Nicole MacFarland, SSW Ph.D. Student, has been named 2010 Social Worker of the Year 03/8/2010 The National Association of Social Workers, New York Chapter, has named Nicole MacFarland the 2010 Social Worker of the Year and will present the award during its annual conference in March. This award recognizes the commitment and achievements of an outstanding member of the social work profession, distinguishing individuals who demonstrate exceptional professional qualities surpassing job expectations. Nicole S. MacFarland, Ph.D, ACSW, DCSW is the Clinical Director of Senior Hope Counseling Inc., the only free-standing OASAS licensed Outpatient Clinic in Upstate NY catering to individuals 50 and older who struggle with addictions. Ms. MacFarland has authored a chapter in the book Days in the Lives of Gerontological Social Workers: 44 Professionals Tell Stories from "Real-Life" Social Work Practice with Older Adults. Her chapter is entitled A Social Work Perspective on Geriatric Addictions. Nicole has developed an online continuing education course "Recovery in the Golden Years: A Social Work Perspective" which is available on the NASW-NYS website. She has lectured locally and nationally over the past several years. The Institute for Professional Development in the Addictions recently honored her as an Individual of Distinction in Addictions Education and Training. She has a Bachelors of Arts from Skidmore College and Masters of Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania. She is currently a Ph.D. student at the University at Albany's School of Social Welfare, and is a Pre-Dissertation award recipient of a John A. Hartford Doctoral Fellowship. Ms. MacFarland writes that "The outstanding training I have received during my doctoral studies from the internationally renowned University at Albany faculty within the School of Social Welfare, as well as the Department of Public Administration and Policy, has inspired me to pursue local and national leadership in the area of geriatric addictions". See All News Headlines