As a student of social work, there is much that I am taught and have yet to learn. Social work highly values knowledge as a basis for practice such as evidence based practice, but it also has equal emphasis on skills. As the skills apply the knowledge, and the knowledge has little use without skills (Trevithick, 2012). The skills I have been learning, in order to apply knowledge have those of engagement with service users, which has been via peer feedback and recording. I have stumbled through my practicing and learning but have also grown my skills, but in order to develop my skills further I need to know my strengths and weaknesses in order to develop the skill growth I require for best practice social work.
The skills that I demonstrated
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Feeling and emotions can and do effect social workers when working with service users, and as a social work student I am learning these skills. This interview made me nervous for a number of reasons some including university grade stress, the videoing, time minimums and seriousness of the interview. This nervousness was obvious to all and did affect my tone as I used a high pitch tone which can be off-putting and counterproductive to engagement. This nervousness can convey a number of things including incompetence, low experience or that the situation is too much for the professional (Harms, 2007; Trevithick, 2012). This I believe impacted negatively on the quality of my engagement with Barbara. Values and assumptions I hold can also affect the interview whether positively or negatively, I feel my value of regarding parental-child relationships highly gave me much sympathy for Barbara, due to having only one parent left in my life, I fear the day when I will lose them, which in a way I assumed with Barbara with her experiences with her child (Harms, …show more content…
One improvement I need is my confidence in myself doing the interview and the tone of my voice from being high-pitched as previously discussed. Another aspect of improvement is my body language, as I can be stiff and yet have a quite a bit of hand gesturing, which do need to come together and create more balanced, body language to prevent confusion for Barbara (Trevithick, 2012). Further development needs to happen in the words which I use, as I can use words incorrectly due to not understanding their full meaning or words which are too academic or obscure for Barbara to understand and can be off-putting. But I mustn’t be so simple that they are offensive to Barbara’s capacities in developing this skill further (Ivey & Ivey, 2007; Trevithick, 2012). Sensitivity towards Barbara’s position and emotional expression, is another skill needing further development, as I would ask questions which were direct and purposeful, but as well boarding on insensitivity as I was not regarding her possible emotional triggers and this can endanger the partnership I need to create for social work practice through engagement (Harms, 2007:Trevithick,
Youth homelessness is a global social issue that is rapidly increasing. Shelton & Bond (2017) divulged how accurate data on the prevalence of youth homelessness in the United States are significantly lacking. It could be due to the challenges of collecting data and variance in definitions of what constitutes homelessness for youth. Often times there are multiple levels of oppression evident amongst vulnerable individuals. Homeless transgendered youth are susceptible to intersectionality. As stated in Competency 6, it is imperative for the ethical profession of Social Work, to be engaged and understanding of the multitude of social issues that impact individuals. Thus, Social Workers are expected to be agents of change, and it is an professional responsibility to challenge unjust policies, systems, and ideologies on the behalf of marginalized, oppressed, and vulnerable populations.
Thompson, N (2005) Understanding Social Work: Preparing for Practice, Palgrave, MacMillan (Second Edition) Hampshire (Supplementary Course Reader)
Practice: Purpose, Principles, and Applications in a Climate of System’s Integration. In Saleebey, D. (Ed.), The Strengths Perspective in Social Work Practice. Fourth Ed. 171-196. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
I knew I loved to help others but it was not until I was an emerging adult that I knew what my calling was. My devotion to improve the quality of life for those who are disadvantaged is one of the reasons I have chosen to pursue a Master’s in Social Work. After obtaining my masters, I plan on diversifying my masters by getting licensed and becoming a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. I would like to study social work because I feel it will lead me directly to one of the most emotionally fulfilling careers available, as well as giving me the chance to combine helping people 's mental well being with their physical
Social Workers are very important to everyday life. They are the ones that help people in need when they have nobody else to turn too. Also, they provide resources and better understanding of predicaments that you could be experiencing. I will reflect on how the class has affected me, my own experiences and how some theories have connected to my life experiences, and lastly, if the class helped toward my major. This class is important for someone that wants to become a social worker and wants to learn about the different theories used. Also, learning about me during this process of completing this class is fun and a way to see if the social work profession is right for me. There was many theories explained throughout this class but many will not be said because it wasn’t the main points that I was trying to get across. There are two tools that are used that can help a social worker organize a client’s life: Bubble map and Briefcase exercise. There are so many different ways a social worker can help a client deal with their problems and come up with a solution. It is up to that social worker to identify the client’s problem and see what theory fits.
