Becoming An Effective Social Worker

Working in a rural setting as a professional in any field brings many challenges. However, working as a social worker in a rural setting brings on a different set of challenges. The job of a social worker is to provide services to clients to assist the client in addressing a deficit. The challenges faced by a social worker can make or break the service delivery and impact the progress a client can make. These challenges can deal with services, resources, and/or the code of ethics. Some examples of how a rural area can affect these areas are:

One of the most important skill to have as a social worker is to identify your client’s strengths. All social workers should have knowledge of an effective leader that are identified by their strengths or limitations in order to improve the one’s they identify. There are several evidence-based assessments that help identify the strengths and limitations of any individual. Thus, it is also necessary to obtain other perspective based on your leadership strengths or limitations in order to improve or strengthen those qualities. The self-assessments used through this paper will help me develop a plan that points out my challenges, help expand and improve on my strengths (Human Services Guide, 2015).

Choosing to pursue this education to become a Social Service Worker has been a life long passion; living a so called “roller coaster” of a life and being subjected to many things, enjoyable and regretful has helped me in many ways to comprehend what it is to truly have human empathy and compassion for others. A veteran at life in its lowest and highest forms, and feeling completely alone and hopeless at times; being subjected to sexual and physical abuse, seeing what alcohol and drugs do to families, how poverty effects children and loved ones. Fortunately there were a few individuals that reached out, bring me up out of the darkness. This is something that I feel in my heart that needs to be given back, for me to provide someone the empowerment that others have given me, to show that there is hope and give reason to keep going, individuals who feel desperate, help to raise their chances, dreams and the basic needs of life. Having the knowledge of education to give these resources for expert referrals to assist people in desperate times, so they can live the life that is deserving and fulfilling to them, therefore this is my ultimate goal!

Social work is a recognised profession with its own code of ethics and professional standards. It is a complex profession, and social workers have to have a sound knowledge base combined with the skills to carry out their tasks effectively and professionally. The process of developing professional capacity, capabilities and expertise, is an essential, crucial and ongoing part of the social work profession. The College of Social Work created the Professional capability framework (PCF) for the purpose of education and professional development. The nine domains signify various aspects of being a competent social worker. The PCF sets out the stages and the level of knowledge required for social workers as they progress from students to more

If there is one specific lesson I could take away from life it would be helping others. Everyone in this world is born for a reason and sometimes we are not able to discover what specifically brought us here. I was born to help others in those of difficult times of needs. I was born to learn from others and inspire human beings to do better for themselves. One of my favorite quotes is by Danny Thomas, the founder of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He once said “All of us are born for a reason, but all of us don’t discover why. Success has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It’s what you do for others.” Danny Thomas’s quote inspires me to help others in order to be successful in life. If the world didn’t have professions that required helping others, humans would never be able to learn from mistakes and promote social change. Social work is a profession that requires helping others. Not everyone can be a social worker, and those who are fortunate enough to be a social worker have the opportunity to learn something new about others every day.

When I started thinking about my future, becoming a Social worker was never in my plans. I knew that I always wanted to help people; I just never thought I could make a career out of it. When was younger, I spent time working at a nursing home serving them dinner. During my time working there, I was able to get to know the elderly patients and began to enjoy spending time with them, and just being someone, they could talk to. I also worked at a summer camp and an after-school program, which was the first jobs that sparked my interest in wanting to work with children. After working both of these jobs, I strongly felt that I wanted to become a teacher. My academic concentration during my first three years of college was Early Childhood Education,

Clinical social work is not something that you just “get into” you have to think about this type of career. This profession can take quite a toll on your mental health because you’re not allowed to speak about your clients. Except with another therapist that works with the client. It can be hard to get advice or just talk about anything without breaking certain rules. Because of that clinical social workers end up going to therapy themselves to be able to talk and get advice. There are very few people who become clinical social workers (CSW’s). The people that consider becoming a Clinical Social Worker will be need to go through a lot of work to become one.

