Essay On The Personal Details Of The Social Worker

INTERVIEW WITH A SOCIAL WORKER

Introduction
Social work involves constant interactions with people n the process of working with them to take them through their problems. Social work involves a wide spectrum of interactions such as psychotherapy, social work, environmental work and even clinical interactions. The article discusses the experiences of a licensed social worker-the elating experiences and the frustrations- in a renown institution. The respondent, Juliana Bdisle, was interviewed for about one hour starting 8 A.M. The interview was conducted in 2421 Auburn Ave Cincinnati OH 45219 on 2/20/2015. The details of the agency that the interviewee works for are discussed. The information is obtained through an interview whereby the work experiences of the social worker are discussed. The inspiration behind their decision to be involved in social work is also discussed. The interview includes details on the social worker’s future plans regarding their life and career. Personal views regarding the field of social work are included as are the skills and knowledge that are obtained from the responses given by the interviewee.

Juliana is a licensed social worker in Ohio. She is also a licensed supervisor of other social workers in pursuit of independent licensure. Juliana’s undergraduate in Social Work was obtained in Mount St. Joseph in 2001 after which she got a Masters Degree in social work at the University of Kentucky. Juliana was involved in general practice after her undergraduate whereby she mainly dealt with case management, emergency services and resource brockering. It was during the Masters Degree that the professors recommended that she take up clinical social work.
It was after the recommendations that Juliana decided to take up the social work that involves the psychotherapy kind of counseling. Juliana’s first ten years of practice were spent in the counseling of adolescent and younger children that have been involved in sexual crimes such as rape. She learned that the thinking of sexual offenders is different from normal people’s thinking. Working with adult sexual offenders was different with working with adult sexual offenders. Juliana realized that it was much easier to reform the behavior and thinking of the younger offenders as compared to the mature ones. Juliana has been a social worker for twenty years now.
The reason that Juliana chose social work as her field of professional interest was partially influenced by the catholic doctrine of social work and volunteering. Juliana grew up as a catholic. Both her parent are medics whereby the father is a doctor and the mother a nurse. However, they did not only engage in social work, but they served the very poor populations that had little to offer in compensation for gratitude. In addition to that, the Franciscan Philosophy of giving has been her guide and inspiration throughout her career.
Juliana first worked with the SACHA Counseling and Advocacy Agency. After the ten years of working with adolescents and adult victims of sexual assault, Juliana gained a new insight to the thinking of the victims and their reactions such as the taking of drugs among other antisocial behavior.
In regard to the department of operation of Juliana, she works at the center of individuals and families. In addition to that, Juliana works with Treehouse because of her profound experience with children. Juliana currently works with populations aged between 45 and 65 years. That is because that is the most vulnerable to cancer. The dominant gender of the clients is the female gender. White Caucasian males are also significant in the population.
The agency is also involved in a lot of outreach work whereby most of the populations that are reached are those of black Americans. The reason for reaching out to such minority groups as black Americans is because they are not easy to connect with. The agency also hopes to establish more working relations with the Hispanic populations. That should be made possible by the collaborations and partnerships with other Hispanic organizations.

Agency

Juliana currently with Cancer Family Care (CFC), an agency that offers education and medical, and psychological support to cancer patients and their families. The programs that are offered by CFC include Treehouse Children Services, Coping Connections and the Center for Individual and Family Counseling. The agency works in Ohio and Kentucky. CFC has a vision of an enlightened society in regard to cancer. The Mission Statement is to strengthen children’s wellbeing and alleviate their suffering, as well as the suffering of their families.

Frustrations and Rewards

Juliana confessed to having had a wonderful time when working with the victims of sexual violence. It gave her a whole new perspective on the thinking patterns of children, and especially those with psychological problems. Juliana believes that the experience equipped her with the necessary skills to handle her own children. Working with cancer families also made Juliana realize that cancer does discriminate. It can affect anybody, good or bad, rich or poor, happy or sad, anybody. Juliana said the feeling that comes with helping a person recover from a health problem is fulfilling. The same goes for the wonderful journey with the patient towards recovery. It conducts counseling, school-based services, school and community programs. The profession of social work has its frustrations. Juliana stated some of them as the lack of adequate appreciation for her hard work. In addition to that, the documentation of the work progress and cases could be frustrating. Documenting the work is made difficult by the profound content of the work and the difficulty in verbalizing it and putting it down in the form of text. There is also the emotional weight that comes with handling all people’s emotions, listening to their problems and dealing with their loss.
One of the lessons I learned from the interview was the extent to which a sick child affects their family and the lives of the adults surrounding it. There was also the lesson on the impact that a sick parent as on the family, and the negative impact of the depression that comes about with the illness. The parent could be emotional and treat the children with undeserved harshness. I also learned that to be a social worker, one must be willing to deal with the many negative impacts of the work. The perspective of Juliana on social work reflects the course work that requires the person to be strong, both emotionally and physical. According to me, social work could be draining and sometimes, even the social worker needs therapy to deal with the frustrations that come with the work.
In conclusion, social work requires both professional and personal interaction skills. It is impossible to simply succeed in psychotherapy based on books and academic success. The willingness of a person also matters in their success in the career of social work and community service