Mother Teresa Tenets Of Empowerment

Creating Ripples Words never fade. Whether they help or hurt an individual, words influence his or her thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors long after he or she hears them. Even though Mother Teresa has passed away, her work and quotes influence me as an aspiring social worker. She once said, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples” (as cited in Bradberry, 2015). Mother Teresa worked in the slums of Calcutta, India with the poor and the outcasts. Even though her outreach was limited, she influenced the entire world by creating ripples. I desire to be a social worker that continually welcomes those who need empowering while simultaneously creating ripples to the broader society.
Empower the One and Ripples Will Come Mother Teresa affected the world through her love, kindness, and genuineness. She never wanted to gain fame but rather change the world by helping one person at a time. Social workers also do this by employing the tenets of empowerment. According to Langer and Lietz (2015), effective use of the empowerment theory requires being culturally competent and aware (p. 178). Mother Teresa did this by leaving the Sisters of Loreto in 1948 to dedicate her life to knowing and

She goes on to call them her “brothers and sisters,” which resembles how a collaborative, social work relationship should operate (as cited in Sterling, 2014). Practitioners view their consumers as equals and more knowledgeable about their lives than a social worker’s perspective. This empowers them and gives them a sense of unconditional positive regard, which Langer and Lietz (2015) say is a key concept of humanism and client-centered theory (p. 124). To best, “cast a stone,” I know I must welcome consumers with genuine interest, unconditional positive regard, and as experts of their own