When one thinks of Martin Luther King Jr., one often thinks of how he believed in social justice, equality, perseverance, and improving the lives of others. I felt that this quote captured all of that beautifully and wanted to share … Continue reading
I recently stumbled across an excellent article from The New Social Worker that I wanted to share with you as part of celebrating Social Work Month 2015. In the article, a social worker challenges the idea that medical social work only involves death and sadness. She does so by sharing the experiences in her work that highlight strength, courage, hope, and most of all, moments that celebrate life. Being a medical social worker myself, this piece really resonated with me:
“It’s actually about celebrating life. I experience the privilege of feeling overwhelming gratitude and witnessing resilience on a daily basis. What more could one ask in a career?”
If you are interested in learning more about the field of medical social work, I encourage you to follow this link to the full article: The Privilege of Medical Social Work | The New Social Worker.
Happy Social Work Month!
As a quick follow-up to yesterday’s post about who social workers are and what we do, I felt that this photo summed it up quite nicely:
Gives thanks to a social worker today. Happy Social Work Month!
Happy March and Happy Social Work Month! Given the fact that there are still many misconceptions about the profession, I think it’s pretty cool that we have an entire month dedicated to the appreciation of our work. Being a social worker myself, I am always open to opportunities in which I can shed more light on this very diverse and dynamic field. For starters, what exactly is social work anyway? While it’s difficult to provide one all-encompassing definition, overall social workers strive to improve the lives of others by assessing various psychosocial determinants in order to develop tailored interventions. In simplest terms, we want to create change, whether that be at the interpersonal level or on a larger political scale. It’s also important to note that we operate from a very specific set of ethics and values (See: NASW Code of Ethics). Later this month I will elaborate on some of these core values, and why they are so important to the work we do.
Now that we have that covered, you may find yourself wondering what kinds of people social workers serve and where we can be found. Basically, anyone and everyone could very well find themselves in the care of a social worker at some point, as social workers are employed in a large variety of settings. I personally specialize in medical social work, with a background in child development and pediatrics. However, this diverse field certainly expands far beyond the medical world. Below I’ve provided a list of some of the different areas of practice:
Keep in mind that this list is not exclusive and that many of the areas overlap. In each area or specialty, social workers operate within a specific role. Some examples of services social workers provide include supportive counseling, psychotherapy, case management, referral to community resources, grant writing, organization of social and political movements, research, program development, and more. Social workers provide these services to a diverse clientele, including children struggling in school, patients impacted by cancer, or individuals coping with the loss of a loved one.
As you can see, the social work profession is full of diversity and has endless possibilities. We are changing the world one person, one family, and one community at a time. Give thanks to a social worker today.
CONFESSIONS OF AN ASPIRING SOCIAL WORKER 