SOCW 6520 WK 8 responses 

Respond to the blog post of three colleagues Has to be responded to separately and different responses in one or more of the following ways: Name first and references after every person

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

Peer 1: AMBER

An explanation of the use of self during your field education experience that you may have encountered or that you might encounter

           According to Ganzer (2007), the use of self allows the social worker to be better able to adjust to uncertainty through empathy and experience. In doing so, social workers would be better able to understand the client and be better apt to assist them during treatment. During this field experience, this use of self would be something that I may experience. For example, while attending my supervised visitation sessions I need to utilize my use of self by being empathetic towards the clients and the situations they are going through. In doing so, I am able to provide the proper care and resources that ensure the client’s needs are being met. In addition, I utilize my sense of self by working closely with families that are struggling to meet due to COVID restrictions. In other words, I am currently working with clients on rescheduling sessions due to children, parents and myself all getting sick. Therefore, using my sense of self I am able to put myself in the clients shoes through the frustration they are feeling about not being able to meet. While my disclosure does not exceed whether or not I am sick as well there may be times in the future that disclosure may be needed in order to build a rapport with the client. However, at this time my use of self consists of being understanding of what the clients are facing since we are all still struggling with COVID restrictions. Thus, this has allowed me to build a rapport with my clients as we work hard to ensure that all needs are being met.

A description of potential boundary challenges in your field education experience

           While Ganzer (2007) discusses how the use of self-disclosure can bring forth many boundary challenges the only challenge that I may experience would be that of giving clients my personal cell number. This form of self-disclosure causes boundary challenges in the sense that it gives clients easy access to me even after hours. Which in turn can lead to a faster rate of burnout as I feel obligated to respond. In addition, this is a boundary challenge as it forces me to respond to clients on days that I am not in. With that being said, I have had to tell clients my work schedule so that they do not text outside of those hours. In doing so, this decreases boundary challenges as well as the risk of burnout.

References

Ganzer, C. (2007). The use of self from a relational perspective. Clinical Social Work Journal, 35(2), 117-123.

Peer 2: Ritchie

The use of self in social work practice is the combining of knowledge, values, and skills gained in social work education with aspects of one’s personal self, including personality traits, belief systems, life experiences, and cultural heritage (Dewane, 2006). It is the use of self that enables social workers to strive for authenticity and genuineness with the clients we serve, while at the same time honoring the values and ethics, we so highly value in social work practice (Walter, 2008).

           When worker are being genuine and having skills to listen and interact with patients and families effectively has required me to be intuitive. During my process recording last week, I discussed my counter with a patient’s daughter who was in denial about her father being in hospice and the seriousness of their decease. Use of self requires me to have the skill and ability to provide understanding to the approach of care and support when in conversation with the daughter. In contrast, it is not my place to dishearten her but support her in her coming to terms with her father’s condition.

I have to run into a challenge in my field with the use of self, but I imagine it would be related to understanding interventions that may be necessary to know and apply to a patient and or the bereaved party. According to Ganzer (2007), while we have come a long way from the therapist’s idea as a blank screen in practice, we still rely on the therapist’s technical expertise and effective interventions. This tendency speaks to the role of self as an instrument or tool and assumes that the therapist has some degree of knowledge of what the patient may need.

Walter (2008) states that, the use of self as a therapeutic tool, allows the worker to be able to effectively establish rapport, improve outcomes of interventions and contribute something to the field of social work no one else can contribute—”your unique personality, worldview, relationship skills, and life experience.”

Reference

Dewane, C. J. (2006). Use of self: A primer revisited. Clinical Social Work Journal, 34(04), 543-558.

Ganzer, C. (2007). The use of self from a relational perspective. Clinical Social Work Journal, 35(2), 117–123

Walter, H.B., (2008). An Introduction to Use of Self in Field Placement. The New Social Worker. https://www.socialworker.com/feature-articles/field-placement/An_Introduction_to_Use_of_Self_in_Field_Placement/

Peer 3: David

I embrace my unique ability to use my personality and sense of humor to set individuals at ease and to build relationships and or rapport with clients. Due to the fact that I came from a lower socioeconomic background, where I had to face many obstacles in my own life before going to college and getting my BA degree, I am able to draw from my own feelings and experiences to develop empathy and understanding for clients and the situations they find themselves in. In this context, I employ the “use of self” in my social work field placement.

Boundaries are created due to the fact that even though I come from the lower socioeconomic status as most clients, my perception and thought process has elevated through education and applying the skills learned to create tangible change. Just because I was from the hood, I am not of the hood. Setting this boundary enables clients to want to better themselves, with myself as an example.

              The use of self in social work practice is the combining of knowledge, values, and skills gained in social work education with aspects of one’s personal self, including personality traits, belief systems, life experiences, and cultural heritage (Dewane, 2006). It is the use of self that enables social workers to strive for authenticity and genuineness with the clients we serve, while at the same time honoring the values and ethics we so highly value in social work practice. In an effort to explain the use of self, I use the micro skills assessment/case management as an example of how use of self looks in professional practice (Ganzer,2007). When I engage in individual or group sessions, I am exposed to the same basic skill set (e.g., paraphrasing, summarization, responding to content, feeling, and meaning) (Poorman,2003). These skills are manifested through my personality, relational skills, and developmental capacity. The goal is to master the integration of my social work skills with my authentic self.

               To integrate the authentic self into the skills required for social work field placement, it is helpful to view the use of self from five different perspectives: Use of Personality, Use of Belief System, Use of Relational Dynamics, Use of Anxiety, and Use of Self Disclosure (Dewane, 2006). Through analyzing each of the constructs and their application to my daily practice, I begin to discover the unique attributes that will enable me to relate to clients in a more authentic manner and contribute to the field of social work in a way that is uniquely reflective of me.

 References 

Dewane, C. J. (2006). Use of self: A primer revisited. Clinical Social Work Journal, 34(04), 543-558.

Ganzer, C. (2007). The Use of Self from a Relational Perspective. Clinical Social Work Journal, 35(2), 117–

123. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1007/s10615-007-0078-4

 Poorman, P. B. (2003). Microskills and theoretical foundations for professional helpers. Boston:

Allyn & Bacon.