Reflective Essay About Social Work

In this essay I will discuss what learning from K216 materials has been useful to me whilst working with vulnerable and/or disadvantaged service users in my student placement, and what learning I have applied to my practice. Throughout I will look at how my learning informed what I decided to do, how I went about doing this and my understanding of the practice. I will discuss learning in respect of two areas of social work, which are ‘Communication’ and ‘Working collaboratively’. For ‘Communication’ I will focus on communication with service users with disabilities and/ or additional needs and I will explore a case of a mother who I had a telephone call with who was in crisis and in a highly emotional state. With ‘Working collaboratively’,

I am a self-directed volunteer as a peer community worker for disabled people in Toronto GTA. I am willing to speak with you, in groups or publicly any time about it. Nonetheless; when rough times have fallen upon my life and health in the past, I have always responded with humor and generosity since, my gratitude is the state of mind of thankfulness. Most people can describe me as being direct, humorous, down to earth and caring for the fellow humans. At this moment in time, I am the founder and manager of Peer Community Hub, as well as a social entrepreneur whose ideas, tasks and values are to build peer to peer community drop-in center for disabilities who are directed by disability people. History of street life, disability, and cornice

1). In the face of social justice issues, I show up not only as the activist social worker but as an ally to those who face such injustices. I show up ready to support those who need to be heard and held up so that their voices may be heard. I show up ready to echo the needs of the oppressed and marginalized. While I too feel excluded from various communities and often feel that I have little privilege to support those in need, I utilize what privileges I do have such as social position, and gender. In representing the issues of social justice in my professional life I turn to these privileges and seek the support of other allies with greater privilege and knowledge to enhance our strengths and efforts, while supporting and echoing the needs of the oppressed and marginalized. I attempt to educate others on the topics of

Throughout my progression through the social work curriculum, I have become interested in working in two different settings, hospitals or schools. I decided to pursue a service learning opportunity that would allow me to work with a population in one of these settings. Dream Outside the Box gives me this opportunity. Dream Outside the Box is an organization founded on the premise of going into “dream deserts”, schools where students are not likely to pursue higher education, to teach them about future careers in the hopes of sparking a desire to attend a four-year college or a technical college. Every Friday my role at Bells Hill Elementary School is to teach these students about different potential careers that they could pursue such as physics, chemistry, etc. This is an important program that I will continue to work with even after this assignment is completed.

When applying to the social work program I knew that it would be a rigorous curriculum. I also knew that I had to also mentally prepared myself for the demands of the program. Over the past year, now I have been so challenged in school and have learned so much from the MSW program. When finishing my first year of grad school I felt confident and excited about entering my second year. I was even excited about starting to do therapy despite of knowing it would not be easy. Therefore, I knew that I would just have to try my best to put into practice my therapeutic skills. My passion has always been working with children and families, therefore, felt so thrilled to start this new journey as I knew I could possibly make a difference in someone’s

1.) Ever since I was a child, I enjoyed helping people. It gives me a sense of fulfillment. I 've worked in the medical field and I know it has prepared me for this profession. The key life experiences that have led me to choose social work as my major was because I enjoy making a difference in the lives of others.

PS/MS 96 ACT, School of the Arts, Collaboration and Technology is a Pre K - 8 Community School located in East Harlem. The school offers counseling services for all students through designated Department of Education funding. The school social worker and school counselor split the caseload. The school social worker focuses on the middle school students and the school counselor focuses on the elementary school students. Each conducts group and individual sessions, with both mandated and at-risk students. Additionally, their teachers refer some students. When a teacher becomes aware of a possible need for counseling, that teacher refers the student to either the school social worker or counselor. The social worker can also refer students to outside agencies. The school social worker is also involved in the Individual Educational Plan (IEP) team, the school’s wellness team, and the attendance team. Generally, the social worker, in connection with the school psychologist, determines the needs of the students and which services will be provided. As a social work intern, I work with the school social worker to provide counseling, crisis intervention, conduct group sessions, and, connect students and families to community resources. As a social worker intern I am responsible for managing a student caseload, preparing case notes, making classroom observations, assisting with the high school admissions process, and sitting in on the various teams the school social worker is apart of.

