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Strengths and deficits of a social worker
Social work strengths perspective
Reflection on social work competencies
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Recommended: Strengths and deficits of a social worker
For this competency, I learned it is important that the client(s) are involved in setting their goals. Dr. Whitford taught us that it is important that clients are a part of goal setting, yet social workers must guide the client to have measurable, attainable, positive, and specific goals. I also learned that it is important to build on the client’s strengths during the assessment stage; in addition, it is important to gather data about the client’s life. Overall, these are the important aspects of this competency. My strength in this competency is being able to apply theories during the assessment stage. If I am working with a family, I may use systems theory to help me better understand their group dynamics. Another strength I have is being
able build on the client(s) strengths. By building on the client’s strengths, I can help them create a goal that they can achieve during intervention. Overall, these are my strengths in this competency. One area of growth in this competency is understanding methods of assessment with diverse clients, as I do not have much experience working with diverse people. In addition, I need to continue to work on being more understanding of my biases because this could affect the assessment and decision making. Overall, these are the two areas of growth I need to work on in this competency.
Core competency one consists of identifying with the social work profession. This core competency relates to the time in my internship. The following paragraphs will connect the practice behaviors associated with the core competency to the artifacts that I have chosen where I demonstrated the mastery of each practice behavior. The first practice behavior is continually employ and model conscious use of self, self-reflection, self-monitoring, and self-correction in practice situations, which was demonstrated through my receiving feedback journal. The second artifact is a narrative on my first learning contract from my intern supervision, which will highlight my ability to adhere and model professional roles and boundaries. The last practice
A client-level intervention is an essential for the growth of a client. As Social workers, we believe that individuals have the ability to solve their own problems. In the client-level intervention, a case manager completes an assessment to know where the client’s strengths, limitation, and resources are. It is fundamental to prioritize the problems that most affect the client, since many individuals have several. With the partnership of both the worker and the client, a service plan can then be build. This helps the client feel empowered and take action. It is important for a trained worker to keep a direct contact with the client for the accomplishment of the plan. The Social Worker then works with the client’s strengths and resources ...
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.
1. Listening skills, such as listening to the client and understanding client needs and wants more carefully and responsively. Acknowledging the feelings they are expressing. Compassionately allowing them to express their feelings. Listening and reflecting back on what I hear allows me to identify client’s thoughts. Listening in the field of social work is crucial in understanding client’s situation. Listening responsibly lets the client know you care about them.
Another strength that I have is being an active listener. I listened to my clients and utilized a lot of micro skills. Insuring confidentiality was also a strength that I developed closer to the end of field placement. Conducting assessments and making sure I tracked and exhausted the topics was also a strength that I identified throughout field. Practicing from a strengths perspective was also another area I excelled at when working with my clients. A skill that I could work on is being more conscious of self in terms of body language during interviews, because at times I find myself with my arms cross which may give an indication that I’m closed off or
I learnt that the use of words or expressions such as ‘that’s brilliant’ can be misinterpreted by some clients to mean that you agree with what they have done. I often use expressions like that in conversations. I am now aware that it can be misunderstood and would like to guard against it. We watched a Youtube video, two social workers called out to a service user flat for an initial assessment. They were refused entry by a friend because he had bad experience with social workers in the past and his child was taken away.
...rces. In order to properly help people, social workers must follow the change process: “ First, engage clients in an appropriate working relationship; Second, Identify issues, problems, needs, resources, and assets; Third, collect and assess the data; Fourth, plan for delivery of services; Fifth, use your communication skills, and consult with your supervisor; Sixth, identify, analyze and implement your interventions to reach the clients goals; Seventh, apply empirical knowledge and technological advances; and finally, evaluate your outcomes and the practice effectiveness” (Zastrow, 2010). That and treating your clients with the respect and dignity they deserve are some of the fundamental skills of being in the social work field.
