SOCW6530 Walden University Week 10 Vulnerable Individuals & NASW Essay
Respond to the blog posts of three colleagues in one or more of the following ways:
- Validate an idea in your colleague’s post with your own experience.
- Share an insight from having read your colleague’s posting.
- Expand on your colleague’s post.
Response to Charmaine
- An explanation of the social work practice skills you have gained by participating in your field education experience
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Social workers work with vulnerable individuals, families, and communities in an effort to educate, promote, and enhance the client’s well-being (NASW). In doing so, social workers must be knowledgeable and acquire skills to effectively work with different populations. Such skills include written and verbal communication, active listening, critical thinking, boundary setting, and more.
Completing my field education at ChildNet has afforded me the opportunity to improve my social work skills of engaging, assessing, and evaluating clients. I have also been afforded the opportunity to become more familiar with the DSM-V through working with clients with mental illness and ongoing environmental challenges. More importantly, I have been able to better assist clients by gaining insight into myself. According to Reupert (2007), through the use of self, you are able to convey your skills, attitude, and knowledge to clients. In other words, knowing and addressing your biases through supervision will allow you to work with clients in a more effective manner.
Reference
National Association of Social Worker. (2018). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Worker. Washington, DC: NASW Press.
Reupert, A. (2007). Social worker’s use of self. Clinical Social Work Journal, 35(2), 107–116.
Response to Denise
An explanation of the social work practice skills you have gained by participating in your field education experience
My field education experience has given me as an intern an opportunity to go out into the community and engage with agencies to use the knowledge and skills in the classroom and put them into action through the field experience. According to Birkenmaier and Berg-Weger (2018), the field experience component of social work education is designated by CSWE as the “signature pedagogy” of social work education because it “integrates the theoretical and conceptual contribution of the classroom with the practical world of the practice settings” (p6).
It has allowed me to work with a specific population and gain the experience to apply the skills needed to address these individuals’ issues. By standing with those with whom I work, I can offer insight, support and advocacy to communities who hope to build the framework for change.
While working directly with individuals, as part of a professional team and part of the system as whole I have heard many clients tell me their stories, many of them terrible, and traumatic. At first, they were shocking, interesting, and depressing however, I would become emotionally drained after a long day of interviews. It was a challenge for me during field.
However, my knowledge base grew about what it was really like to deal with clients. We have these theories at school, and homework assignment, and it seems like there is a right answer. But in real life with real clients, it takes a while to come up with answer.
Social work is a collection of theories and practices that deal with individual and social change (Connolly & Harms, 2012). While I have long been engaged in these processes of growth change. I have become embroidered with new tools through my M.S.W in particular, I have learned new ways of working with families, how to navigate and shift social systems, and a broader understanding of how power structures impact society, groups, and individuals.
References
Birkenmaier, J., & Berg-Weger, M. (2018). The practicum companion for social work: Integrating class and fieldwork (4th ed., p. 9). New York, NY: Pearson.
Connolly, M., & Harms, L. (2012). Social work from theory to practice. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Response to Marissa
An explanation of the social work practice skills you have gained by participating in your field education experience
This field education experience has been a huge blessing for me. It has allowed me to learn what great supervision and support is. This field education experience gave me a glance inside a field that is completely new to me. When I began this experience, I did not think I would ever have any interest in working with adults because up to this point, I have only worked with children. This experience helped me establish a confidence when working with adults. In addition to the confidence I have gained, I have also become more self-aware. I am able to point out personal biases and misunderstandings. From there, I am able to work on cultural competency to work through these areas. I have learned to empowerment myself through the work I am doing, but to also empower my clients (Van Voorhis & Hostetter, 2006). I have truly learned the importance of empowerment for my clients and seen how it impacts their success throughout our programs.
In addition, I have gained and strengthened my social work practice skills. I have been given tools and examples to help in organization and efficacy. I have also learned about different therapeutic techniques and have been taught when to use them. I continue to improve on being empathic and genuine. I have worked on my active listening skills such as, position when talking to a client, eye contact, nonverbal communication, and atmospheric setup. I have learned about the importance of being reflective in order to show understanding but to also prompt more information. I have been taught how to use other skills so that I am not constantly asking questions and appearing intrusive. However, sometimes clients need to be asked a variety of questions to get information from them. I have learned when this is appropriate and when it is not. This experience has given me a really strong understanding of how a clinical social work setting is run. Moreover, since this agency is still relatively new, I have gotten to see policies be established and put in place. I have seen clients come and go and I have been given the chance to work with a variety of social work professionals. I am very pleased with this experience and feel that it has helped to shape me for my future career.
Reference
Van Voorhis, R. M., & Hostetter, C. (2006). The impact of MSW education on social worker empowerment and commitment to client empowerment through social justice advocacy. Journal of Social Work Education, 42(1), 105–121.