This column is reserved for faculty at the School of Social Work we would like to recognize as revolutionary teachers and practitioners that push their students to ask the next question – to look past the status quo. Professor Orin Howard is all of that and more.
On his podcast, Unicorn’s Couch, Prof. Howard, along with his two friends Jeremy and Robert, discusses treating people with value, which they say starts with investing in yourself.
Over time, Howard has invested in himself in many ways. He received his bachelor’s degree from UMD in 1994, his MSW from Howard University in 1995, and his MBA from UMUC in 2014. He runs his own private practice, Inspired Leadership Consulting, where he helps individuals and couples to be honest with themselves and take the next step towards self-acceptance.
Prof. Howard has built a career of 25 years in which he has assembled community-level and organizational connections in multiple locales spanning the DMV. He emphasizes the value of both clinical and macro skillsets in providing effective services. He says that the people who design systems of social services must understand what it is like to work on the individual level, and vice versa.
There is too often a line drawn in the sand between macro and clinical practice. As a result, Howard advises his social work students to “look past the classroom and create a path that isn’t based on a grade.” Howard focuses on exploring not only the intellectual frontier in the classroom, but also helping students identify how they can improve their craft in practice.
Howard speaks often about practicing like you are in the field. He says that “studying in school is a benchmark for how people usually practice in the field.” So, he focuses on teaching students not only to practice like they are in the field, but also to prevent burnout by balancing work and life, since this is a common source of chronic stress among social workers.
When asked what ties people together, even in times of conflict, Howard says that self-preservation and a sense of belonging are innate in all humans. Indeed, Prof. Howard says that his favorite therapeutic experience is that ‘lightbulb’ moment when clients connect the dots and feel empowered to work on themselves.
He emphasizes the revolutionary nature of social work and says that as social workers, “we have been silent for too long,” perhaps because “we bring our own injustices to the field.” As social workers, he says we need to do more to acknowledge how we are complicit in an oppressive system.
Howard mentions there are aspects of the job that simply cannot be learned while in school. “When you’re in the field, you’re learning how to advocate, while you’re advocating,” he says.
Prof. Howard holds certifications in several areas, including Crisis Management, Parent/Child Therapy, Sources of Strength, as well as Effective Black Parenting. He teaches Human Behavior, Structural Oppression, Advanced Clinical Practice, and Clinical Practice with African American Families. Howard was also the recipient of the Dean’s Teaching Award In 2018.
Howard ‘walks the walk’ and has certainly advocated effectively for himself as well as his clients, whether as former Director of School Mental Health for DC Public Schools, or as former Director of Operation Safe Kids for the Baltimore City Health Department.