Personal Narrative: A Career As A Social Worker

Pursuing a career in Mental Health Counseling has been a part of my plan since I

The role of a counselor takes on many different forms, and it is a very important career, because it helps people make better life choices. The personal values we have, and also how we view the world, can help shape the type of counselor we will be. I will take a self-reflective view of what I hold dear, and also explain how my personal experiences have led me to chose a career in this particular helping profession. I will also describe the differences between the professional counseling, and other helping professions, such as social work for an example. I also will look at how accreditation, licensure, and certification, are important in defining what a counselor is, and does.

Ironically, I was not always interested in the psychology and counseling field. My first two years of undergraduate school I was a Mathematics major until I took Advanced Calculus and decided that Math was not for me. Then I began taking more and more Psychology courses as electives and realized that I had found the information interesting. After speaking with my father, I made the decision to pursue a career in this field while also following in his footsteps.

Often times choosing a career path that is compatible with a persons personality may not be as easy as one might believe it to be. On the other hand, once a person is fortunate to figuer out excaly what career path fit’s their personality, finding the job that best suits there finacial expectations usually becomes less of an mental strain. There are countless careers for all of us to choose from and if you enjoy’s helping those in need you may want to look into becoming a mental health counselor or a clinical social worker. However if you aren’t inerested in being too hands on with individuals in need there are two other careers that one may be interested in, which is Clinical management or Medical and Health management. These four professions are similar but different.

They may interact with psychiatrists who are medical doctors. They may have relationships with other counselors with whom the may collaborate, confer or refer to another counselor or professional as needed. Counselors may have a need to help a client get in touch with another type of service such as a social worker or rehabilitation facility. A counselor may give advice to another counselor if their opinion is sought out. If a counselor works within a facility as part of a team they may be interacting with any number of professionals involved within the care of a particular client. Being cognizant of what the role is as a counselor is constant. Counselors will establish boundaries depending on these roles (Remley & Herlihy, 2016). Counselors will also develop relationships with employers, supervisors and

Mental Health Counselor is the career I have decided to go for. It took me forever and a lot of thinking to decide exactly what I want to do with my life. I have dealt with depression, anxiety, self harming all within myself. I also dealt with watching my father abuse alcohol, and getting cancer and passing. My daughter is ADHD, ODD and suffers with anxiety. I also work in a group home taking care of mentally challenged people. Altogether I've dealt with a lot and I think experiencing everything I have, would make me understand and be a good mental health counselor.

The history of mental health in the United States show a robust movement towards the mental healthcare system we have today. Prior to the 19th century, individuals with mental health issues were widely considered to be demonically possessed, thus contributing to the stigmatization of mental illness and the proliferation of poor treatment conditions. However, in the 1800s, there was a dramatic change in mental healthcare in the U.S. The government took a proactive role in treating the mentally ill, leading to the dawn of state psychiatric facilities.

I am currently working as a Case Manager and doing my internship as a Clinician at Leake and Watts Services Inc. I need two wear two hats in one job, which make my responsibilities even greater and extensive. The population that I am working is the unaccompanied children, which are the children that are crossing the border to the United States.

There was a point in my life where I had no idea what was I going to do with my life. In July 2014 I landed a job at Garland Independent School District at the Enrollment Center Clinic, as a translator for the social worker. That was also the day that I found my spark in life. I wanted to become a clinical social worker and serve my community. My biggest aspiration is to be able to attend the University of North Texas and get my masters as a clinical social worker. I would be a great candidate for this university because I am committed and highly driven.

Counselors aid their clients by providing counseling services to them. Counselors also facilitate clients with exploring and understanding their worlds, as well as, discover better ways of thinking and living. A common factor in why people seek counseling services is that they are feeling weakened, under severe distressed, or circumstances have left them in a negative state of mind about something. Counseling services may vary, from individual, couples, family, or a group; assistance can be provided by face-face dialogue, group work, telephone, email and written materials’ methods.

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

Growing up, I knew that I wanted to be a field where I’m able to help someone whether it’s physically, mentally, or emotionally. I was stuck between a lawyer and a social worker. Although both careers have always seem appealing to me, till this day, I still have no clue what I want to be. However, if I had to choose one career as of right now, it would be a social worker. My interest as a social worker began in my senior year of high school where I had the opportunity to take a sociology class. Before this class, I had no idea what sociology even was, but after taking this class, I found that I was interested in studying human social behavior. In addition to knowing that I wanted to help someone and my interest in sociology, I thought of becoming

Also when becoming a social worker, the job will require that everyone who is involved in the situation is receiving help. According to the Child Care Careers book this may include giving individual help to every person in the situation. Such as, if the mother is a drug addict, she may require some rehab. Or if the father is very ill, he will need medical attention. Or if the parent(s) and a little insane or have brain trouble, they might need to go to an insane asylum.

I have strayed from the field of social work a couple of times. I pursued different career paths only to realize that I had no drive or desire to keep pursuing them. I have always thought that when doing something you like; you should have a burning passion for it.

At this stage of my life Social Work is what I am most interested in practicing because it provides opportunities for me to work in many different settings with people whose problems, issues and needs are diverse. My second choice would then be guidance counseling which is the process of helping individuals discover and develop their educational, vocational, and psychological potentialities and thereby achieve an optimal level of personal happiness and social usefulness.