Building Hope Counseling Services

Happy Social Work Month!

I am so proud to be a social worker and I am endlessly grateful for the joy that social work has brought to my life.

Being a social worker is by no means easy. It is, in my humble opinion, one of the most challenging careers out there.

And it is so incredibly rewarding.

We don’t get into this field for money, fame, or accolades. That being said, this week about half of my caseload told me that they appreciate me and I’m really helping them. Did they know it’s Social Work Month? Probably not. But I am taking their comments as gifts from the Social Work Gods this month and my clients noticing their own progress is all the thanks that I need.

I love being a social worker. This month, I have been reflecting on my social work journey and I ‘m excited to share those reflections with you! (In two parts, of course, as is my way.)

School Based Social Work

My first experience of my social work career was at the King Open Extended Day program in Cambridge, Massachusetts. At KOED, I provided individual therapy, family support, and classroom support to elementary school students. I had a lot of fun being creative and going on field trips and I also experienced difficulties engaging with coworkers with different experiences than I had at the time.

I attribute most of the mishaps I had in this position to being young and the very definition of “you’re doing too much.”

Although I am not involved in the school system today, I still learned valuable lessons that inform my practice.

Lesson Learned: Children are just small humans.

This may seem somewhat obvious to some, but many adults forget the stress of childhood. Grown-up problems feel so much bigger and more important to grown-ups. But to a 6-year-old? Not being able to find the right color crayon is a Very. Big. Deal.  Yet children are told so often to be quiet, to be still, to be good. If, as an adult, you struggle to regulate your emotions, how do you expect a child to be able to?

Today, as I work with adults with histories of trauma, I always keep the inner child in mind. Children are resilient, yes, but they also carry wounds that impact their adult-self if they are not given the support, comfort, and autonomy that they need and deserve in childhood.

Substance Abuse and Social Work

My second internship while working towards my MSW was at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program in Quincy, Massachusetts.

I absolutely loved this job. And I hated it. And I loved it.

It was hard. It was really fckn hard. And it was one of the most rewarding, stimulating, challenging, educational experiences of my career.

While interning at the rehab, I would conduct therapy for groups of 10 to 40 people. (Have you ever tried to get 40 adults to listen to you? As a 20-something year old woman? While the men were all going through various stages of withdrawal??? Pheeewwwww…)

Working at the rehab was a masterclass in how unhealed trauma manifests itself.

I learned a lot about myself in this internship – Who I was, who I wanted to be as a social worker, and how far I was willing to go to help someone else – the answer to that last one was “pretty damn far… maybe too far.”

Lesson Learned: If helping you hurts me, I can’t help you at all.

Working at the rehab was when I first started to really understand the concept of boundaries.

At this time in my life, I was very good at caring for my clients and not so good at caring for myself.

Frequently working 12-hour days, skipping lunch, and crying between sessions seemed like a rite of passage at the time.

Now, as someone interested in management and supervision, I would never allow someone to put themselves through what I went through in the name of helping or healing someone else. (Secondary lesson learned: Your supervisor and your team matters.)

It wasn’t healthy and it led to symptoms of burn out and of secondary Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It took me years after this experience to learn how to balance my own mental health with caring for the health of others.

The biggest lesson I took away from this time in my life is that if I am on the brink of a mental breakdown, I cannot help anyone else.

Final Thoughts

The internships I had while working towards my MSW shaped who I have become as a clinician. Although I do not work directly with children or often with those in recovery, the lessons I learned in these environments still inform my practice today.

Something both experiences had in common is that I learned to have empathy for populations that others might brush to the side. Those of us without voices need the rest of us to stand up for what is right – Access to healthcare, education, and mental health services. No matter what age, no matter what diagnosis, no matter what zip code.

Next week we will be looking at the positions I have held since I completed grad school! I hope you have enjoyed my reflections and maybe have had a few reflections of your own about how social workers may have had an impact on your life or the lives of those around you.

Happy healing!