My Goals As A Social Worker Practitioner

There are several goals that I hope to achieve by pursuing a graduate degree in Social Work. Pursuing a MSW will provide me with the knowledge, tools, and skills-set that will be fundamental to the achievement my career goals outlined below.

While being apart of this field work class I hope to learn more about the hands on work social workers do everyday. I expect to work close with a social work department in one of my field of interest to overall learn. What I expect to learn is the everyday schedule of a social worker in the familiy services concentration, and get more knowledge of the occupation of social work by actually focusing/completing real life task in this job field.

I believe social services are essential to those who are in need of help. They help people transition out of poverty. Social service programs helped me when I was growing up and to this day I still benefit from the programs that they offer. I went to head start, which helped me prepare for elementary school and through Head Start was where I learned to speak English. In high school I participated in Talent Search and now as a college student I receive help from Trio student support services. I do not know where I would find myself now if I had not received the support and guidance from these programs.

Social work may not be the most respected profession but it’s a recognizable one. Social workers help people or groups identify their problems, determine their skills and capacities, what they are doing well, and how that was accomplished, and then analyze ways that those strengths might be applied to the identified problems. Social workers are helping professionals.

Medical Social Workers assist people with chronic or serious illnesses. Say you had a disease, and you were hospitalized permanently. Wouldn’t you want someone there, helping you and guiding you through the steps of possible treatment plans and financial options? I know I would, so who wouldn’t? Medical Social Workers are basically Hospital Superheroes. They meet with the patient, and discuss whatever is wrong. They try and help the patient to the absolute BEST of their abilities. Then, they help the patient emotionally by leading support group discussions. Depending on how ill, you are, the more help, you’ll need, and why not get it from a Medical Social Worker? People in this career are helpers. Helping is something I enjoy doing, which is one reason why I think this career would be perfect for

My professional goals as a Social Worker are to help human lives. Through enhancing their well-being and attending to the people varies daily needs and social problems. Empowering clients and helping individuals using diverse methods like counseling, working as an advocate and referrals for solutions.

In a multicultural counseling perspective there are four key approaches when counseling individuals, (a) multicultural awareness of culturally learned assumptions about self and others leading to accurate assessments of clients, (b) multicultural knowledge of information, (c) multicultural skills and interventions, that are appropriate treating clients, and (d) individuals are from a variety of backgrounds, demographic status, and affiliation of cultures. The three-stage approach, will direct the counselor towards levels of multicultural competence in therapy by providing a successful outcome in the recovery process. When conducting a psychotherapy session with a client the counselor should be able to demonstrate skills, when exploring the client’s cultural background. Counselors should also be able to focus on the essential skills and pattern behaviors, when identifying cultural differences. Counseling a minority from a different culture counselors’ must be able to identify their own personal behaviors. These behaviors are crucial when counseling these individuals. First, a counselor must be able to sense the clients’ viewpoint or issue in some way. Secondly, a counselor should be specific when asking a question rather than being unclear and confusing.

Starting from being a certified nursing assistant, to becoming a unit secretary for a hospital that specialize in wound care, I have always known that I wanted to help individuals in need. However, I noticed that I was not happy with helping individuals in medical need. It wasn’t until I decided to continue my education that I introduced to the world of social work. Going up with a single mother that suffered from drug abuse, my family depended on social services for a lot of assistance, from everything such as food stamps to family counseling. This life experience helped guide my thoughts on pursuing social work as a career. I know that I want to help individuals that are down on their luck, but I want to take it one step farther, by providing individual counseling to adults that may need more one on one time, than what is normally given from a social service agency. Counseling will also give me a chance to do what I love most and that is to talk and get to know the individuals that I am helping make like changing decisions. Working as a clinical social work has my interest because it does not put limits on what I can do or who I can help, and it will set me up for my future goal of becoming a licensed clinical social worker. Being my own boss and changing my community is my dream job, opportunity and goal. I am currently on my way with changing my community and living my dream, because I am currently working for a non-profit

It is imperative that social workers become knowledgeable about their clients’ cultures and are culturally sensitive. In learning about their clients’ cultures, social workers need to be aware of how powerful and significant culture is in relating to clients’ behavior, values, and beliefs. Becoming culturally competent requires the ability to integrate awareness, knowledge, and skills while maintaining a positive working relationship with the client (Sue and Zane, 1987). Today, the concerns regarding cultural competency continue to accentuate the importance of preparing social workers for a diversified society.

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.

The two key elements in successful practice are the social workers ability to guide clients through the phases of the change process and assist clients in making decisions that will result in enhancement of their social functioning or the improvement of a social condition (Bradford W. Sheafor, 2008, p. 52). Social workers select and use specific techniques that have been individualized to the needs and situation of the client or client group being served, and the resources that are applied to help resolve the client’s problem or concern (Bradford W. Sheafor, 2008, p. 51).

The job of a social worker is not confined to one geographical area. As a social worker, one could possibly visit several different neighborhoods in a single week. Because of the vast variety of clients that a social worker may encounter, cultural competency and sensitivity is an important concept in this field of work. According to Garthwait (2016), a social worker “must be capable of recognizing, respecting, and accommodating differences while treating all clients with fairness and equality under the law” (p.110). The capability to understand a client’s culture, values, perspective, and life experiences is crucial in determining which services will best suit the individual. Every client is unique and needs to be treated as such. Thus becoming familiar with a community, a social worker can better assist clients with their needs.

My vision of the social work field is being able to help people in need and being the person that people can look back on and remember as a huge help in time of need. I think my core values and beliefs will help me be an effective social worker and help me succeed in this field. It is in my belief that a person should never be knocked down when they are going through hardships, and rather empowering them. I also believe that not everyone could be a social worker because it takes a certain kind of empathetic and self-aware person. I truly believe that my upbringing has humbled me to understand and not be judgmental of people’s issues since I’ve seen a lot in my short twenty-one years.

Social workers are very helpful, the goal of all social workers is to help individuals and families work through their issues both mentally and physically. In order to be a social worker, one must know the education requirements, the working conditions, and want to help others.

Medical social workers collaborate with other human service workers to help severely ill patients, suffering from physical and psychological issues. Throughout the many challenges of patients, medical social workers and other professionals meet the common and severe needs of people with physical and mental illnesses. Andrews, Darnell, McBride, & Gehlert (2013) state “Social workers are familiar with the complex and overlapping systems that must be negotiated to ensure that the social, psychological and economic needs of individuals and groups are addressed in a way that underscores optimal health” (p. 67). Once the patient discuss their core issues with the medical social worker and other medical staff members at the hospital, physicians, nurses, and medical social workers can give patients ' positive feedback the concerns their health and well-being. Medical social workers interact with each other for the patient’s safety.