During some down time around the office at Headquarters, I decided to ask my field instructor if she would answer some questions for me for this assignment, and she graciously accepted. I already knew a lot about her background and job as a social worker, both from a clinical and administrative standpoint (since she also does therapy in addition to her Headquarters work), but it was fun to hear her stories again and even learn a few new details along the way.
My field instructor, Kristin, is a social worker who received her MSW from KU. As I mentioned earlier, she does clinical work in a private practice she has with her mom, which means several times a week her clients will come to Headquarters for therapy sessions, and sometimes she will
…show more content…
As I've mentioned before, she does clinical work currently in addition to Headquarters. She has also been a social work specialist and therapist at state psychiatric hospitals, an in-home therapist, a behavior specialist in schools, a daycare teacher, as well as worked in a group home. The biggest thing she wishes she would have known before talking an administrative job is the huge focus on money. She said, "money shouldn't make the world go round, but it sure makes non-profits run." For the next generation of administrators, she believes learning how to give feedback that is constructive and purposeful is a necessity. She thinks administrators need to be able to express compassion and empathy in their job. Her hopes and predictions for social work organizations blend together. Kristin predicts that social work organizations will have to be careful with the expectations they have for social workers and people in the organizations. She clarified this by needing to stress the difference between triggered and uncomfortable. Feeling uncomfortable is part of the work in a social work organization, as we will frequently run into things that make us uncomfortable, but we need to do them anyway. Being triggered, on the other hand, is part of a mental illness and not something we can just throw around as synonymous with uncomfortable. She hopes that social workers and organizations can operative without being afraid of the uncomfortable aspects, or else it will be impossible for the organizations to
Patient is a 51 year old Caucasian female living alone in her own home. The patient has a history and current syntoms of geralized anxity disorder, social phoina and panic attacks, which she takes madications for and sees a psychrist 2-3 times per month in Havasu. Patinets lives with six cats and the house environment is somewhat cluttered. The patinet is orinally from Glendale, CA., has a brother in Palmdale, CA, who is stays in contact with sometimes. Pt has a daughter in Big River, who is not supportive of her, but has three grandchildren who visit her.
In the Social Work Speaks: National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Policy Statements the book provides the reader with a variety of problems in the educational system and how education can be improve based on the ideas of the NASW. The document touches on different topics that are affecting the students and the history of the programs that help shaped the education system. The selected topics below were selected in order to explain how is affecting the education system and how they can be improved. Education for Students with Disabilities and Special Needs
1. Even with our medical advances, the United States ranks 29th because of lack of health care for some individuals but also the lifestyle Americans have. Another reason is that class statuses correspond with our health outcomes. What I meant about this, is that lower and middle class individuals are exposed to more health threats than higher class. This is the connections between healthy bodies and healthy bank accounts and race/ethnicity.
A student told her if you do not want to hear the truth do not asked Annette. did not disrespect her. One of the primary mission of the Social Work profession is to enhance well-being and help meet the basic needs of all people, especially the most vulnerable in
During my field placements at the Boone County Department of Health and Human Recourses (DHHR) in my foundation level and the Davis Child Shelter currently in my advance level, I believe I have had a great idea of what the social worker profession is, understanding ethics, and working with populations who live in Appalachia. With both of my field placements, I see both sides of social worker, the “demander,” child protective services, and the “supplier,” Davis Child Shelter. Being able to experience both sides of this field, I have also worked with a wide range of different races, ages, sexual orientations, ethnicities, religions, mentally under developed, etc. Looking back at my field placement at the Davis Child Shelter, I have really enjoyed
Rational for the observations The rational for using these observations retrospectively is to make sense of the whole person Amy’s life history, looking over her notes, why had she not engaged historically? Why the resistance? I wanted to understand how and why this was happening not just respond to the immediate crisis, rehouse and decontaminate her home for the behavioural pattern to be repeated. This method allowed me to explore theories of human growth and development and evaluate them with criticality (Monette et. 2014).
