foundation for my career. I learned the clinical skills needed to become a successful trauma-focused therapist, and my coursework deepened my understanding of how trauma shapes human behavior. I practiced explaining and defending my ideas, which came in handy while writing this book, and my professors emphasized the importance of advocating for systemic change, which is a central theme in Working Well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAn Antiracist\/Anti-oppressive Framework for Social Work Research\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Adrienne Baldwin-White<\/strong><\/a>, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the school, has published the textbook \u201cAn Antiracist\/Anti-oppressive Framework for Social Work Research\u201d<\/a> (Cognella Publishing) with colleague Laura Ting<\/strong><\/a>, Ph.D., of the University of Maryland School of Social Work. The book is applicable for students studying social work at the bachelor\u2019s, master\u2019s and doctoral levels.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Headshot
Adrienne Baldwin-White, Ph.D.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cIt is important to the profession of social work and social work education to have anti-racist\/anti-oppressive research,\u201d says Baldwin-White, who decided to expand a manuscript for the Journal of Social Work Education<\/em> into a book after a journal reviewer\u2019s recommendation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt that moment I began to seriously consider writing a textbook,\u201d Baldwin-White says. \u201cAn important value of social work is working for social justice. All aspects of social work must reflect that, including research. I realized during the process of teaching students in research methods that the anti-racist\/anti-oppressive framework is missing. And there was no clear guidance on how to create that type of class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis textbook can make that process of education a little easier for instructors to ensure that students understand how to do and recognize anti-racist\/anti-oppressive research. This textbook can also be good for professors who are trying to modify and change their own research strategies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEmerging Trends in School Social Work Practice: Responding to Rapid Change in Educational Ecosystems\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"Headshot
M. Annette Clayton (Ph.D.\u201908)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Alum M. Annette Clayton<\/strong> (Ph.D.\u201908) is one of four editors for the textbook \u201cEmerging Trends in School Social Work Practice: Responding to Rapid Change in Educational Ecosystems\u201d<\/a> (Oxford University Press) and co-authored two chapters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alum Jennifer Murphy<\/strong> (Ph.D.\u201923), assistant professor at the University of Texas-Arlington School of Social Work, and Chanda Bass<\/strong>, a VCU social work adjunct faculty member and social worker in Chesterfield County, also contributed co-authored chapters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI consider it to be a \u2018must read\u2019 for school social work practitioners, especially those who are in leadership roles as it helps them to identify and discuss how to respond to salient emerging trends and the rapid changes that are occurring in their PreK-12 educational ecosystem,\u201d says Clayton, also a VCU social work adjunct faculty and recently retired from Virginia Wesleyan University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEach chapter in the book incorporates case vignettes that are based on real practice experiences and are written in a way to provide \u2018food for thought\u2019 for soon-to-be practitioners. The vignettes were selected to illustrate the application of strategies discussed in that chapter. The vignettes can also be used to facilitate discussions about germane considerations (e.g., educational equity, legal issues, social justice, ethical practice standards) associated with each of the emerging trends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the final analysis, we want the reader to consider how each emerging trend is acknowledged, interpreted and\/or addressed using our social work frame of reference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VCU School of Social Work alum Nidhi Tewari learned a deeply personal \u2013 and disappointing \u2013 lesson about workplace culture, used it to develop a philosophy of care and fine-tuned her message speaking in front of Fortune 500 companies.  This month, the culmination of her knowledge is being published in the book \u201cWorking Well: How […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":852,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,4,5,8],"tags":[536,631,199,859,252,595,860,858,384,488,857],"class_list":["post-5431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alumni","category-community","category-education","category-facstaff","category-research","tag-adrienne-baldwin-white","tag-anti-oppression","tag-anti-racism","tag-chanda-bass","tag-jennifer-murphy","tag-m-annette-clayton","tag-nidhi-tewari","tag-publication","tag-research","tag-school-social-work","tag-textbook"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/social-work\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/social-work\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/social-work\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/social-work\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/852"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/social-work\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/social-work\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5431\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/social-work\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/social-work\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/social-work\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":5425,"date":"2026-03-12T14:26:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T18:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/social-work\/?p=5425"},"modified":"2026-03-25T17:28:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T21:28:12","slug":"social-work-policy-and-politics-practicing-in-polarized-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/social-work\/2026\/03\/12\/social-work-policy-and-politics-practicing-in-polarized-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Work, Policy and Politics: Practicing in polarized times"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The VCU School of Social Work’s annual macro-focused event, Social Work, Policy and Politics returns March 19, 2026, with an alumni panel focused on the \u201cBig P\u201d of policy \u2013 federal, state, and local \u2013 and how it intersects with clinical practice, advocacy and the values that unite us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch an archived video of our panel discussion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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