Change Agent Counselor

In this paper, the role of a social worker will be addressed. A Human Service professional has, in its hands, the responsibilities in the life of the clients and families they meet. The tremendous and arduous responsibilities they take on include, but are not limited to, the well-being and care of people and their communities. Such roles can be helping others manage the care of a family member, assisting individuals experiencing problems with family relations and conflicts, dealing with changes that come with growing old, aiding those suffering mental illness and or those individuals struggling with addictions. Briefly

Social workers must strive “for a full understanding of the complex interactions between the client and all levels of the social and physical system as well as meaning that the client assigns to each of these interactions” (Andreae, 1996, p. 605).

Abstract The roles of a social worker are many and although it may be seen to most as a simple profession, it is of great value. A social worker has to broaden his or her horizon to see things in a new perspective. One must be able to understand, empower and help individuals, families or groups to overcome some of lives most difficult obstacles. As a social worker you are supposed to be able to appreciate the perspectives of all parties involved.

Social work professions need to understand the importance of how individuals interact both with other people and their environment, to have an understanding how individuals are affected by these interactions (Rogers, p. 2). According to Rogers (2016), “Social workers are knowledgeable about human behavior across the life course; the range of social systems in which people live; and the ways social systems promote or deter people in maintaining or achieving health and well-being. Social workers apply theories and knowledge from the liberal arts to understand biological, social, cultural, psychological, and spiritual development (p. 2). Their work with clients begins with assessments to evaluations of intervention and is based in and supports of the core value system of the profession.

As social workers, it is our responsibility to use the most effective method of practice to engage our clients, assess their situation, and help them create goals that will produce positive outcomes. Every client will present a unique set of challenges; therefore, the social worker must be careful in choosing an approach that will meet the client’s needs, compliment the skills of the therapist and are in line with the agency’s mission. According to Robert and Watkins (2009), psychotherapy is a therapeutic interaction between a trained therapist and a client that is

Ai Create a guide for the new social care worker about how to reflect on their practice. The guide must include the headings listed with an explanation of each.

Entry 1 On this module you have explored what might have led you to join the social work profession. Why is it important to think about your motivations for becoming social workers and how might this affect the way you practice? Why is self-awareness important in social work practice? Given your own unique background, what areas of social work might you find challenging and why?

The role of the Social care professional is to promote social change, problem solving and empowerment and

To help clients and fight for equality, social workers must push for social justice by modifying social institutions to meet the needs of members of society (Rogers, 2016). Social change is a way to push for change to improve people’s situation (Rogers, 2016). According to NASW (1999), social workers are expected to fight for equality and social justice for all people. Social change allows social workers to look at client problems in a way that will help them make large scale change to benefit members of society.

Social Work is a career that you can make a significant impact on people’s lives. Social work is a spectacular career choice. However, working in this profession as a social work it can and will be challenges that will occur. A social worker enhances the welfare of communities, individuals and societies. Furthermore, social work aims to aid social change, development, cohesion, and empowerment. I had the pleasure of interviewing Latosha McIntyre about her work duties as a social worker with Day Spring Behavior Health Service. Day Spring Behavior Health Service is a non-profit- organization that offers a variety of behavioral health services to individuals and families. This paper will enclose Latosha McIntyre job activities, professional

In the generalist social work practice, a social worker is a change agent due to the expansive and complex umbrella of social and human services and roles. A change agent works to promote positive changes for the well-being of an individual, family, group, organization or community. In order to fulfill the tasks of a social worker, one should be trained and equipped with a wide variety of skills: such as setting appropriate boundaries, possessing and utilizing self-awareness and the ability to counsel or advocate for clients. In addition to many skills, the generalist social work practice includes a surplus of methods to either prevent or intervene when necessary. A method often utilized by social workers is the person-in-environment conceptualization. The person-in-environment perspective considers factors, such as familial or economic, beyond the individual to better understand the client’s behaviors or situation. Another method is the strengths perspective. The strength-based perspective focuses on the client’s or client system’s positive qualities to build upon those capabilities. And the recognition of strengths helps to achieve goals in a more client-led approach. Generalist practitioners are professionals with a wide range of knowledge and a repertoire of diverse skills in order to enhance the social functioning of all within society.

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.

“The unique contribution of the social work practice is the duality of the professions person and environment mandate: social workers must help society work better for the people and help people function better within society.” (Segal, Gerdes, and Steiner, 2016, p. 3).

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.

In this reflection essay, I will demonstrate my learning experience in this counseling session. I will talk about my strength, weakness, verbal, nonverbal expression, including improvements needed to become more efficient in the social work profession. I will also speak about a learning tool called process recording in Social work profession. This process recording was done with the help, with my fantastic Daughter Kendra Shelton as the client and my incredible husband Michael McVay as Video Recorder /producer.