Who Is The Ideal Social Worker?

Iruonagbe, Chiazor, & Ajayi (2013) beautifully described the sentiments of my heart regarding family making mention it is not only the oldest social institution, but indeed the most important. The responsibilities of families are great ranging from guidance, to support, and more importantly it gives the individual a sense of belonging and commitment. My personal value as a social worker is family is a bond that is not to be broken. When one of us is made weak, the other steps in and pick up the pieces. We are guided by love respect and sacrifice. I come from a strong background of caregivers. I have watched my mother care for her elderly mother until she took her last breath, or family unable to care for their child and most assuredly another member will raise that child. In like manner of Mrs. Vishnick being a widow myself I bore the responsibility of my children and applaud her for doing the same. I understand she is 87 years of age, and her adult daughter has a mental disability, still I am empathic to her situation. In my culture, it is expected other members will step in as no one is a throw away. Mrs. Vishnick should not have to carry the burden alone. Family must be able to depend on each other, as we are one another’s protective factor. God and our faith in him will see us through.

I was able to focus in on the strengths of the client along with providing the client the right to self-determination as to what she would like to do. I attempted to summarize what the client was saying to ensure the client felt understood and to clarify that I understood the situation and needs of the client along with her overall goal of being reunited with her children. There were areas for improvement which include expressing more empathy for the client’s overall situation. I failed to ask how certain things made the client feel. I could have expanded on how the client felt about the death of her grandmother, living in a half-way house, and being separated from her children. I also did not use lead-in responses as much as I could have. As the social worker, I should have expanded on the client’s willingness to be honest about her past and should have thanked her for doing so. This can be extremely difficult for clients to do and honesty is a key part of the working relationship that is being established during the

Prior to engaging with Ms X for the commencement of work, it is necessary to 'tune in ' to the case circumstances applying a holistic approach to gain as much insight to the service user(s) as possible before contact is made. Douglas (2008) states that "the pre-contact phase which helps to prepare the social work student for face-to face intervention, is a prerequisite for effective practice". With this in mind, I took the opportunity to contact the designated social worker assigned to this family to arrange a one-to-one meeting to allow for more information sharing. This meeting proved to be positive and it allowed me to gather more insight to this case from the observations and findings from another individual. However I must be sceptic in these circumstances and not take all information as face value. Referring to the conceptual model (...), each

One of the most important skill to have as a social worker is to identify your client’s strengths. All social workers should have knowledge of an effective leader that are identified by their strengths or limitations in order to improve the one’s they identify. There are several evidence-based assessments that help identify the strengths and limitations of any individual. Thus, it is also necessary to obtain other perspective based on your leadership strengths or limitations in order to improve or strengthen those qualities. The self-assessments used through this paper will help me develop a plan that points out my challenges, help expand and improve on my strengths (Human Services Guide, 2015).

Some days you ask yourself why you do the job that you do. Some days you ask yourself why you stay in the field that you’re in. Most days you ask yourself “Is it really all worth it?” On occasion, there are the days that you get your answer to all of those questions. From the domestic violence victim that is now divorced and happy, this is why you do it. Because of the foster child who is now adopted and loved by his forever family, that’s why you stay in the field. From the veteran suffering from PTSD and depression who also attempted suicide but now is healthy, happy and alive, yes it is definitely all worth it. These are just a few reasons why you love what you do. These are all the reasons why I choose to become a social worker.

Upon observation of Precious I became aware of many differences between she and I. I am an upper middle class, 34 year old Caucasian woman. Conversely, Precious is a 17 year old African American woman who lives in poverty. Additional observations about our differences are that I was raised without abuse in my home, while she suffered abuse her whole childhood. Moreover, I observed some less obvious differences between the client and myself. For instance, Precious is socially withdrawn and quiet, where as I am confident and extroverted. Furthermore our education level is very different. Precious struggles with educational delays and just achieved a seventh grade reading level, while I have my bachelor’s degree and am working toward my master’s degree.

The NASW Code of Ethics (2008), states that “Social workers should not engage in dual or multiple relationships with clients or former clients in which there is a risk of exploitation or potential harm to the client” (standard 1.06[c]). The code also address undue influences, a social worker for any reason should not take advantage of a client for his/ her own personal gain or exploit them upon their own personal beliefs(standard 1.06[b]). To avoid dual relationships and exploration of a client or colleague, the social worker need to set clear boundaries with the clients and colleagues.

Alot of people do not notice the mammoth problem drug abuse is in the United States, and how fast it is increasing in our society. Billions of dollars are spent each year to combat drug treatment but more are spent on buying and selling narcotics. Many people think they

When therapist and new therapist met with the client at school, client reported that she has no problem having a new therapist, especially since client met the new therapist three weeks ago at the school and she knows the new therapist. Client added that she has had several therapists before and she understands why some therapists have to be changed to do other work. Client reported that the best time of the week is when she went to eat at Hooters Restaurant with foster family. Client reported that her lowest time during the previous week when she got tired at Hooters Restaurant after eating. Client reported that she met her new social worker prior to therapy session and she reported that she likes her new social worker. Client reported feeling happy because the social worker informed client that client's biological

Building rapport and trustful relationships with clients is important to pull out aspects of situations that may otherwise be difficult to find, and help guide the dilemma accordingly based on the facts of the case. Social Workers have a

The importance of understanding the community cannot be overstated. Most people access resources at the community level, regardless of whether the program funding originates at the local, state, or national level. It is at the community level that government is potentially most responsive to individual citizens. Quality-of-life issues are most profoundly confronted at the local level.

Meanwhile, I had direct contact with my first client on June 8, 2015. She is a 34-year-old African-American that is from Louisiana living in a women’s shelter. She only has a high school diploma. At the age of eight years old, she learned that her biological father was found murdered. She had postpartum depression, but the psychiatrist's

My discussion with the client about what made his experience positive made me think about the clients experience from a broader perspective and not just from the social worker view, but from someone who experienced real trauma and overcame the challenges of the trauma they endured, by addressing the mental health issues and the contributing social factors. In addition, I was able to look at the whole experience from the eyes of a client and then think about how their needs were met as well as their feeling about the process. The client found the experience positive and beneficial because the goal was to resolve past conflicts that affected his present behavior. Another benefit is that the client overcame his anxieties and improved the way he related to and communicated with others. Social workers have many tools at their disposal to shape and lessen negative responses, and armed with continued research, and the help of clients and their family members, and friends, social workers, counselors, and therapist have the skills needed to reducing negative experiences by using

According to Hoefer, advocacy is a word with many definitions. In the social work, it is defined as shielding, intervening, supporting or recommending a course of action on behalf of one or more individuals, groups, or communities, with the goal of securing or retaining social justice. Today this writer will present an interview with a social worker who advocate for the people.

There are various steps Social Workers must do before performing any cases or looking for any solutions for a client. A Social Worker would look at the first visit to the clinic that the client has visited, which client have given them