Understanding generalist practice

Week 10: Self-Reflection

Important Note: Please use the media player below to hear an audio course introduction that will give you more background information about the course topic. Also provided is a transcript for you to download and print out.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2013). Self-reflection [Audio file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Note:  The approximate length of this media piece is 1 minute.

 

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings

Garthwait, C. L. (2017). The social work practicum: A guide and workbook for students (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Chapter 15, “Evaluating Your Practice” (pp. 172-184)

Required Media

Laureate Education (Producer). (2013). Self-reflection [Audio file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Note: This audio introduction is located in the Introduction section. The approximate length of this media piece is 1 minute.

Optional Resources

Click this link to access the MSW home page, which provides resources for your social work program:
MSW home page

Assignment: Week 10 Blog

Refer to the topics covered in this week’s resources, and incorporate them into your blog.

By Day 3

Post a blog post that includes:

• An explanation of the social work practice skills you have gained by participating in your field education experience

By Day 4

Respond to the blog post 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.

You will be assigned to author regular blog entries as well as make comments on each other’s blog postings.
Response 1

Monica Brandon  at Thursday, January 30, 2020 2:27:51 AM

I completed my field at Favor House of Northwest Florida. I worked with victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. During my time there I completed intakes, psychoeducation classes, crisis phone calls, and counseling. According to Garthwait (2018) “it is important to learn how the process of integrating academic content and actual practicum experiences”. When completing my field I wanted to ensure I incorporated the social work competencies from my learning agreement. During field 1 I did more observing of what my field supervisor did so I could learn how to complete the tasks that would be assigned to me. During field 2 my field supervisor left for another position so me and another intern had to complete most of the duties she had until a new counselor was hired. It was a bit challenging at first, but I enjoyed the experience and learned a lot about the population and myself.

I have always had empathy when working with my clients at work, but I feel empathy is one of my social work skills I have improved on. Empathy is acknowledging you understand the client’s situation (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, Jr., 2018). Domestic violence(DV) victims/survivors will sometimes go back to their abuser which can be difficult to understand. After working with the women and listening to what they have been through, I have more empathy in understanding their decisions. I understand sometimes it may be safer for them to stay until they have a safe plan to leave. When looking at statistics it was shown the most dangerous time for a DV victim is when they are leaving. Providing information was a very important social work skill I had to do with the clients. I had to learn the different community resources that could assist the clients so I could complete appropriate referrals. Providing information and resources can make a big difference for the clients we serve. Empowerment was another skill I used with the clients. Emphasizing a client strength reinforces their sense of self-respect and self-value, provides hope, and helps them to problem solve by relying on their strengths (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, Jr., 2018). Some of the clients had difficult lives from their childhood and they had difficulty seeing their strengths which affected their perception of their self-worth/self-value. I enjoyed working with them and I pray I was able to help someone. I enjoyed it so much I will be working PRN for the shelter after my internship is complete.

Resources

Garthwait, C. L. (2017). The social work practicum: A guide and workbook for students (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Kirst-Ashman, K.K., & Hull, G. H., Jr. (2018). Understanding generalist practice

(8th ed.)Boston,MA: Cengage Learning.

Response 2

Brianna Bothof  at Wednesday, January 29, 2020 11:03:34 PM

During my field placement, I have had the opportunity to practice social work skills needed in practice. In my previous career, I had very little interaction with clients in a clinical setting. While my time at this field placement did not include as much client interaction as I anticipated, it did give me quality experiences and supervision discussions to practice my social work skills.

This internship gave me enough experience with clients to develop a basic comfort level with interviewing skills, building rapport, and active listening. I was able to practice skills in developing interview questions, as well as listening and responding to answers. The ability to gain quality information from clients is an essential skill for social workers (Garthwait, 2017).

In addition to interview skills, my field work allowed me to develop my organizational skills related to policy and procedure, billing, and file management. These are crucial skills in small practices, and I know I have grown in my own understanding of insurance and how it affects access to services. By understanding how our health insurance system works, we can better serve clients at all levels of practice. This was a skill that I was not expecting to develop during my field practice, but I am so glad that I did.

Resources:

Garthwait, C. L. (2017). The social work practicum: A guide and workbook for students (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Response 3

Noelia Antonio  at Monday, January 27, 2020 7:26:39 AM

Within my field education experience, there are a few skills that I believe I have gained. One of the skills I have gained that I believe affected me the most is practicing tolerance. Although I have constantly met clients that had different beliefs from me, I have never met a client who shared a belief that I felt very strongly against due to how unfair it was towards those that were being badly talked about. It was through working with this client that I had to push my own personal thoughts and feelings aside and accept this individual’s own beliefs. These beliefs came from experiences that were very traumatizing for them and I had to also be empathetic for how these beliefs came about. It is important to always be self-aware and evaluate ourselves in order to ensure we are being ethical and appropriate with those we serve and not letting our biases interfere with our service delivery (Garthwait, 2017).

References:

Garthwait, C. L. (2017). The social work practicum: A guide and workbook for students (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.