- January 17, 2012
- 12:55 pm
- Rebecca Lowery
- no comments
New Year, New Changes
Since this is my first blog post for 2012, I thought it would be highly appropriate to write about a social work issue directly related to the new year. As I prepared both physically and emotionally to return to my school internship after the new year I quickly came to the harsh realization that many of my students would not be returning with me. I also came to realize that new students would be arriving. This in and of itself presents a whole new set of challenges. Any social worker knows how much time building a therapeutic relationship with the client can take. The presence of new students can also have an immense effect on the flow of the school environment. New students want to build reputations for themselves while veteran students try to test the limits of the “new kids”. It can take weeks, even months, to establish a new, cohesive dynamic. Through all this I realized just how important it is for social workers to adapt to change and be versatile. With an ever changing client base, how can we not be? Our clients rely on us to provide them with stability even in an environment that seems to change on a daily basis.
So how can we ensure that we are flexible for our clients? The first and perhaps most important step to becoming adaptable is to be aware that changes WILL happen. By preparing ourselves and our clients ahead of time, we can be be sure that the client has the power to move forward along with us. The next step is to have a positive outlook. Change doesn’t always have to be a bad thing, and it’s imperative that we remind our clients of that. The third step is to empower our clients to maintain progress after change has been made. We must be models of adaptability for our clients so they can be successful in any circumstance. So here’s the bottom line: making any kind of change is difficult. However, our outlook is what will determine the outcome. Changes only trip us up when we allow them to.
