What a Social Worker is Not.
Social Workers are celebrated for their dedication and service in the month of March. While I am not technically a social worker, I am employed with that title and take pride in the role and profession. However, I wanted to take a different approach for this article. You will find many articles throughout this month written about the hard work, dedication, and other admirable traits that my colleagues have which make them uniquely qualified for this role. But I wanted to take some time and describe what we are not. I feel that there are unrealistic expectations of a social worker at times and wanted to process these thoughts.
Social workers are:
Not robots with an endless supply of empathy, compassion, and frustration tolerance. We have negative emotions, imposter syndrome, anxiety, fear, anger, just like you.
Not always able to “leave work at work”. Countless conversations about suicidal ideations, crisis intervention strategies, risk factors and safety considerations, completed suicides, relapses, death, trauma, sex trafficking, pure evil, threats, physical violence leave us feeling at times defeated or simply speechless.
Not viewed in the same esteem as other professions. We have all spent several years in school to earn our post-graduate degrees with significant training and continuing education requirements. We are more clinically competent than given credit for and our recommendations, diagnoses, and dispositions significantly matter.
Not always able to find it easy to break difficult news to patients, family members, or loved ones. We do not always have the right words or clinical approach for every trauma, hardship, traumatic event, etc.
Not a rolodex for housing opportunities and cannot supersede the legal system to obtain “immediate” guardianship for patients needing those services. Social workers are trained and skilled in certain areas, but we are not an expert in them all. I often hear the phrase, “Well, they just need a guardian and a place to go” as if that is a 45 minutes process.
Not always able process every day with the same adaptive coping strategies that we give our patients and clients. We are not always “OK” after a difficult case.
Not blissfully unaware that we are not always respected, heard, or even valued in some settings. We understand that the mental health system is viewed as “broken” but we are trying. And we hear those negative comments, and it impacts us.
Not constantly analyzing your thoughts or behaviors. I get this question a lot when I tell people my profession. I understand it, but we are not always in an analytical state.
Not just kicking a patient to the curb when we recommend a discharge or discontinuation of services. Not many people see the effort put into our cases and realize how much responsibility falls on the patient to uphold their end. Or realize the barriers that in place that prevent a desired outcome. When this happens, it’s hard for us to and I promise you we think of that patient for days.
I felt compelled to write this article not out of anger, but a desire to bring awareness to our important role. These cases, consults, crises, and sessions we are called upon are rarely straightforward. There is significant nuance to the role of being a social worker but I can assure to you that we are a group of people who are consistently putting the needs of others first and strive to empower everyone we interact with.
I ask for your grace, support, understanding, and respect. I feel we have earned those rights.
