Social workers should understand that engagement is an ongoing component of social work practice with diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Social workers should value human relationships and understand strategies of engaging with diverse clients to have more advanced practice effectiveness. As a social worker, I will value principles of relationship building and interprofessional collaboration to facilitate engagement with clients, constituencies, and other professionals as appropriate.
For competency 6 social workers engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. I used the knowledge of providing a structure for therapy sessions in order to establish expectations for clients. Staying consistent for the structure of therapy is an example of practicing the value of trustworthiness.
During the field practicum I attended mandatory trainings on adverse occurrence, anti-harassment, telehealth services, client rights, clinical pathway for suicide prevention, cultural competence, duty to warn, environmental safety in the workplace, first aid, non-discrimination, psychiatric medications: an overview for paraprofessionals, and substance use in the workplace (6.1)
These trainings were imperative to my preparation to the field placement and scenarios that could be encountered throughout the practicum. The cognitive and affective processes I used included remembering the information on the trainings and responding to scenarios in which the trainings applied to. During my coursework our group worked on implementing diverse education for all staff at Mind, Body, Soul Healing as to encourage professional engagement across systems (6.1).
During the field practicum, Centerstone provided me with an intake outline which is one way to conduct intakes with clients (6.2). The theoretical foundation used in this evidence is person in environment theory, that states that a person is heavily influenced by their environment; and their problems and issues can be largely understood by environmental influences. In establishing this policy, the work environment sets a tone of empowerment.
For my coursework, our team created a program which includes collaborating with other evidence-based programs in the community in order to end homelessness in Hamilton county. We wrote a paper on the functions of the local agencies that serve those from the homelessness community (6.2).