Working in the world of Social Work can be many things; educating, adventurous, and at times emotional fulfilling and or draining. Every person brings their own contributions as well as their own strategies and problem solving techniques that are set by the social work guidelines. Getting into the world of social work can be intimidating, stressful and many questions are often internally asked. As an aspiring social worker I have had the opportunity to meet up with Tracey Hodgins; a micro social worker who has been in the industry for 15 years, and has had a Bachelor of Social Work Degree for 13 years. She is the mother of a friend of mine who agreed to let me interview her. Currently she is Adult probation officer; she deals with managing …show more content…
She has worked at Edwards Society, helping clients with mental health. She has been in the income assistance fields, adult corrections, as well as youth probations. She was the coordinator of Partnership of Promoting Violent Free Communities and Educating against Violence. She worked in Denholm House; which is a group home for teenage girls. Some of the mentioned fields do in a sense fall under the same category but some are completely different tasks, I wondered if it is common to have that much experience. Tracey was smart in her work journey and mentioned that she “got a job before I was done my practicum and was working three different places at once when I graduated.” She then kept her seniority at Denholm but quit everywhere else. Now since she has practise in both young and adult offender, Social Services will let her switch between those career paths but if a worker wants to switch completely just for the thrill of it, Social Services would deny them unless it was beneficial for the company. We had learnt in class that there were public and private agencies of social work. Tracey was lucky to have experience at both, but her area of social work that she admitted to being her most enjoyable was within the Ministry of Justice. She enjoys the fast pace lifestyle within the work days. Sitting
I have often exaggerated the workplace and lifestyle of a social worker. After meeting with a fellow social worker, I am now able to understand their busy lifestyle. A social worker has to consider the struggles clients have experienced and hear their narratives. At the same time, these social workers need to keep their life in order in a professional and healthy way. A social worker I had the chance to meet, has endured four years of training at Thompson Rivers University: he received a bachelor degree off social work with a child welfare specialization, and two practicums, as well as regular training introduced by the government; that broadened his understanding on domestic violence, child welfare, and interview training. He stated six particular duties: provide child safety, child welfare, family care, community development, assisting individuals and being a go-to person to fellow clients (personal communication, January 27, 2016).
Social work is a career that I have always been interested in, especially working with children and families. Helping people overcome obstacles and making the most of themselves is a very rewarding and yet a challenging career. I’ll have the chance to meet a variety of different people with different problems from cases of abuse and neglect as well as supporting those in the care system. I am particularly interested in working with children and families who often form the most vulnerable service users, developing a professional and trusting relationship with them, hopefully enabling them to participate fully in society.
Social work requires a diverse and demanding range of professional, emotional and cognitive skills. This shows that social work is a challenging and varied profession Most people have a natural ability for these skills however this report shows that social workers must have the basic set of skills and qualities in order to function well in any situation and to excel in their
For this assignment, I decided to interview my aunt because she has been a social worker for about thirty years, and has a lot of experience. She attended Dominican college in Orangeburg, New York where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She then went to graduate school at Montclair State in New Jersey where she received her master’s in psychology. After this, she decided to go back to school for her MSW, which she received from SUNY Albany. Since she graduated, the only profession she has worked in is social work, and she is now a licensed clinical social worker. She loves what she does and is glad that she made the decision to become a social worker.
I interviewed the Bonneville County Jail social worker, Brian Mecham. Social Workers at the jail are mainly responsible for helping the inmates, doing assessments for individuals that need medications, group and individual discussions and also helping them with learning more life skills. Being their advocate and helping them go through changing processes is all part of the job. Mecham and his wife are both a part of the social work profession. Although seeing two completely different sides with Mecham working in the jail and his wife in the hospice field, Mecham emphasized the importance of finding what you want to do in the social work field. “You never know what is going to impress you to do one thing or the other.”
I have yet to encounter a social worker who entered the profession for acclaim or prestige. It is a demanding career with long hours and ceaseless paperwork. Social workers are frequently overburdened in addition to being underpaid. Occasionally, they witness agonizing tragedy, fundamentally changing them. Having worked in social services for a number of years, I have had these experiences.