My strengths definitely stem from my passion about helping others and social work. Becoming a mother and overcoming tough challenges is also a strength of mines. That experience made me stronger and shaped who I am today. I definitely intend to encourage my clients that anything is possible and you can do anything that you set your mind to do. Being around my family and the obstacles that we have overcome has definitely gave me a broader perspective of life and the situations that current that can impacts us in many ways. As a social worker it is important to listen, communicate, build rapport with boundaries with our clients in order to be an effective social worker. Being a social worker requires certain core skills. Many of these I learn during my education and internships, others I have learned from different areas of my life. You are required to orient yourself to the ethical codes for social work in order to provide top-notch services to the people you treat in therapy. You may also find it helpful to understand common elements of good therapy. Certainly there are many different skills and traits that you help you succeed as a social worker. Some of the main skills that will help you in the counseling profession include,
Social workers, working in the eco-social framework require more than common sense to provide best service delivery to clients on an individual and community level. Eco-social framework and traditional social work paradigms need to intertwine to work efficiently with the increasingly growing environmental crises that can have devastating effects on individuals and communities. Moreover, professional knowledge “the organisational, legislative and policy context within which practice takes place” (Chenoweth, & McAuliffe 2015 p. 308) plays a huge role in making professional judgements from evidence based theories and incorporating this theory to practice making up the characteristics of a professional social worker. Social work as a profession
Although fundamental to social work practice, the social worker’s theoretical orientation and mastery of skills appear to have the least impact on client satisfaction when compared to the social worker’s authenticity and how they use personality traits as a therapeutic tool (Edwards & Bess, 1998; Baldwin, 2000). What is important regarding authenticity is to reflect your “real self” at all times. If you accidentally run into your client while shopping for groceries or at the park on the weekend, the client should be able to engage with the same person he or she met during your last home visit. In other words, social workers need to take time to fully understand who they are as individuals, as well as their identities as professional social workers, in order to holistically integrate these two
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.
47). Social workers advise clients how to attain resources, rather than just providing them. The idea is to include clients in their journey to success and feel a sense of control in their life. I personally believe encouraging empowerment is a critical aspect of a social worker’s roles and responsibility. Engaging clients in setting their own goals is essential, and ultimately more beneficial to them. Clients should be able to access resources on their own; additionally, they can use the assistance of friends, families, communities, and organizations. One of the core values of a social worker is, Importance of human relationships. According to the NASW, “Social workers engage people as partners in the helping process” (The National Association, “n. d.”). Empowerment and advocacy are closely connected. I want to advocate for clients, furthermore, I want clients to be able to advocate for
My flexibility is certainly one of my greatest strengths. I can easily move between different working styles, depending on the scenario. I have no problem trying a new idea or concept out before deciding on a final direction. I am continually exploring different options. Being a “people-person” is one of my other strengths. My excellent interpersonal skills allow for me to bring ideas, thoughts and people together. I generate enthusiasm and excitement into tasks. I feel comfortable and confident talking to others about anything that I have knowledge of.
should be empowering, by so it provides resources, a relationship and sets the tone which people can enhance their own lives. It’s important for clinical social workers to emphasize on the clients strengths, positive reframing, and the use of language of solutions to guide clients in the direction to point out strengths and resources that are necessary for solving their problems and reaching their goals (Greene, Lee, & Hoffpauir, 2005).
In general, assessment is common processes in any field of social work because assessment is the foundation of social work practice. It also enables social workers to gather relevant information and determine possible interventions (Coulshed & Orme, 2012). According to Payne (2009), assessment is the process of “examining the range of factors affecting an individual, group or social situation in order to prepare, plan and take action to meet social care or other service objectives (p.184)”. Furthermore, Milner, Myers and O’Byrne (2015) argue that assessment is to explore a situation in a five stage process which involves preparation, data collection, weighing up the data, analysing the data, and decision-making. At the first stage, social workers determine who to see and what data needs to be gathered.