Reflection Paper On Social Work

This paper is a documentation of an interview that was conducted with a college student in the Social Work program at Central Michigan University. The student is currently enrolled in the first semester of her last year as an undergrad. Her final step in successfully completing the Social Work program is a four-hundred-hour internship. The purpose of this internship is to explore career interests and gain experience. The student, Marie Benner was assigned to the Community Mental Health for Central Michigan agency after going through a formal application and interview process with the Social Work advisors. This interview was done face to face and lasted an hour. It took place at the Charles V. Park Library on October 25th, 2016. She can be reached

During these sessions, a social work intern develops an assessment based off the client’s goals and situation. The client can decide how many sessions to go to, and can work with the intern if more sessions are required. Regardless, by working together, the intern becomes a mentor and support system for individuals throughout their transition, ultimately leading to the client being able to take control of their re-entry process. The library makes use of its existing facilities to sustain the program, the employment of interns staffs the program at no cost to the city of Long

My time in my internship has exposed me too many direct social work practice procedures and techniques. I have gotten opportunities to write grants, practice ethically/professionally, and learn how to use community resources. During my time at the BSW program, I have learned the process of assessment and how it is important in identifying the challenges that exist in the clients’ environment and how to alleviate these challenges. My past employment has helped me understand the qualities of leadership and professionalism.

My overall learning experience, thus far, as a social work intern at the Family Assessment Program (FAP) has been productive. I feel that I have gained a variety of skills as a social work intern that has allowed me to develop in areas that I needed to work on. I am now able to develop appropriate boundaries with clients and engage in taboo subjects I was once uncomfortable with. From ongoing interactions with clients, I learned how to show empathy and most of all improve on my focus listening skills. Before this internship, I lacked the skills to understand the concepts that were being taught in class. However, through field placement, I am able to understand and develop these concepts. I feel that I am more knowledgeable about the concepts

Upon graduation from the University at Buffalo, there were several pictures painted in my mind about how hands on Social Work was carried out in the “real” world. Several family members warned me about high burnout and nearly discouraged the challenging journey I had worked so hard to begin. Fast forward several years and there has not been a more rewarding yet challenging experience in my life as waking up and going to work with those who sometimes are unable to help themselves or are in crisis. My experience in Social Work has been some of the most rewarding (and challenging) times in my life, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

This week in the field was productive. The tasks completed this week were some tasks I have completed throughout the semester interning at the Department of Social Services (DSS). Throughout this week I had the opportunity to complete more home visits outside of the clients I am familiar with on my supervisor’s caseload. This is that I was able to complete a home visit with one of her coworkers to experience working with different populations the agency works with. During the home visit with my supervisor’s coworker, she and I sat with the client to discuss information pertaining to her court orders. With the client’s children being classified as medically fragile, the client has been ordered by the court to report for parenting classes and

Social work fell into my lap and offered a route that was practical and efficient for achieving my goals. I suppose like most things I was not fully aware or prepared for the decision I was making. I wonder if I had been too naïve believing everything would work out as long as I believed in my abilities and the abilities of the people I wanted to help. The social work world was one I was unfamiliar with but gave purpose to the frustration I was feeling. Whether that was frustration about my time at MMHI or the sociopolitical landscape I felt for once like change was achievable.

“In my first internship I worked in a child welfare organization.” Jodie enjoyed working with youth and families, she wanted her concentration year to concentrate on the same population. Her supervisor recommended she try working with a different population to broaden her knowledge of the field, so Jodie was placed at Henderson Behavioral Health for her clinical year field internship. Her placement concentrated mainly on working with adults with mental illness. “I loved my placement so much, I applied for a job after I graduated. I have been with Henderson ever since.”

On Monday, February 22, 2016, was my first day of my internship at Lenox Neighborhood – Women Mental Health Shelter. I attended the community meeting held every Monday from 4:00pm-5:00p.m. Ms. Sanchez (Director) and Mr. Cooper (Clinical Social Worker) gave a brief introduction of me and I explained to the clients my sole purpose for this internship is to help them with their emotional behaviors and patterns by conducting individual therapy and group sessions with the clients to assist them with their personal growth development regarding their concerns and issues regarding their mental illness. Clients was acceptable and energized to have someone they can speak to onsite. The site supervision Mr. Cooper informed all staff by e-mail regarding

Throughout our lives we experience many events that help to shape our development. Frequently, we are unaware of the developments taking place until we take time to reflect back on these events. Historically, many theorists have proposed various concepts that they feel best demonstrate the developments that people experience throughout their lifetime. Upon reflection of my personal life, I am able to connect some of the theories found in social work today with events that have happened in my life, particularly throughout my adolescence.

The work I do at my current internship is within the John Wayne Cancer Center (JWCC). The JWCC is an outpatient cancer center within a hospital and strives daily to give quality care to patients. All patients within the JWCC are newly diagnosed with cancer and figuring out their treatment plans. My caseload comprises patients from the chemotherapy and radiation oncology departments. The social work department at JWCC gives every new patient a distress screen to measure their distress level and practical needs (transportation, insurance, fertility preservation etc). The distress screen allows for the social work department to meet with the patient and assess what services and psychosocial support would benefit him or her most.

The social work profession is guided by ethical principles and values that help to ensure that social workers promote social justice and social change. Though I am not officially a social worker, I can attest that many of the work experiences I have gained over the years provided exposure to social work core values whether directly or indirectly. These work experiences prepared me to work with individuals from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds. I have also worked with individuals who have struggled with disabilities, financial hardship, and mental health issues. As a live-in support at Jay Nolan Community Services (JNCS), I worked directly with individuals who struggle with Autism and other developmental disabilities. In supporting JNCS’s mission of enabling individuals with developmental disabilities to lead fulfilling lives as members of the community, I worked as part of a multidisciplinary team to ensure that the dignity and worth of each client is respected. This job opportunity allowed me to develop individualized case plans and behavioral programs based on each client’s unique needs. Each day, I helped clients identify triggers, address past trauma, and develop positive coping skills to deal with limitations. My ability to communicate in American Sign Language (ASL) was beneficial in this role as it enabled me to work with clients who were deemed non-verbal. Using ASL, I helped these clients to identify healthy coping skills to reduce escalated behaviors and was

When working towards a degree in Social Work, it is important for students to develop the assessment skills needed to help their clients in any situation. As a major component of my class, I had to spend ten one on one hours talking to and getting to know everything about a specific individual. During this assignment, I applied knowledge from Erickson’s theory of psychosocial development, made use of active listening, and used the strengths perspective as strategies for practicing my assessment skills for the future.

Throughout the last semester, I was placed at the Campbell University Community Care Clinic for my pre-field social work experience. Since it was related to what I was initially interested in, I began the semester intrigued by this opportunity; however, that excitement and interest gradually waned as I realized that this internship just wasn’t right for me. Over the course of the past few months, I came to understand more about the professional roles social workers take, learned about the aims of this particular agency, brainstormed solutions for problems pertaining to our role in the agency, and changed my course of study as a result of what I gleaned from my experiences.

A helping profession is one that nurtures the growth of or addresses the problems of a person's physical, psychological, intellectual, emotional or spiritual well-being.