My professional knowledge at this stage of my career consists of:

Most of my professional knowledge has been developed on the job. I started my career in social services by jumping into one of the most chaotic sectors: Children’s Division. While it was physically and emotionally draining, I’m glad I started there because it’s really where I began to develop my knowledge and my personal framework. This was mostly because I saw a lot of things that I thought should be done differently (essentially rewriting the entire framework for child welfare services). It lit a passion in me and motivated me to go back to school to get my MSW. Transitioning to shelter work has given me some of the best education I could have asked for because my whole day is centered around client care and their basic needs. Shelter work is chaotic and exhausting and dirty, but it’s extremely fulfilling and there’s nothing else like it. My MSW courses and my practicum have allowed me to put vocabulary and real terms to things I didn’t realize I already knew and have taught me ways to bring positive change to my shelter.

Beliefs, values and principles underpinning my practice include:

• Meeting clients where they are at (dignity and worth of the person)
• My job is to help people who ask for it/are told they need it, but I’m there to provide the services my client wants (self-determination)
• My beliefs should not impact my relationship with my client, especially if they differ

My professional practice skills developed thus far include:

• Verbal and written communication skills through hours and hours of detailed documentation→ if it wasn’t documented, it didn’t happen
• Time management through the strict use of a planner and adding in buffer time
• Adaptability and resourcefulness are key when you work in shelters because chaos is usually the theme for the day→ organization is also very helpful for reigning in the chaos
• Want to develop: not taking work home with me, ability to advocate against upper management

The key theories and research that underpins my framework are:

• I think theories and research play more of a subconscious role in my framework because I struggle with actively remembering and implementing them, but when I reflect on my work, I realize I have actually been using them. Strengths-based is my primary framework, mostly because it is the one all the agencies I have worked at use, but also because I think it is empowering for clients to consider their strengths instead of shortcomings. I think evidence-based practice is very important because well-meaning social workers may try new practices with the intent of helping clients, but may actually be causing more harm or just wasting the client’s time.

In conclusion, I will utilize the Generalist Intervention Model/Planned Change Model in my concentration practicum through: 

• I’m not really sure how to answer this without it being about a specific client case.