7/26/2023 0 Comments Reflections social work journalIt was an ongoing struggle between where I was and where I wanted to be. It was not an easy process, and some parts were excruciating. Once I started college, I decided to go to counselling and start working on myself. Growing up, I understood what I was feeling but did not have a name for it. Part of it was because I had my own ongoing struggles with depression and anxiety. I had always had an interest in Mental Health. Client work is a big responsibility, and because of that, as providers, we have to allocate time to work through our complexities and struggles. As providers, we are entering into someone’s life, and bear witness to their pain and suffering, in a safe and contained space. I am just going to say it, the work that we do is triggering. Before graduate school, I understood that therapy was beneficial, but it took being on the other side of the provider/client process that I realized how important it truly is. Sometimes, it feels like healing takes place in collaboration with the support of another individual, who is willing to stay neutral and walk through the pain with you. It triggers a part of my own life experience that I am still working on bringing healing to. I am talking about this because the feeling of wanting to take away someone’s pain/suffering is extremely real to me. Over time, these positive and negative experiences are compounded, shaping the individual that is sitting across from you in a therapeutic space.Īs a provider, after spending a lot of time working on myself, I have found that I have a tough time sitting with a person’s discomfort, without wanting to fix it. Life experiences, environment, and social supports all contribute to the collective experience. Individuals are complex, and change/progress is not a linear process, it is almost like a dance that takes place over time. This polarized thinking, if not checked, can lead to provider burnout extremely quickly. We always hear about the numbers: how many clients did you see, how long did you see them for, how many positive outcomes did you have? While knowing this information is important, it is easy to get caught up in checking off completed tasks. Still, the reality is that there are very real expectations being placed on providers that happens when the direct client work is not taking place. Theoretically, reflection would happen every day, even multiple times a day. Reflection is an essential component of direct client work because it allows the provider to gauge the state of their internal responses. So much comes up in the day to day tasks, that sometimes it isn’t very easy to take time to reflect. For the past few days, I have reflected a lot on what it means to be in the field of social services - reflecting what it means to be a social worker, from my perspective and the perspective of the individuals that I support.
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