Self-Care and Social Work: 4 Strategies & Tips to Care for Your Wellbeing
As a social worker, you help others, but because you have to deal with complex human struggles every day, the job can take a toll on your own well-being. Self-care matters more than ever, and neglecting it could impact both your work and your personal life. Let’s explore how to deal with the challenges of social […]
My Experiences Working with Young Children and their Families Before and After Having My Own Children
Connecting with families has always been a professional strength. My peaceful demeanor and empathetic nature lend themselves well to building deep, trusting relationships—even before I became a parent. Because of this, I found myself frustrated when well-meaning colleagues spoke about the various parenting challenges they and our clients faced only to quickly close out the […]
Case Management in Social Work: A Comprehensive Guide for New Social Workers
Case management is a central component of social work, with implications for the manner in which individuals receive assistance in times of crisis. From helping a lone parent secure housing after an eviction to guiding an individual through the complex health system, effective case management plays a critical role in giving vulnerable people access to […]
Why Working in a Preschool was More Challenging than Providing Counseling
As a kid at heart, working in a preschool was a good fit for me but it was not without its challenges. Working in a preschool meant shifting from a planned schedule to handling unpredictable moments—from managing behaviors and multiple crises in the classroom to navigating the sometimes competing needs of students, families and teachers. […]
Giving Back to the Field through Field Supervision
Field supervisors don’t just train future social workers—they shape the future of the profession. While balancing this role alongside daily responsibilities may seem overwhelming, it’s an opportunity for both mentorship and professional growth.”Taking on a leadership role of this importance may feel intimidating at first, especially when added to our current work duties, but it’s […]
How I’ve Repaired Relationships with Caregivers after Filing a Report with CPS
Mandated reporting is one of the toughest aspects of our work, but it plays a critical role in protecting vulnerable populations.Filing a report with protective services can be complicated as we balance our legal obligations with relational considerations and possible safety concerns but repairing the therapeutic relationship after filing with CPS, when appropriate, is possible […]
Ideas for Sexual Assault Awareness Month: How to Get Involved and Support Victim Services
Each April, Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) challenges professionals and communities to stand with survivors, increase the level of their prevention work, and explore how systems can better respond to sexual violence. For victim service providers and social workers, this is not just symbolic awareness — it’s a chance to further trauma-informed practices, create new […]
How Social Workers Can Keep Hope During Tumultuous Times
If you’d asked social workers two months ago, I don’t think many would have predicted the state that we would be in today. Social workers often serve the most vulnerable populations, so when rights are removed and people’s livelihoods are threatened, social workers intimately feel the effects. Whether they’re working with clients who are immigrants, […]
Building Rapport with Tough Clients
There are plenty of social work interventions, but the worker-client relationship is the foundation for nearly all of them. Social workers must learn therefore how to navigate all types of client relationships and how to build rapport with the most easygoing clients to the toughest. Common Challenges with Tough Clients When I worked in community […]
Home Visiting as a Rite of Passage: The Benefits of Starting as a Home Visitor
Social workers gain experience in a variety of settings over the course of their career but home visiting is often our first stop, a collective initiation into the “real world” way of social work. And with good reason—home visiting offers those at the beginning of their career a rich introduction to both the art and […]
