Fluent Essays

The Winter Count Length: Varies – minimum length 6 pagesNo Internet images please. It has to be created by own. Students will not be judged for drawing skills but It should make sense for social workers. For Instance a picture of a flower to compare with social worker in terms of self care if social workers take care of themselves then they can spread happiness in world as flowers spread fragrance , and work as role models etc Indigenous peoples that lived on the Prairies practiced a specific form of literacy called the winter count. The winter count was a symbolic way to recall significant events that occurred in the lives of the people. Symbols descriptive of the event were painted on buffalo robes by community members skilled in those ways. Your task is to create your own series of winter count-like symbols (without the use of google, letters or words) that represent your learning in this course. You are required to create one winter count-like symbol for 5 different classes (you can choose which ones) and provide some written explanation and interpretation of the significance of the symbol to your thinking, feeling, and learning in relation to the ideas and topics we have discussed. At the completion of the course, you should have created 5 symbols with interpretations. Your task is to consider these both individually and as a synthesized whole, regarding them as a compilation of your thinking and feeling as we moved through the various aspects of the course. Your job is to review these symbols, along with the related explanations, and use them as inspiration to write a synthesized statement that tells the ‘story’ of your experience in this course. This assignment is not meant to test your artistic skills but to instead support you to find different ways to think about the topics we discuss and to consider them in a holistic manner. You will not be graded on your symbols themselves, but rather on your interpretation and analysis of the symbols and your process.Day 1 January 8 ⦁ Introductions and course orientation ⦁ Course overview: goals, learning objectives⦁ Trauma informed practice reminders⦁ Trauma exposure response – negative impacts⦁ Trauma exposure response – positive impacts Austin, et al, Chapter 3(Available on BlackBoard) Hernandez, P., Gangsei, D., & Engstrom, D (2007). Vicarious resilience: A new concept in work with those who survive trauma. Family Process, 46(2) 229-241. (Available on Blackboard) Days 2 & 3 January 9 & 10 ⦁ Professional Resilience ⦁ Grief and Loss Grant & Kinman, Chapters 4, 8, & 9 Day 6 January 13 & 14 ⦁ Moral conflict in social work Practice – Advocating for yourself to “be the social worker you want to be”.⦁ Boundaries⦁ Difficult work environments⦁ Organizational issues⦁ Making mistakes – coping with guilt and shame in social work practice Grant & Kinman, Chapter 3, 8, 10 Gibson, M. (2014). Social worker shame in child and family social work: Inadequacy, failure, and the struggle to practice humanely. Journal of Social Work Practice, 28(4), 417-431. (Available on BlackBoard) sowk_445_difficult_work_environments_week_nine.pptx sowk_445_grief_and_loss___class_five.pptx sowk_445_introduction.pptx sowk_445_making_mistakes___class_12.pptx sowk_445_moral_conflict___class_six_1_.pptx Unformatted Attachment Preview Difficult Work Environments Check-in  How have you, as a student or as a worker, been impacted by workplace dynamics? How can we understand workplace dynamics in the context of trauma exposure? Lateral violence  Peer-to-peer acts  Seen as connected to larger violence and oppression  Leaking What happens when we are struggling? Workplace impacts  Feeling powerless and unable to change anything in your workplace  Negative connection to others – work relationships become about complaining about others – triangulation  Putting struggle onto co-workers and managers How does this impact client/worker relationships? Boundaries erode  Oversharing  Other thoughts?  Where have you noticed that your times of struggle with the difficult nature of being a helper has leaked into your workplace relationships? Have you noticed times when you are stuck in negative conversations about work? Do you see yourself talking to everyone but the person you are upset with? Has debriefing turned into complaining? Do you feel unable to effect change within your workplace? Triangulation: Basic concepts      Relationships are most “stable” in triangles Rescuer Triangular relationships helps each member of the triangle deal with anxiety Triangles are resistant to change Motivations of all participants are different but all equally toxic Conflict and Persecutor communication works best when direct Victim Triangulation: Motivators Rescuer: Fear Persecutor: Anger Victim: Sadness or Shame Triangulation: Change     Any member of a Rescuer Triangle can change the relationship Roles will often shift Most effective way to change a triangle is to not participate Watch for Persecutor professional triangulation Victim Triangulation: Typical scenarios Rescuer: Helping Professional Persecutor: Colleague Victim: Colleague Triangulation: Typical scenarios Rescuer: Colleague Persecutor: Management Victim: Colleague Healthy Conflict Resolution Person Person Triangulation: Healthy use • Empower “Victim” to manage situation • Try not to take sides but offer perspective • Provide support and encouragement • Ensure safety • Encourage direct resolution “Persecutor” “Rescuer” “Victim” Have you seen how triangles work in your professional life? In what ways have you put yourself in the various roles (“rescuer”, “persecutor”, “victim”)? Unhealthy peer support  Ineffective Peer Support ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ possible contagion triangulation negative work environment Feeling unsafe Healthy peer support  Effective Peer Support ◦ Encourages connections between people with similar work experiences ◦ Builds positive supportive work culture Trauma informed organizations and staff   Extending trauma-informed care to those who work for the organization – remembering that all staff can be impacted. Understanding impact of working with trauma for staff members What does this mean for organizations?   