By S. Jolene Hui, MSW, NASW-CA Membership Coordinator
Jim Maher has worked nonstop as a social worker for 35 years. A member of the NASW Region F High Desert unit, he’s a well-rounded social worker with a list of accomplishments that could make anyone’s head spin.
Maher clearly has a passion for helping others and believes his greatest professional achievement has been connecting with people. This, he believes, is what has made him so successful all of these years in the field. “I have been lucky to have had a number of challenging jobs in social work, working with different populations of people,” he says.
Maher has worked as line staff and as a supervisor in different fields of social work in Louisiana and California. He’s held both full-time and part-time positions for agencies, the government, the military and in private practice. On the side, he currently sits on the board of directors for a couple of different organizations.
Essentially, you name it, he has done it. In Baton Rouge he was a CPS worker for seven years. He worked for San Bernardino County for 23 years where he was a clinician at a county mental health center, a CPS worker, and a supervisor for the Department of Aging and Adult Services. After leaving the county, he was a hospice and home health social worker. He has also been a facilitator for groups at a bereavement center and the supervisor for a number of different programs, including a wrap-around program. Currently, he works as a clinical specialist with a community counseling program with the Marine and Family Programs in Behavioral Health and also has a private practice for children referred from the Probation Department. In addition he provides individual and group counseling for the Probation Department. Finally, as if that is not enough, Maher supervises clinical hours.
“I have enjoyed the variety of many social work positions and I have enjoyed the challenges of crisis intervention work,” Maher says. “In a crisis one can truly get a picture of individual and family dynamics and provides an opportunity to develop a trusting relationship with someone who needs help …”
Prior to embarking on his long social work career, Maher worked on oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, construction, hydroblasting, furniture delivery, fast food, car washing, and even had a short stint stringing turquoise beads in New Mexico. He believes that these jobs helped him successfully work with different kinds of people in his lifetime.
Maher advises new social workers to be involved in the community and to form professional relationships with other social workers at different agencies. He also urges them to become involved in NASW. He says, “NASW is a valuable resource and provides motivation to improve one’s understanding and skills.” Not only does he view NASW as a professional support, he sees meeting up with other social workers as an important educational and vital emotional support.
He also thinks self-care is important. He says, “To me that means paying attention to our bodies and doing stretching and some form of exercise, setting appropriate boundaries, reaching out to others for help and support when needed, meditation and/or some form of relaxing activities, reading and reflection.”
What does his future hold? Maher plans on continuing to hike (his greatest achievement was Mt. Whitney), ride his bike and exercise. He hopes to do some traveling, watch his team, the New Orleans Saints, and, of course, continue to be a social worker by working and being involved in NASW “no matter what community I live in.”
S. Jolene Hui, MSW, is NASW-CA’s membership coordinator and can be reached at jhui@naswca.org.
