My first year working within the field of social work has been more rewarding, challenging, and exhilarating than I ever fathomed. With approximately 20% of New York 's residents classified with mental illness, the need for dedicated and compassionate social workers is higher than ever. Gaining hands-on experience in the field has only confirmed my decision to pursue a Master 's degree in Social Work. I have had the opportunity to counsel some extraordinary individuals, which I believe has helped me grow into the person I am today. As cliché as it sounds, I know I was destined to this career path. When I first became interested in this field is easy to pinpoint as my first memory of being a part of a volunteer movement is as vivid as if …show more content…
As a group, we chose to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, a charity organization that builds new homes for families in need. The day of the project, before we started construction, we had the opportunity to meet the family and listen to their stories of hardship and resilience. We then worked all day, through inclement weather, to assemble the first walls of the house. On this day, I discovered a part of myself that I never knew was missing and it was at this moment, when the first walls were being placed, that I realized my passion for social work. Once in college, I quickly joined a variety of service groups as well as, volunteered for various school positions and joined numerous leadership programs. I knew I wanted to peruse a career helping others, though, I was still unclear on what line of services I wanted to devote myself to. Sophomore year rolled around and I, along with many others, dealt with a life-changing experience that provided me clarity with regard to determining what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing. I quickly made a close niche of friends who started coming to me with their personal problems. Like any good friend would do, I listened and provided feedback when appropriate. One day, a close friend …show more content…
However, one night, one decision, one mistake, changed so many lives. An acquaintance of mine was celebrating being reunited with his friends and chose to partake in drinking and drugging, unfortunately, he never woke up. That night, I found myself having to break the horrifying news to one of his truest and closest friends. To this day, it was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I can still see her face when she heard the news, still hear her cries, still feel that same gut wrenching feeling I felt that night. In that moment, I knew I had forever changed someone 's life and realized how avoidable this situation could have been. For months it felt as though a dark cloud hung over the school, his absence was truly impacting to the community. It was this event that confirmed my decision to gear my social work career towards alcohol and substance abuse counseling, as I believe nobody should have to lose their lives to this horrible disease. A career as an alcohol and substance abuse counselor is not for everyone and with substance abuse comes death, destruction, and relapse; unfortunately, many can only see the negative sides of this field. I, however, am capable of seeing the positives and possess the qualities needed to assist this population in achieving their goals and regaining control of their
This essay aims to explore the characteristics that make a good quality social work assessment in child care. Martin (2010) stated that there was “no single agreed definition of social work assessment.” Coulshed and Orme (2006, p24) did not offer a formal definition but they described assessment as “…a basis for planning what needs to be done to maintain, improve or bring about change in the person, the environment or both.” According to the Maclean and Harrison (2015) good assessments must be “purposeful and timely.” This is because practitioners need to be clear about why they are carrying out assessments and what it is they wish to achieve at the end of that assessment.
I am the product of divorced parents, poverty stricken environments, and a blended family, but I refuse to let that dictate the outcome of my life. At the age of ten, I had to assume the role of a fatherly figure to my three siblings, so I missed out on the typical childhood most would have had. I grew up in neighborhoods where gangs and criminal acts of violence were a pervasive occurrence, but I resiliently did not allow the peer pressures of others to force me to conform to their way of life. By the age of 15, I received my worker 's permit, and that allowed me the ability to help my mother financially in the absence of my father’s income. I worked the maximum amount of hours I could while balancing my academics and extracurricular school activities. I was a scholar athlete and triathlete in high school, and although I continuously faced much adversity, I still managed to be accepted to the University of California State, Bakersfield after I graduated from high school in 2005. Sadly, after
I knew I loved to help others but it was not until I was an emerging adult that I knew what my calling was. My devotion to improve the quality of life for those who are disadvantaged is one of the reasons I have chosen to pursue a Master’s in Social Work. After obtaining my masters, I plan on diversifying my masters by getting licensed and becoming a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. I would like to study social work because I feel it will lead me directly to one of the most emotionally fulfilling careers available, as well as giving me the chance to combine helping people 's mental well being with their physical
I have always been a person that must help, it is difficult for me to sit idle and to do work that is meaningless. I left a safe and secure career in retail when I did not find the meaning the profound affect my work had upon another. A year and a half ago I began that journey to help others through starting my role as a therapeutic staff support. I was able to learn many things, and at the ...
Introduction There have been some challenges in trying to figure out the right approach to follow in a research study, and this semester is more of an eye opener that reveals the expected ways in conducting research, which has been a very interesting and tough process. Dudley (2011). The four major search strategies available for locating references related to the chosen topic issues: (1) consultation, (2) searches in subject indexes, (3) browsing, and (4) footnote chasing. Researchers need to be aware of all of these strategies in information gathering. Question 1: What have you learned about research?