The frame needs to change from which staff are effected by trauma exposure (or if staff are effected) to trying to understand the impact for each staff member. All will be effected; we need to work towards understanding what trauma exposure means for staff. ◦ This is akin to changing from “what is wrong with you” to “what happened to you” in trauma informed practice. How do organizations impact trauma exposure response? Organizational issues are often identified as the factor which exacerbate negative trauma exposure impacts and lead to leaving employment. Not necessarily causal but more of a last straw. Creating barriers to helping: helpers “. . . found the work more difficult because of the institutional barriers within the . . . systems that their clients were forced to navigate” (Bell, Kulkarni, & Dalton, 2003).   Chino, Benton, and Kim (2009) found that passive defensive organizational cultures had a negative impact on the retention of early career social workers (defined as working one day to three years). Passive defensive cultures were defined as those that were concerned with following rules, assigning blame and resistant to change. Agencies appear to focus on TIP for clients, but there is little evidence that the same effort is made for staff (Wolf, Green, Nochajski, Mendel, & Kusmaul, 2014)   Disregard for safety and comfort of staff. “A safe, comfortable, and private work environment is crucial for those social workers in settings that may expose them to violence” (Bell, Kulkarni, & Dalton, 2003). Only providing evaluative or administrative supervision. Clinical supervision is needed to allow practitioner to process emotional reactions to their work. Some suggest that administrative and clinical supervision should be separate roles (Choi, 2011) Supervision Peer Support Effective Supervision Effective Peer Support • Provides a safe space in which the helper could express frustrations and emotions, • Honestly examine practice, be challenged to make changes • Encourage self-care. • Encourages connections between people with similar work experiences • Builds positive supportive work culture Ineffective Supervision Ineffective Peer Support • Shame-based • Unsafe supervision • Solely Administrative • Possible contagion • Triangulation • Negative work environment • Feeling unsafe • Sliming Group task Discuss how you might cope with a power imbalance in your workplace as a beginning social worker.  Discuss with larger group.  Grief and Loss What does this mean to us as social workers? Check-in Tell us about a time that you have experienced professional grief or loss through your work Recognizing Loss   Loss is not just about death Loss happens with any change ◦ positive ones and difficult ones  Trauma exposure creates loss ◦ Identity, competency, world views  Framing trauma reactions as grief reactions can help make sense of the emotional experience. Ways in which we experience grief and loss in social work practice Death – work with populations with higher risk of death – suicide, health, risk factors  Loss of relationship  Lack of information about what happens next  Loss of world view  Loss of safety  Loss of hope  Dual role  Professional support person  Personal experience  Organizations (and others) may not see the grief of a professional as valid. (Strom-Gottried and Mowbray, 2006) Ambiguous Loss  Pauline Boss coined this term relating to losses that come from experiences other than death and are characterized by uncertainty. ◦ e.g. A parent who is physically present and psychologically absent (mental health, addiction) or psychologically present and physically absent (at war, not involved in the child’s life). Ambiguous Loss Described as frozen grief because the essential uncertainty of the situation means that the individual does not know how to respond to the loss.  The individual struggling with ambiguous loss does not often experience the social supports provided to those who experience more recognized losses and this can make it difficult to express grief.  Disenfranchised Grief The experience of unrecognized and unacknowledged loss other than death.  Loss of independence, innocence, relationships, or status are examples of this type of grief.  Impact on Social Workers  Cumulative, unexpressed losses  No formal recognition of the loss means lack of support for loss  No social rituals to support grieving Creating Ritual  Rituals can be public or private ◦ e.g. hospital conducting regular service for staff vs. personal ritual What are the elements of a funeral?  Composed of metaphors, symbols, and actions in a condensed, dramatic form  Serve to acknowledge grief and loss and to facilitate grieving  Small group task  Work together to create a ritual to recognize the losses you may have experienced through your work. Each group will be assigned one of the following types of loss to create a ritual for: ◦ Loss through death ◦ Loss to addiction or other issues ◦ Loss through professional change (e.g. caseload changes , client leaves program) Assume that you have a significant relationship with this person. Creating a ritual – questions to consider What would make this ritual meaningful? (should be personal)  What metaphors or symbols are needed?  What physical actions/behaviors are needed? (Actions are better than words sometimes.)  What components should be included to facilitate emotional processing?  Who is to be present?  Setting? Timing?  Present your ritual to the large group. Tell us about the scenario you are addressing  Demonstrate parts of your ritual  Talk about how you see this connecting to the theory and why you chose the elements you selected.  Welcome to SOWK 445 Practice Realities Hard stuff . . .  This class exists to give us the space and time to talk about things that we may not have had space and time to talk about so far. Introductions  Sentence starter Class structure Check – in Content Small group work Expectations  What are you hoping to get out of this class?  