Personal Reflection In Social Work

When I first started this course I didn’t know what to expect. I really enjoyed writing but there was a lot of areas that I needed to work on. When I first started to review the modules I was blown away by all the helpful sites that were at my disposition. The Power points and different sites completely changed my whole perspective of writing to a whole new dimension. Thanks to the modules I am more confident right now before I even begin an essay. I remember in the past how beginning an essay was so difficult for me because I didn’t know how to even start. In this course I have learned how to begin an essay, how to manipulate information, and how to use in-text documentation properly. These are just some of the few things that I will definitely be taking with me in the future for my courses and personal growth.

Throughout this course, I was able to assess and evaluate my weaknesses and strengths in writing. This class has truly brought out my ability to write, a skill I did not believe I had. I now know what it takes to become a college-level writer. Also, at the beginning of the course I did not particularly enjoy writing. Now, however, I have a greater respect for

Social work practice works with many people in different situations, needing concise help from professionals. This assistance includes a range of skills such as; identifying the problem or problems, apply and use evidence based practice and theories and critical reflection. All these skills are integral parts of best practice in social work, and are needed by all service users.

The service user I am currently working with is P (26) single parent and B (15-month-old) infant. She was referred to our service via the orthopaedic nurse, to get access to relevant service within her community. B has complicated health needs and requires specialist children centre groups, due to her low immune system. The family are isolated and find it challenging to socialise, and require support finding playgroups for her child. Additionally, P has a new partner and she has made me aware that he emotionally abusing her and feels more isolated due to his controlling behaviour. He prevents her from seeing old friends and changed requested her to change her number. P has made me aware that R does not trust her, and accuses her of being intimate

Throughout the class, many aspects of the curriculum were seen as useful in future social work practice. Before this course, in other course work, treatment planning and goal setting was often something that was reviewed briefly, yet within the coursework of the capstone seminar this matter had been gone over in more detail. Within this course, it was possible to gain more insight into a more balanced way of setting treatment goals that included conversations with the client concerning what they desired out of treatment in addition to what was needed. This aspect of the course was particularly useful when it came to working towards the development of the treatment plan with the client who was presented during the case presentation, Sarah.

I had been working with a child where I needed to conduct an assessment. Before the meeting to share the information with the parents, I sent them a copy of the completed assessment to enable them to gather their thoughts so that at the meeting I was able to answer any specific concerns. The mother had rang me the day she received the assessment as she was not happy about the comments written. I explained to the mother that we could discuss the matter at the meeting but, although she did not respond, I could sense that the mother was still irate.

I have grown as a reader, thinker and writer thanks to this course. These are the things that I have worked on and improved over the past couple of months and I feel that my work shows this. In no way do I mean to sound over confident, I know I still have plenty to learn. However, I am extremely surprised and proud of myself. I will admit I had thoughts of previously giving up, I allowed myself to focus too much on the negative. Now, however, I feel differently. I have learned through this course how to write, how to express myself, and how to find the answers to the things that I don 't know. Most importantly, I learned to

Self-awareness and the use of self is a key component in social work practice. Depending upon how one integrates their personal being and accompanying thoughts, experiences, emotions, and consciousness into the helping profession has a profound impact on whether that integration is positive or negative, particularly when it comes to that of one’s relationships with their clients. While remaining impartial is often critical to effective social work practice, the complete separation of self from one’s professional practice is not only impossible to realize, but would arguably have less of a meaningful impact with one’s relations with clients as well as self. Understanding the use of self and the importance of self-awareness in the social work profession is the first step in establishing a healthy means of practicing and the impact that our own individuality has when interacting with clients. In this paper I will analyze, and further critically reflect upon, four academic journals on the topic of the use of self in social work; later applying this learning to an experience from my field placement.

To begin, this experience was amazing. I learned so much about children’s literacy, and I even saw growth in the 4 weeks I worked with my student, which also made this experience rewarding. I believe this tutoring experience helped me as a future teacher, but also helped the student I was tutoring. At the beginning of the program the student struggles greatly with fluency, all the aspects of it. The student stumbled over words, read words that were not there, had trouble “thinking out” words, and read with no prosody. The first week was spent getting to know the child and what troubles the child faced when reading. Once the second week came around we worked on a phonics review of beginning and ending blends. The student seemed to know the beginning blends but struggled with the ending blends so we spent

Looking back over this course the most valuable reading I learned was about persuasive writing and the different types of writing to use with a particular audience. I found myself in the beginning to be a cognitive writer, but now I think I have implemented all the views of writing during this course and have learned a lot. My favorite activity or essay I wrote about was the argumentative essay in written assignment 8. I wrote about, Sexual Objectification of Women" it is here where I learned through research and facts to persuade and educate the reader about human sexual objectification.

How do you think developing this course helped to develop your knowledge of pedagogy? How about of supervision? Were there surprises?

I wanted to take a moment to thank you again for the time you spent with me on Friday, August 26th. Interviews can be stressful, so I am very grateful for how comfortable you made me feel throughout the process. Your willingness to provide me with additional information on the Patient Services Coordinator position convinces me that this a job I would enjoy, as well as one where I can be successful and make a valuable contribution to.

During this semester, I have learned a great deal about my own writing, and writing in general. One of the main takeaways from this course for me was how to break down the intricate process of writing papers. In addition, I developed viable skills regarding going into more in-depth detail during each step of the writing process. I enjoyed having the freedom to write about a topic that I was able to choose. This allowed me to research and write about something that actually interested me immensely. Having to work with one topic for the entire semester taught me how to find reliable resources and how to pick out the essential research from each article.

Every worthwhile journey begins with one step. My social work journey began when I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Utah in 2003. I thought my next step would be to immediately pursue a graduate degree. In my undergraduate career I had taken numerous classes from the College of Social and Behavioral Science and had done well in those classes. In my Social Work as a Profession course I had an assignment to shadow a social worker and write a paper about my experience. I chose to shadow my father-in-law, a social worker with over 30 years of experience, and in my paper I expressed my desire to go into the social work field. I knew I liked helping people. I knew I liked problem solving and critical thinking. I thought my 22 year-old self was ready to embark on that journey, but I wasn’t. I realize now that what I lacked at graduation was one crucial step… perspective. Over the past twelve years I have gained that much needed perspective and have taken many steps forward in my journey, and with those steps and that increased perspective, I now feel more fully prepared to begin my social work career.

As a physical therapy student, many peers have asked why I chose to minor in psychology rather than taking a simple course in human performance and fitness or biology. Taking this course, I am confident in my minor decision and realize the importance of mastering and utilizing effective communication, genuine listening, and authentic presence, especially in a physical therapy setting. Several counseling theories were presented over the course of the semester looking at their basic philosophies, the relationship between client and therapist, and key components to effective treatment. There were three theories in particular, Adlerian therapy, existential therapy, and rational emotive behavior therapy, which I found to really resonate with my beliefs, values, and experiences. By integrating these three theories together, using the common factors approach, I was able to identify similar core beliefs and principles in each to create my final theory of change.