Social work is a professional and academic discipline that works to improve the quality of life and enhance the wellbeing of individuals, families, couples, groups, and communities. Heather Holland is a Social Worker at Uniontown Hospital who has over 12 years’ experience in the field. She explains that a typical day on the job is far from easy. “Days in this career are crazy, busy, and mostly, undetermined” Holland explains of her days on the job. Social work is a very important job. Social workers work with clients who are vulnerable and in need of serious help. It is so extremely important that social workers are properly trained and are always giving their best in their work because client’s lives often depend on it. Social workers are
Social workers have many different practices and approaches to draw on for work with individuals, families, communities and society as a whole. These approaches and techniques can be varied depending on the distinctive
The decision to pursue my education in social work at Dalhousie University was not an easy one. While I was growing up, my career choice changed all of them time, but I always knew that I wanted to do something fulfilling, in which I could “help” and support people. My mom was a nurse and always loved helping people; I always figured I would follow in her footsteps, however I learned at an early age that sciences do not come easy to me. Unfortunately, my mom lost her battle to breast cancer when I was eight years old, so I hope that by me helping people socially, rather than medically like she did, will continue her legacy.
For this assignment, my partner and I decided to interview a social worker whom led me to develop my aspiration for this career. Michelle Hayes is a private practice counselor, who has encountered much experience and knowledge through social work agencies, leading her to be very successful. For this assignment, I decided to interview Michelle Hayes, because not only did she counsel me, and positively impact my life, but I would be more than pleasured to be enlightened with knowing how she became so wise and successful, as well as why.
Entering into the social work practice provides the basic but detailed three phases of initiating treatment. The helping process starts its phases off at one which as stated follows exploration, engagement, assessment, and planning. These beginning phases follow the start of the clients treatment with identifying the basic problems and necessities that need/should be met by the end of treatment. An identification of trust must be established between the client and the social worker. A basic assessment is drawn up on the client and mutual goals agreed between both parties are included within the assessment. Lastly any and all referrals are made to further treatment that will benefit the client. A prime example of the movement
Social Workers (SWs) come across different issues affecting the society and are required to play their role and reduce the adverse effects of the problem. The social work profession is faced with challenges and must keep themselves up to date with the necessary information and practice ethics. (Asquith, Clark, and Waterhouse, 2005). They work with individuals to make sure that the issues that are keeping them down are solved, and the community becomes a better place to live in.
My vision of the social work field is being able to help people in need and being the person that people can look back on and remember as a huge help in time of need. I think my core values and beliefs will help me be an effective social worker and help me succeed in this field. It is in my belief that a person should never be knocked down when they are going through hardships, and rather empowering them. I also believe that not everyone could be a social worker because it takes a certain kind of empathetic and self-aware person. I truly believe that my upbringing has humbled me to understand and not be judgmental of people’s issues since I’ve seen a lot in my short twenty-one years.
After I asked Cindy how and why she decided social work was the career path for her, Cindy took a minute to consider to response. First off, Cindy informed me that she’d undergone extensive therapy herself, and had experienced a lifelong history of abuse. When I asked if her therapist played a part in her decision to pursue a career in social work, she replied that most definitely and that her therapist became her role model as they helped her through her trauma. But beyond her own therapist, there was one other person that Cindy said played a major role in motivating her to go
The profession of Social Work introduced itself to me at a very tender age. My personal interest in the social work field was solidified when I lived with my paternal aunt and her abusive ex-husband. At age 13, my traits of compassion, empathy and patience allowed me to mentor and guide my aunt when she was most vulnerable. For the past half decade, I have maintained a constant and consistent path to social work, with the hope to obtain my LCSW (licensed clinical social worker) and empower our most vulnerable populations in hospitals and medical centers. Over the last four years, I have immersed myself in human service and social work courses. My interaction with both fields reviled political and public policies’ issues facing our health care sector and the fragmentation between community-based support and hospitals’ treatment. In addition, a common principle that devastates me is the so-called physical from the so-called mental.