Who I identify as, including identifying as a social worker once I graduate, will have some level privilege and power attached to the chosen identities. Gelfand, Sillivan, and Steinhouse (2002) noted that there are may dimensions that influence our personal and professional relationships with others, and these dimensions shape how we see and interact with, include or exclude them, and ways that we oppress or discriminate against them. As a social worker whose clients share my same identity, we may benefit by my having a shared understanding of cultural norms and expectations to reach a common goal. For clients who share commonalities with me, we may benefit by being able to work more collaboratively and possibly a more trusting relationship than one that must be built over time. However, just as similarities can be empowering, I must remember that the client knows best despite our shared identities that may speak otherwise.
“A report of child abuse is made every ten seconds” (“Child Abuse Statistics”). Social workers help the children who are abused get out of their unsafe homes and getting them proper education and care. As one prepares for a future in the field of social work, one must consider the job description, educational requirements, the NASW Code of Ethics, the duties and responsibilities, the type of social work, the work environment, and the wages and benefits. There are many different types of social workers, but they all have one thing in common: helping people. Social workers help with people's problems ranging from mentally, emotionally, physically, or even just helping with their daily lives.
After this assignment I have learned that Department of Social Services provides a lot of different services to those in need. Just from hearing and reading stories those who work in the field of Social Services aren’t always given a good rep, especially those who work in Child Protective Services. From doing this interview I was pleasantly surprised as to how much work Social Workers do to provide children with a safe and stable environment. There is a lot that goes into what they do every day. I have always known I want to work with children.
Modern social workers are frequently tasked with certain objectives by their agencies, which leave little room for any work beyond specific treatments and timeframes (Gitterman & Knight, 2016). Although social workers are bound to the set of ethics put forth by the NASW, practitioners are often limited to focusing on the issues of the individual rather than the larger societal issues that may be behind those concerns. Additionally, many social work students end up working in direct practice, rather than macro work. There is a need for social workers to engage at the macro level in order to facilitate community organization and empowerment. Critics suggest this theory may not take into account the unique experiences of each individual and perhaps key characteristics of the individual or group are not taken into consideration (Sadan, 1997).
First of all, I had the opportunity to interview Kim Bartells who’s a Licensed Social Worker (LSW) in Michealsen Health Center and learn more about her role as a social work. Before I started interviewing Kim, I asked her if it was alright with her if I recorded the conversation and she said it was fine with it. I started the interview with asking what type of population Michealsen Health Center serves and she told me it was mostly elderly people. Kim works in a “Microlevel intervention involves working with individuals--- separately, in families, or in small groups---to facilitate change in individual behavior or in relationship” (DuBois and Miley 69). This types of individuals she is working with are elderly residents “who utilize long-term care experience a combination of physical or cognitive limitation that require some level of assistance in activities of daily living” (DuBois and Miley 314-315) and their families as well.
Portfolio Part B: Reflection on the overall learning within the module Prior to starting this course the MA Social Work course and the PPSWP module I felt very confident in the aspects of communicating effectively and working with a diverse range of people, and after the reading the professional capabilities framework I believe that I hold the same personal values which is expected of a social worker. The PCF6 talks about the importance of critical reflection and reflective practice explaining that it helps improve accountability, professional development and helps to you understand your own tacit knowledge and gain new knowledge, which improves outcomes and experiences for social workers. (Capabilities within the PCF, 2016) For this reflection
2. What attributes of the effective practitioners in public welfare did you see in Tim’s dealing with Fannie Mae, Jolene, and the boys? Social welfare addresses the general well-being of individuals and families; social workers oversee national programs and systems that deliver social, health and public welfare services, which are intended to enhance the person’s quality of life and to help him or her, achieve the desired standard of living. According to Romanyshyn and Romanyshyn (1971), social welfare can be viewed as the “first line support to enable individuals to cope successfully with a changing economic and social environment and to assure the stability and development of social institutions” Tim display attributes of genuineness,
Preparing for this interview with a client who was 59 years old and having problems coping with her very young daughter I had to think about the comfort of the environment that I was preparing the interview. I had to do this in order to make her want to open up to me in the right way. Social workers conduct interviews with their clients to help gather information and establish
Childhood should be be filled with memories of happy times, love and warmth. Sadly not every child is blessed with a stable home life and parents who care about the overall well-being of them. Child welfare social work is a field of social work that makes sure the child’s needs are met. Being a social worker you work with children and families in need. It’s a hands-on job combined with a necessity of being able to handle a heavy workload.