This week’s reading challenged me to take a long look at the current state of the world. Reading the chapters on poverty and human needs, Indigenous peoples and cultural survival, and globalization helped widen my perspective and now I can grasp how our history has impacted and is still impacting vulnerable populations throughout the world. This week’s reading has forced me to reevaluate my knowledge base and I understand why development-focused social work is so critical. Reading the chapter on Indigenous peoples and cultural survival peeked my interest because we touched briefly on their history in my African American history class. The chapter on Indigenous peoples help me realize that often times I get fixated on certain populations that

Studies have shown that this type of care brings about the best results. The use of

The journey towards the attainment of the Bachelor of the social work degree has been an enlightening and educational experience, as the individual is exposed to the realities of many social and political issues in the society. As a student, I ventured into the degree, with minimal insight as to how the degree can influence and shape the way I perceive the social world, and the way I relate these matters to myself. However, throughout my endeavour, which encompasses years of theoretical studies, and two intensive placements at two drastically different organisations, I believe I have accumulated the bare minimal knowledge to possess a solid foundation about the unfairness and inequality that people in disadvantaged conditions face. Social workers are predominantly found in welfare organisations which Howe (as cited in Limber, 2015) suggested largely influences the practice, direction and values of the social worker, and impacts on their ability to act autonomously (Lymbery, 2015). During my placements, there was a dominant theme that frequently stood out and enticed my attention. This was the accepted practice of focusing on the individual’s problem, as opposed to the social problems that existed and the lack of acknowledgement about the social restrictions of the human agency that limited self-determination. The realization that organisations were managed this way was important in ensuring that I made a proactive effort to understand and untangle the reasons behind such

People who work as social workers help residents who live in their community deal with a variety of intractable issues such as child abuse and drug abuse, instruct them how to obtain and utilize some community resources (such as housing and childcare) and ensure these welfare programs really work well. There are different types of social workers. For example, social workers who specifically work with children and family, those who specifically cope with mental health and substance abuse, and others who work with refugees.

I found this to be one of the most thought provoking courses thus far in the social work master’s degree program because the following four topics not only enhanced my professional development as a culturally grounded social worker from an academic stand point, but also as a human being. (1) One of the most challenging issues for many people are those about gender identity and their inherent personal feelings or religious beliefs. I will make sure I take this into account when offering services to members of the LBGTQ population. (2) As an advocate for those who have disabilities, I have realized after taking this course that I can do more to help this population. (3) In my culture, your family helps you with personal problems rather than to

Everyone is entitled to legal aid regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. This project will expand access to CrescentCare’s legal services and fill the gap in legal services for the LBGT community and build on CrescentCare’s service model of holistic care. The Gillis Long Poverty Law Center provides the opportunity for law students to intern with deserving nonprofits in the New Orleans Area. As the Gillis Long intern with CrescentCare, I became familiar with the community this project will serve. Even though I never considered myself prejudiced, I realized that I hadn’t reached a full acceptance and understanding either. My summers with Gulf Coast Center for Law and Policy and CrescentCare, were eye opening to the connection of access to legal services and individual health outcomes. What’s evident is that every person is complex and has complex needs which require specialized expertise

After taking to the student who lives on campus, I became aware that she was pregnant. She had a strict parents and was afraid to tell them of her present situation. She stated that her parents were going to kill her if they found out that she was pregnant. During the interview, the student said she went out with some friends to have some few drinks and one thing led to another. She ended up sleeping with a guy she didn’t even know of. She was contemplating on aborting the pregnancy and looked depressed and anxious.

I am applying for the School of Social Work Graduate program at Boise State, beginning in the summer of 2017. In the spring of 2017, I will graduate from Warner Pacific College in Portland Oregon with my BSSW and a minor in sociology