Introduction
The purpose of this blog is to discuss personal social work practice skills gained by participating in the field education experience. The practicum encouraged the social work intern to apply academic knowledge in real-life situations and understand the actual needs of diverse clients. The intern was expected to obtain social work skills at the practicum agency to offer effective interventions and quality service to their future clients.
Main body
The professional growth of the social work intern participating in the practicum at Vatsalya Adult Medical Daycare Center was assessed through self-reflection. The method allowed to analyze individual field education experience and social work skills acquired throughout the practicum (Laureate Education, 2013). The field education experience at Vatsalya provided the social worker with a set of essential professional skills and allowed them to acquire active listening, cultural competency, confidence, and problem-solving abilities during the practice at the agency. The generalist practice promoted at Vatsalya involved the social worker’s use of critical thinking skills to recognize truth and formulate opinions about certain situations (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2018).
The practicum setting including the sessions with vulnerable African American, Hispanic, and Asian clients taught the intern how to use the standards of the NASW Code of Ethics. The case of the rehabilitating client requiring occupational therapy taught the intern about the need to apply public policies and regulations for the benefit of vulnerable clients (Garthwait, 2017). It should be noted that ethical decision-making is an important social work skill allowing professionals to select appropriate interventions according to ethical principles.
In addition to the profession-specific skills and competencies, participation in field education experience helps master organizational and time-management abilities to improve the effectiveness and productivity of counseling sessions.
Reasonable time allocation enhanced the capacity of the intern to meet deadlines and avoid stress or burnout. The encounter with the speech-impaired dementia client taught the social work intern about the benefits of taking pauses and breaks during sessions. The measures helped build rapport and improve the client’s compliance with the implementation plan. Other general work skills included writing (reports, records) and information-processing skills, as well as the ability to work under supervision and utilize the instructor’s feedback for professional improvement.
Writing skills were efficiently employed by the social worker in process recording assignments used to analyze specific sessions and improve the interventions offered for vulnerable and diverse Vatsalya clients. Research skills were developed by the intern during field education experience to examine best practices available for particular cases and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions. Finally, the practicum explained how to use empathy, an open-minded attitude, and personal values for the benefit of clients and the agency. For instance, empathy helped establish trust and positively impact the confidence of the female client with age-related self-esteem issues.
Conclusion
To sum up, field education experience helped the social work intern learn essential skills and combine academic knowledge with real-life experience. Professional skills and competencies acquired at the agency included listening, problem-solving, cultural competency, and respect for diversity. The general work skills and the use of empathy and personal values were also learned and applied during the practicum.
References
Garthwait, C. L. (2017). The social work practicum: A guide and workbook for students (7th ed.). Pearson.
Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hull, G. H., Jr. (2018). Understanding generalist practice (8th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Laureate Education (Producer). (2013). Self-reflection. Web.