Many people don’t know that social workers deal with more mental health than any psychologist, psychiatrist and psychiatric nurses combined. Interesting right? I would definitely have thought otherwise. Social work is a very unique field that is overlooked and should have quite a bit more appreciation than it does. Making it in the real world is tough but thanks to social work peoples civil rights are protected, people with mental illnesses are now able to afford humane treatment and society is more in tune with preventing child abuse and neglect. To be successful in the field of social work you have to care about what you are doing, have ethics, and have empathy… social work is not all about the money.
I have always considered myself a very promising student. I have worked extremely hard and received high grades. I have a close knit group of friends and my teachers and I have mutual respect for each other .Although I would consider myself at this present stage ‘fulfilled’ something was missing. I realized it wasn’t a materialistic aspect of my life. Through a tragic incident I finally discovered what fit perfectly in that vacancy. The consecutive hospitalizations of my grandparents evoked great pain and sorrow. However, out of the scorching intensity of this tragedy I was warmed and comforted by realizing what I was devoid of: community service.
My strengths definitely stem from my passion about helping others and social work. Becoming a mother and overcoming tough challenges is also a strength of mines. That experience made me stronger and shaped who I am today. I definitely intend to encourage my clients that anything is possible and you can do anything that you set your mind to do. Being around my family and the obstacles that we have overcome has definitely gave me a broader perspective of life and the situations that current that can impacts us in many ways. As a social worker it is important to listen, communicate, build rapport with boundaries with our clients in order to be an effective social worker. Being a social worker requires certain core skills. Many of these I learn during my education and internships, others I have learned from different areas of my life. You are required to orient yourself to the ethical codes for social work in order to provide top-notch services to the people you treat in therapy. You may also find it helpful to understand common elements of good therapy. Certainly there are many different skills and traits that you help you succeed as a social worker. Some of the main skills that will help you in the counseling profession include,
I have always known that I wanted my life work to be helping others. Although I did not know what I wanted to do specifically, my goal was to find a career that can better lives of those less fortunate than I am, while also making a good living financially. Through schoolwork and volunteer experience I ultimately chose a path in social work, with an end goal of working with families who have been effected by addiction. I would like to work hands on with those who have the addiction, but would also love to help their family members cope with decisions made by their loved one.
What does it mean to become a social worker? Why was I committing two years of my life to school after renouncing further education? I asked myself this after I applied, waited anxiously for my acceptance letter and scrambled to figure out the finances after I was accepted. I could not have guessed that the first day of the Micro Human Behavior Social Environment (SWG 510) would capture my attention and thrust me into the professional world of Social Work. As I learned more about what it meant to become a social worker, I found myself aligning to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Ethical Standards as reviewed through Foundation Course I’s first chapters.
For as long as I can remember I have had a caring attitude and a sense of compassion towards people. Having had different experience and different view to the society while growing up such as having a family member that was a drug addict and was under the influence of alcohol, having a cousin that was abused by a close relation and witnessing the effect it had on their physical and mental health allowed me to get closer to them and wanting to support them in their daily life. I actively shadowed the role of the social workers that was put in charge of my family members. Watching closely with the kind of support, advice, counselling……. That were provided for them and other personal experience that I had triggered my interest in wanting to find out more and this is when I realized that a career in social work profession would be enjoyable and extremely satisfying. My families’ successful recovery affirmed my desire to become a Social worker
Theory is defined as “…”. In the social work profession, it is not enough to just understand the definition of theory, but rather be able to integrate theory into practice when working to plan interventions at multiple practice levels. This integration of theory into the social work practice is an emphasis of the profession as noted in the profession’s core competencies. Core competency 2.1.6 “engage in research-informed practice and practice-informed research” (NASW code of ethics) is the basis for theory integration within the social work profession. The profession’s practice behaviors state that social workers must “use research evidence to inform practice” (NASW code of ethics). In other words, social workers should “attend to findings
My interest in social work stems from a love of volunteering that I possessed ever since I was a young child expressing great enthusiasm for church and school service events. As I grew older, I began volunteering for many other community events, such as serving over 200 hours at a local hospital, helping with free cancer screenings, and fitting children with free bike helmets. I even created my own donation drive for a local women’s and children’s shelter. I feel the best when I am striving to create positive changes in my community and for struggling, marginalized individuals. Social services have been a part of my life for a very long time, and I want it to continue to be on a professional level.
Research is a necessity when it comes to providing services. Social Workers need it to be able to determine their clients ' needs, to see what resources/services they have access to and if their client doesn 't have much access where can they get it. Research is also used to see how effective an intervention is and whether it would be a right fit for their clients. It provides social service agents with ways to identify problems within their clients, communities, organizations, and the government. Also it helps them to create ways to aid in effective change. It is very beneficial when a social worker needs to "assess the needs and resources of people in their environments, evaluate the effectiveness of social work services in meeting people
The social work profession is defined as “a practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people (ISFW, ‘Global Definition of Social Work’, 2016).” The definition may be true about the profession but it is more in depth than just that. To me, the profession’s primary focus is to help others through life as much as we can while letting them make their own choices and guiding them. In society, social workers are utilized in many different nonprofit and government roles. They serve the community in many different ways from monitoring parent visits to helping people through mental illnesses. Human beings are so complex and things that happen