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it's a lot easier

Lesson of the week: Sometimes it is WAY easier to be a social worker than a friend. One of dearest and most beloved friends is currently dealing with extremely debilitating anxiety. If she was a client, I would know what to do, but it's so much harder...

Published 30 Jun 2009 3:46 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Social Worker (with a little help from her Sophie Cat)

Filed under: bike, friends, learning, life, mental health, social work
Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia

I had one of those eye opening moments the other day. We had a client present with all the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, and virtually no positive ones. Actually, rather then realizing that she had gone off her meds, we assumed she was on too many...

Published 23 May 2009 3:30 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Social Worker (with a little help from her Sophie Cat)

Filed under: counseling, learning, mental health, thoughts, work
tired but good

This is Sophie cat when I thought she was sick, wrapped up and getting eaten by my giant Tigger (thanks to bestest bud). She's all back to her normal self now despite conning hummus, cool whip, and assorted other foods out of me the past couple days...

Published 9 Apr 2009 3:30 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: learning, life, sleep, sophie, work
laughable

When I interviewed for my job at the work placement team (yay for new job) I really did NOT think I had done well. I knew I had gotten some of the questions bang on, some of them half on, and only completely made up one answer (oh how I wished I'd...

Published 26 Mar 2009 10:42 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: death, intentions, intoxication, IPDA, learning, life, me, suicide, work
why phillip can't talk

Phillip, and his friends, reminded me of a very important lesson, one that we social workers learn right from the beginning. Client's are the experts in their own lives, and don't make assumptions. Phillip has never been "right". The...

Published 10 Mar 2009 7:02 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: learning, thoughts, work
darkness and light

There's something powerful about darkness. Darkness can provide a cover for dangerous or forbidden things. Darkness can provide a blanket. Darkness can be scary. People do things in the darkness they won't do in the light. Darkness can be overwhelming...

Published 8 Mar 2009 7:26 PM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: learning, life, me
Oh how I miss Social Work supervision aka all the things I wish there’d been time to say

For the most part, I’ve been doing pretty well working without any proper supervision. As I’ve said before, it’s nice not to have to over analyze every single little thing I do. Most of the people I work with are completely uninterested in debrief and...

Published 25 Feb 2009 12:08 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: first aid, learning, life, me, social work, thoughts, whining, work
Actions and Consequences

When I was a child, my parents taught me that there was a consequence to each of my actions, good or bad, and often, if I did the wrong thing, they were the ones to enforce the consequence. For example, leaving my room in a mess despite repeated warnings...

Published 22 Feb 2009 11:57 PM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: alcohol, attitudes, emotions, FASD, homelessness, intoxication, learning, mental health
unexpected lessons

I have this thing when I'm shift manager. I won't ask someone to do something that I'm unwilling to do myself. That means that when it comes to the things I don't want to do most, unless there's someone else who wants to do them, I...

Published 11 Feb 2009 9:56 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: learning, life, thoughts, work
Quick Update

This is how we play cards at my work... wearing nitrile gloves; who knows what's on those cards! This was one booooooring night in the drunk tank. On the left you can see our "ghetto" crib board - a plank of wood, holes pounded with a nail...

Published 30 Jan 2009 8:09 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: learning, life, links, me, sleep, sophie, work
"holiday's" over

My holiday is almost over. I go back to work tomorrow night (or well, I guess it's tonight seeing as I'm writing this after midnight). I'm in the process of staying up late so that I can sleep all day. For some reason, it's working! Having...

Published 2 Jan 2009 10:25 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a (not quite) Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: holiday, learning, life, nights, work, yoga
stairs

Trauma can take many forms, something important to remember as social workers and other professionals. Sometimes, things can even be more traumatic for the person who witnessed the event then the one who experienced it. People deal with trauma in different...

Published 6 Sep 2008 6:57 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: learning, work
transition

The majority of my friends started back to school this week, and for the first time since I was five, I didn't. It feels REALLY weird. I have to say, I am glad that I don't have any homework. It's SO nice to come home after work and not have...

Published 5 Sep 2008 4:15 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: learning, life, moving, thoughts, work
over confidence

Okay, so I just slept from 4PM to 8AM with only minimal interruptions. That is so, so, not healthy. Neither, apparently, is my over confidence. I've noticed at work, that my favourite supervisor has been really laying into me about putting myself...

Published 1 Sep 2008 4:06 PM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: attitudes, first aid, IPDA, learning, me, mental health, sleep, work
perceptions

On van patrol a while back I saw something which made me thing about just how much of what we do is based on our perceptions of a situation. As we were driving past one of the hotels on "the strip" (think U.S. welfare hotel, but with no kids...

Published 29 Aug 2008 9:15 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: alcohol, attitudes, learning, van patrol, work
the sock fiasco

I've been seriously evaluating my clothing situation. For example, I decided I could keep, get this, 28 pairs of socks. 14 of the ankle socks I were to work in the summer, and 14 of the socks I wear in the winter. I still managed to put 10+ pairs...

Published 31 Jul 2008 9:09 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: learning, life, moving
purging - the good kind

Along with packing, comes purging; it's awesome. I'm getting rid of SO MUCH STUFF. Because I'm not in a huge hurry, I'm being picky about what goes where, but I'm definitely, definitely cutting back. I can't even begin to explain...

Published 31 Jul 2008 8:58 AM by Awake and Dreaming - The Ramblings of a Brand New Social Worker

Filed under: learning, life, me, moving, necessary evils

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