Social workers are each created in unique ways. Some are affected personally or by issues, people, and/or situations around them. I carry my own personal experiences from good to bad ones. Becoming a master level social worker provides me with a larger spectrum to where I could dedicate myself. Accomplishing a master degree in social worker puts me a step closer to obtaining a licensure, being a therapist, a supervisor, a program director, and many other things. As social workers we carry different roles which can be define by whom we work for, as to working with individual (micro), institutions (mezzo) or within a system (macro).

Being a social worker was and still is something I wanted to do well before I really understood what being a social worker meant. I knew after years of working with children and families, as well as homeless men, women, and veterans that; becoming a social worker was what I wanted to be, was going to become, and who or what was meant to be. It wasn’t until after getting into the University of South Carolina as a Biology major that I realized that that wasn’t what I was meant to be doing. But, before that, I looked into becoming a neonatal physician and again, the more I thought about it the less confident I was going that route. What I did know was that, while I wasn’t sure if wanted to work in that specific profession, I did want to work with

While enrolled in JROTC I participated in numerous community activities, from marches, fundraisers, local mural painting, and community clean up days. These activities allowed me to have a deeper connection to the community and gave me an in-depth understanding to how a community can support an individual as a family or a peer does. Even at a young age my demeanor, insight, and community knowledge helped my friends work through issues they were struggling with. Seeing my friends achieve their desired outcome was tremendously rewarding and was the catalyst for me beginning my pursuit of a career in Clinical Social Work. In high school my prevailing thought of helping my friends was put into a career perspective when I took a counseling course. This course cultivated a passion for finding ways to improve the quality of life and personal well being of others, and ultimately led to my discovery of a career in Social

How have your professional, volunteer, and academic experiences prepared you for graduate social work education and contributed to your decision to be a professional social worker? Provide specific examples from your professional, volunteer, or academic experience to explain your answer. Describe your role and the organizational, community, and social context for your experience.

The hilltop is rich in diversity and culture, thus has become a beacon to immigrants and refugees. The majority of the community members on the hilltop speak little to no English and the social workers at TCH took notice to this. The social workers at TCH created an English Second Language (ESL) program, which allows for the individuals in the program to regain their voice, and reduces barriers to gaining employment. My experience at TCH was inspiring and rewarding, but I couldn’t see myself working there because it seemed too routine and structured in a way that limited my interaction with the population they served. However, my experience at the TCH allowed me to see all the social work professional values (i.e. service, social justice, dignity and worth of all, the importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence) being utilized to benefit a

Each Social worker is created in a unique way. Some are affected personally, by issues, people, and/or situations around them. I carry my own personal experiences from good to bad ones. Becoming a Master’s level Social Worker provides me with a larger spectrum to which I could dedicate myself. Accomplishing a Master degree in social work sets me a step closer to obtaining a licensure, being a therapist, a supervisor, a program director, and many other things. As social workers, we carry different roles which can be defined by whom we work for, as to working with individual (micro), institutions (mezzo) or within a system (macro).

Growing up as a child should be the most memorable time in a child’s life. Growing up I was well taken care of and never mistreated, I could not imagine a child having to deal with the thought of being molested on a daily base. My dream job has always been a social worker because I absolutely love helping others in any way I can. My biggest fear going into this field has been assisting a child molester. Severe damage is done to a child, I feel somewhat uncomfortable around a molester, and feel that there is no excuse for any adult to hurt a child in such a manner. Some people will say that touching a child is not harming them, but I disagree so how would I be able to help someone that I do not feel needs help but needs to be punished.

I was in grade 10 when I thought of becoming a social worker. As social worker practitioner the fields that interest me to work in is domestic violence and child abuse because I want to make change to the society. Also Mahatma Gandhi was my major inspiration through this quote “Be the change that you wish to see in the world”. Than an idea came to me, why not involve my contribution to the wide variety of communities. My communication with school counsellors and social workers has impacted my choice of desiring to study social work. I realised that if I have had a chance of seeing a social worker when I was young, things would have been much easier and less stressful. I want to provide opportunities that I did not encounter to other people. This essay will reflect my past experience, motivation and why I want to be a social worker, values, beliefs and theory of practice.