Is there anything that you are hoping we will talk about? Creating safety  Find a partner. Discuss what helps you to feel safe in a classroom.  What makes you feel unsafe?  Large group discussion Course outline discussion  http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/aswt/indi genous_pedagogy/#observing-practicebeyond_a_pedagogy_of_fort 1778—The great wind. 1779—When it hailed in winter. 1782—When they took the shield. The capture of a shield was an important coup. Being both an article of war and a religious item, the shield was a much sought-after trophy, especially those of the Crow tribe, which were highly decorated similar to Blackfoot shields. 1801—When we took the stars and stripes from the River Indians. Capturing a flag from the enemy was considered an important act. Flags were regarded as having power as war medicines. The people referred to are Pend dOreilles.. Small group work Create a group of three people  This group will stay consistent throughout the course  Create group norms – focus on trauma informed practice principles  Each class a different person will facilitate the group – create a schedule  Making Mistakes Guilt and Shame in Social Work Practice Check-in  When you think about your work so far, what have you noticed about how other helpers manage making mistakes?  “When we are in shame, we do not see the big picture; we don’t accurately think about our strengths and weaknesses. We just feel alone, exposed, and deeply flawed.” Brene Brown  “Making mistakes and feeling inadequate or not ‘good enough’ are inevitable human experiences, yet they are not always tolerated by society, by social work organizations or even by social workers themselves” (Gibson, 2014, p. 418).  Shame is connected to high levels of emotional distress for practicing social workers Video  https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_listeni ng_to_shame?language=en#t-514212 Sources of guilt and shame Shame-based supervision Increases impact of negative trauma exposure outcomes  Focused on blame  Supervision should be empathy focused and allow for mistakes (Jankowski, 2010)  How have you coped with guilt and shame?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdtabNt4S 7E Self Compassion Essentially the same as having compassion for others  Noticing struggle  Being emotionally impacted by the struggle – care about what is happening  Empathy for self   “Self-compassion involves acting the same way towards yourself when you are having a difficult time, fail, or notice something you don’t like about yourself. Instead of just ignoring your pain with a “stiff upper lip” mentality, you stop to tell yourself “this is really difficult right now,” how can I comfort and care for myself in this moment?” Kristen Neff Self-kindness vs. Self-judgment. Warm and understanding towards self when you struggle or make mistakes • Being imperfect is inevitable and are gentle with themselves as a result “People cannot always be or get exactly what they want. When this reality is denied or fought against suffering increases in the form of stress, frustration and self-criticism. When this reality is accepted with sympathy and kindness, greater emotional equanimity is experienced.” Kristen Neff • Common humanity vs. Isolation.   The feeling that you are the only one who makes these kinds of mistakes results in isolating yourself from others. “The very definition of being “human” means that one is mortal, vulnerable and imperfect. Therefore, self-compassion involves recognizing that suffering and personal inadequacy is part of the shared human experience – something that we all go through rather than being something that happens to “me” alone.” Kristen Neff Mindfulness vs. Over-identification. Balanced approach – negative emotions neither ignored or exaggerated. “Mindfulness is a non-judgmental, receptive mind state in which one observes thoughts and feelings as they are, without trying to suppress or deny them. We cannot ignore our pain and feel compassion for it at the same time. At the same time, mindfulness requires that we not be “over-identified” with thoughts and feelings, so that we are caught up and swept away by negative reactivity.” Kristen Neff  Group exercise Self-compassion exercise –  Write a self-compassionate letter to your future social worker self – share with group –discuss what it felt like to do that  Use the markers to add pictures/symbols that you might find helpful.  Moral Conflict in Social Work Practice Advocating to be the Social Worker you want to be Check-in  Tell us about a time when you were required to do something that you did not agree with as part of your work. Moral Distress Conflict between what the helper considers to be morally correct and what the helper is required to do as part of his/her role.  This might include organizational constraints or limited resources.  Policies/practices that are incongruent with social work values and ethics.  For example, child protection social workers provide mandated services with severely limited resources and the workers have no control over the number of clients they are required to serve.  The social workers may be directed to practice in what they consider to be unethical ways by management, policy, or by the legal system.   Mantarri-van der Kuip (2016) found that 77\% of the social workers studied frequently felt that they were not able to conduct their practice according to their standards. They further noted that 36\% of the same social workers reported that they were often forced to work in a manner that was in direct conflict with their values. Pressure to be the “ideal” social worker  What messages to we get about how to practice?  Where do these messages come from?  How do we balance this with real life? Small Group Task Describe the barriers to “being the social worker you want to be”  Work together to create a plan for selfadvocacy  What resources could you use?  Create as detailed a plan as possible and be prepared to share it with the class.  ... Purchase answer to see full attachment