Engagement is considered one of the most important parts of working with a client. Coady and Lehmann (2008) consider engagement the first of four steps in the problem solving model of social work. Engagement can begin as early as the first over the phone contact or referral notification with the client. To become aware of the client’s background (ecology and life circumstances) is crucial part of this stage. It is also important for the social worker to become in tune with their own thoughts and beliefs when coming into contact with this client for the first time. After tuning into the client it is key for any social worker to make a client feel welcomed with a sense of warmth, empathy and respect. Too much empathy and warm, however, can be detrimental to the course of service provision. Coady and Lehmann (2008) note that the engagement process is never ending and can continue well into counseling.
As a professional one must practice personal reflection and self-correction to assure continual professional development. As the social worker, I would identify my areas of strength as well as areas where improvement is needed, seek and act on corrective feedback from my supervisor or mentors, establish effective working relationships with clients and peers, and seek to resolve identified problems with performance of professional responsibilities. I would also make sure I practice within my area of competence by developing and enhancing my professional
To provide effective social services, a social work graduate must possess a multitude of knowledge, skills and abilities. This will be a reflective paper on everything that I know for sure as a student of social work who is about to go into the world of work.
Today’s skills session on social work interviewing skills covered the uniqueness of social work interviewing in comparison to interviews conducted in professions such as the police, doctors, employers, etc. It covered also different types of questioning and how to paraphrase. Another area covered was, what to avoid when interviewing a service user and the use of silence. I leant that interview skills are fundamental in social work and social work interviewing is unique. Social workers empathize with clients because of their knowledge of the client group and the need of help to alleviate their problems. Empathy however does not equate accepting that the client is right in what they have done or that the social worker is condoning their actions. Empathy relates to the issue of ‘trusting’ and ‘believing’ the client. In as much as a social worker should seek to establish trust in the relationship, this does not necessarily mean they should believe
Social work is a multifaceted, ever adapting profession, which has had many purposes and identities through the years. It is imperative for the vocation to constantly evolve alongside the social climate and the new ways in which we identify and treat those who are in need of support. Social workers can be required to take on the role of counsellor, advocate, case-worker, partner, assessor of risk and need, and at times (as the government seeks to push social work further and further towards the health and education sectors) a servant of the state. The profession is dramatically subject to affection by societal change, thus demanding social workers have a duty to be up to date with the latest developments in understanding how and why people get to the point of requiring social work intervention, and how best to prevent and cater for it.
Working with others and improving own learning and performance are highly essential skills in social work. In this essay I will reflect on how well I have developed these two skills and what I need to do to improve them.
Trevithick, P (2005). Social Work Skills a practice handout. (2nd ed). Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.
A part of a social worker’s task is to enhance the life of an individual through advocacy, educating, and engagement. Positive influence is benefited through the engagement of the client such as building rapport with the individual. By doing this, the social worker develops trusting ground for the individual delivering the message. Engagement is reported to be an establishment of a professional relationship with a client (Langer & Lietz, 2014). If the process of engagement is not established through security of the client, then therapy cannot begin (Bowlby, 1988). This process is the first encounter you have with the social worker.
Over the course of the semester, I have learned a variety of many things regarding social work. These things vary from learning how to help oneself to understanding how to help others. Not only were the textbooks very useful, but also the materials that furthered this textbook learning. The in class presentation, activities, and guest speakers gave us insight and a different perspective on the material we were learning. I feel like this course has given me a good foundation and prepared me as a future social worker (1).
However, there is still a great amount of competence to grasp. Dimitrijoska and Vladimir (2016) state that “[t]he social worker is responsible for his/her professional development and must continually work on gaining new knowledge and learning new methodologies (p. 55). Moreover, as I move forward in social work courses, I will need to take a few actions to ultimately become successful. I will need to do more research, whether it be scholarly articles or assigned texts. I would like to engage in my community by volunteering at more agencies, and making connections with the organizations and learning from social workers. The last step I would like to take is from this point forward, I would like to engage in mindfulness practices. This step in particular is for me to be able to have a healthy relationship with myself, so I am able to continue working for clients in the future, and be able to act as an effective