Thursday, February 28, 2019
“One of the things that will change everything [for Social Work] is neuroscience and brain research. You are going to practice – if you’re young, in a completely different context. You are going to practice in an immerging scientific reality about what is hardwired into our brain, what is the neuroscience tendency or ability which gets triggered and manifested by the environment. If you ever wanted proof of the Person-in-Environment configuration, the heart and soul of what Social Work has been about, it will be verified in the most scientific ways through the field of Neuroscience” (Humphrey, 2012).
I was a young LCSW then. Now I'm a social neuroscientist at Emory School of Medicine. My specialty is human bonds and social connections. My first study is in the role of oxytocin and vasopressin signaling and suicidal ideation of war veterans. I have completed my role as a neuro-psychosociologist in deep-brain stimulation studies and now I'm team leader of neuroscience group in the department of neurology. All this because of what I heard Dr. Humphrey say at the Social Work conference in 2012. I sat in the audience and realized then the genesis of social work neuroscience is not in addictions study, but in the essence of social behavior. So, I did my predoctoral cognates at the Laboratory for Darwinian Neuroscience at Emory University where I learned the principals of social neuroscience. I tried to contact Dr. Humphrey to thank her for inspiring but wasn't able to find anything. I made another attempt today since I am quoting her (again) preparing for my big speech on how social workers can become neuroscientist and found this sad news. I'm sure she is at peace but it will always be my regret that I wasn't able to thank her. Much love to her family. I'm sure they know the impact she made and I hope some day I'm able to tell them that she inspired neuroscience that saves lives.
