Building Relationships With Our Clients Through Engagement Strategy Essay

Further, my experience in life has influence my interaction between my social identities and becoming a social worker. As a multiracial female I have experienced both target and agent status. This experience will assist in my journey and growth in becoming a social worker. I will have the knowledge and skills to help individuals escape the stigma of a particular social identity. In time my growth in the field of social will give me a different perspective on topics I am bias towards. As a social worker certain values are demonstrated to assist the client in receiving adequate service. Dedication is a value I admire in the field of social work, but at times clients may feel differently and a conflict of interest can

I was only two years old when my mother passed away. Left with an absentee father, I felt a void in my life. I was constantly misunderstood by other family members, which triggered my aggressive behaviors and communication style. Unable to cope with my emotions as an adolescent, I sought help from my school’s social worker. For the first time, it felt great to express my feelings without worrying about being judged. Through our regular meetings, she helped me improve my social development and attitude. She changed my life as I was becoming a better person. In addition, with her assistance, my family and I were able to value communication, understand each other and live in a healthier environment. This chapter of my life has inspired me to pursue a career in social work and be part of a team who continuously helps people overcome obstacles in their lives.

In today’s world, families are dynamic and interdependent systems. The developmental processes of the children in the family are deeply affected by how the family system operates. However, a family’s structure does not determine whether it is a healthy family system or not. Today, families consist of single parents, stepparents, divorced parents, remarried parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. They are all able to contribute to a healthy functioning family system by meeting each family member’s needs and encouraging positive communication (Jamiolkowski, 2008). Unhealthy family systems have negative and possibly

Family dynamics and relationships in our younger years help shape our view of the world and how we fit into it. Whether you agree with Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, or Erik Erickson,

The social work profession and my life experiences have taught me that we all at one point of our lives have been in the position of asking for help. For some people asking for help may be an effortless task, but for others, asking for help may involve challenging cultural and family values. This paper will focus on a period in my life when asking for help signified a huge personal challenge, as I was taught growing up that I should keep my personal problems to myself and not involve third parties.

We are very similar with some of the values and beliefs such as family, religion, trusting relationships or even resiliency, so I would like to add to your discussion concerning family with the Hispanics. Though many cultures value family relationships, many Hispanics emphasize and place a priority on family relationships (Forst & Lehman, 1997). Some identify strongly with and attach to their nuclear and extended families. Furthermore, for many, family relationships involve a strong sense of loyalty, solidarity, and reciprocity that is reflected in three ways: (1) feeling obliged to provide for the material and emotional support of family members; (2) relying on family for help and support; and (3) viewing family members as role models of behaviors and attitudes (Marín & Marín, 1991). I believe at sometime in this profession we will be faced with a dilemma that will challenge our social workers skills, so I would like to share what I found in research; sometimes social workers are confronted by problems for which there are no positive choices. Regardless of the option chosen by the client and /or the social worker, some harm will come to one person or another, perhaps even to the client (Dolgoff, Harrington, Loewenberg,

Boundaries: As children becomes older, they are likely to argue back so clear boundaries are needed and have to be enforced.

Prior to engaging with Ms X for the commencement of work, it is necessary to 'tune in ' to the case circumstances applying a holistic approach to gain as much insight to the service user(s) as possible before contact is made. Douglas (2008) states that "the pre-contact phase which helps to prepare the social work student for face-to face intervention, is a prerequisite for effective practice". With this in mind, I took the opportunity to contact the designated social worker assigned to this family to arrange a one-to-one meeting to allow for more information sharing. This meeting proved to be positive and it allowed me to gather more insight to this case from the observations and findings from another individual. However I must be sceptic in these circumstances and not take all information as face value. Referring to the conceptual model (...), each

Furthermore, Suzanne’s social worker would have to “understand that relationships between and among people are an important vehicle for change...seek to strengthen relationships among people in a purposeful effort to promote, restore, maintain, and enhance the well-being of individuals, families, social groups, organizations, and communities” (NASW, 2008, pp.5-6). Suzanne’s social worker would have to be aware of the possible consequences that separating Suzanne from her sister can have in Suzanne 's mental health.

We are pulling back the curtains and shining the spotlight on a PO and youth who embody DOP’s mission to strengthen communities, create opportunity and change lives through Client Engagement. PO Felicia Finch of MFIS was assigned the case of 16 year old “Patrick” who in January 2017 was placed on 15-Months’ probation for a serious offense. Raised by his mother in a cramped two-bedroom apartment occupied by three other adults, Patrick became overwhelmed by his lack of privacy, but was overall, a good student who is enrolled in mainstream education. Although Patrick attends school regularly and does well academically, he struggled to “fit in” with his peers, and would not always turn in his homework to avoid being perceived as a “nerd”. Recognizing

In a similar way, just as Bowen sees differentiation in the context of the emotional capacity of the individual, Whitaker also takes an emotional approach when he posits that problems arise when individuals learn to suppress their emotions. As Bowen describes the individual’s struggle to define themselves and stand firmly amidst emotional pressures from others, Whitaker suggests that children can become estranged from themselves by learning to blunt their emotions to avoid criticism from their parents, who end up trying to curb bad behavior by inadvertently controlling or discouraging the child’s emotions (Nichols, 2013). Indeed, perhaps what both theorists are really describing is the struggle to be in touch with oneself and one’s feelings in the midst of pressures from the family unit. In addition, both these theorists address intimacy in their own ways in that the ultimate goal seems to be for individuals to be able to share safe and healthy intimacy with their family unit while maintaining and experiencing their own feelings. However, Whitaker distinguishes himself from the others in that he is less interested in interactional patterns as he is in experiencing and expressing emotions in the present. Though seemingly different in their approaches, it’s possible to make further connections between Haley and Minuchin’s focus on family structure and members’ ability to navigate these systems, and Bowen and Whitaker’s focus on

Self-reflection and correction in social work practice is important for continued learning and professional development. Without self-awareness, social workers cannot separate their personal feelings, values, and attitudes from their professional. This is important because we need to focus on the needs of the client, not what we think they need. Knowing how to separate our personal feelings and values from our professional feelings and values will prevent us from getting burnout and help us maintain professional boundaries.

Children enter the world as part of preexisting systems. They enter parental systems and families that already have rules, roles and boundaries, and more are made as children grow and the family develops. These transitions can be confusing and challenging for all members involved leading to feelings of fear, anger and even helplessness. Members within the family

In the early stages of a child’s character development, the family is the first social group that the child has. The relationship that is fostered between the family and the child is important, because it is the role of the family that influences the child’s behavior. Although the child may be influenced by the father and siblings, these relationships are looked to second. The child realizes early that the family belongs to him. This leads to jealousy towards other siblings because he may strive to be significant, and establish a position of superiority. Once the child comes to trust the family, it no longer feels threatened. By fostering a good relationship with the family, the child develops trust which leads to the child developing

During my early childhood, I had both of my parents and grew up with three other siblings from a different Father. Both of my parents were born in Belize in Central America. I was born in New York. They instilled many thoughts, ideas and traditions of the Belizean culture. My mother had an authoritarian style of parenting meanwhile my Father had an authoritative style of parenting. Looking back at it, it made sense because I was closer to my Father than my Mother. My Mother was the one to always saying “No” to everything and my Father was stern but we had a great relationship.