I recently saw a report on Channel 4 about the current state of child protection social work which criticised the amount of time social workers are required to spend on paperwork, rather than working directly with families. Whilst I tend to agree that the paperwork is overwhelming, I was struck by the assumption that we are trained and prepared to undertake direct work with families. I only qualified last year and the course in no way prepared me to undertake 'direct work' or counselling with children and families. There seems to be an assumption that we are trained in counselling and therapeutic work. Am I the only one who, whilst not totally enamoured with the paperwork side of the job, is ill-prepared to do anything else?

I too qualified last year and am working in an initial child protection team. I would echo your sentiments.  I have had no training on counselling or direct work and have no resources.  In my first placement, 3 years ago, there were some books and resources which you could use to help children to come to terms with their thoughts and feelings through drawings etc. These are not available to me now and although I have searched for these to buy for either myself or my team, I have come up with nothing (any suggestions where they could be sourced from greatly appreciated).

My work is very much focussed on completing assessment forms and getting cases transferred to the long term team as quickly as possible.  I feel this gives a poor services to clients at a time when they most need to be able to make changes.

When you are on your placements you are required to complete competencies which your practice teacher and or link worker signs to say you have done. Within the competencies you should have been requried to work directly with service users and have at least an observed practice showing your ability to communicate with a sefvice user. Also as part of your University study you should have completed a module on therapeutic interventions especially so if you wished to work in the mental health field. I agree that paperwork is at times gets in the way of spending time with service users but this should not be made an excuse to not carry out direct work. The first two years in Child protection and indeed the first year is liek a baptism of fire and very scary. It is a very sharp learning curve but this is exactly what it is a professional learning curve so that you can then use your basic qualification to proceed with your PQ and Masters. It is when you begin to put your work experience alongside learning at this level you will be able to have a better uunderstanding of working with individuals. ome was not built in a day and making good SW takes time and effort constantly. There are some great books you can use which are reasonably priced such as Theraplay:helping parents and children build better relationships through attachment-based play by Ann. M Jernberg and Phyllis B Booth. Alternatively why not build networks and contact either a CAMHS Team or an NSPCC therapeutic team who would be more than willing to point you towards books or even lend them to you. You will also then have people to contact if you need advice.

I have recently retired after 35 years in social work.  The last 12 as a senior social worker in a very busy field child and family team.  Yes there are some books that are useful but the best resource is yourself.  Visit the children, take them out or spend time with them away from the adults.  Being genuinely caring and open and honest about what you are doing and why and saying difficult things when you have to, is the only way. Keep it as simple as possible for yourself and your service users (how I hate that phrase).  If you haven't got an answer, say so, but you'll try and find out.  We are not miracle workers.  There is an argument that all intervention is therapeutic. You did not train to be a therapist or a counsellor you trained to be a social worker.  David Howe and Gillian Schofield and their work on attachment theory and their input in lots of other social work theory books and literature are worth reading and re-reading. You will find that your children will lead the way for you.

Social work training does not prepare you for anything in my view, except how to pass assignments.  I did not qualify until I was 44 years old and while, I'm glad I did, nothing prepared me for the change from adult services to children.  I was so scared and I'd been doing direct work as a care manager for more than 20 years.  It's ok to be scared, in fact the newly qualified oh so confident social workers really scare me because they don't know they don't know. I benefited from working alongside more senior worker for the first 2 years and really good supervision.  Latterly I worked in a coaching/mentoring capacity to less experienced workers and that I feel is the way forward.  However, experienced social workers are now thin on the ground.  If I knew how I'd create a website to try and help newly qualified social workers, as I am so worried that you are all leaving the profession in droves.  Good luck and have faith in yourself.  Mary B

Thanks for your suggestions and and advice, Lins. On placement I was observed both communicating with service users whilst undertaking an assessment, and working directly with people insofar as I provided practical/emtional support. However I feel this is a far cry from providing therapeutic support or counselling and it is this which is apparently expected of social workers by other agencies and professionals.

Unfortunately we did not complete a module on therapeutic interventions at University; there was a run-through of the different interventions used such as CBT and solution-focused brief therapy, but it was all very vague with no specific training on how to use any of these interventions within the workplace. Are there specific courses for social workers to undertake on these various interventions to prepare us for direct work? Or do people tend to just read up on a specific intervention method and employ this in practise? I would have thought that to use these methods of working with families, one would be required to undertake extensive training.

There are many courses ran all over the country to support SW in their work it is just about keeping your eyes and ears open. I am part of Brief Therapy North east who are a Solutioned Focused group. They have a website www.btne.co.uk check it out they have workshops available. Also again it is about furthering a deeper understanding once qualified and using your degree as a stepping stone in your professional development. Also check out the community care research section as it has some very interesting articles. All practitioners are learning and developing no matter how long they have been in the job so you are not alone. Why not start a peer supervision group at work? 

Like your children they dont come with a book of rules or advice. I was fortunate before I became a social worker that I was a dad, had helped out in Youth Club and a number of other things with children (ok Sunday School) as well as training as a counsellor (ok not a children's counsellor), but nothing prepared me for my first day on placement in an Intake Team. However, good supervision, good colleagues and an opportunity to try out things stood me in good stead for my first job in an Intake Team. Reading stuff and pinching ideas and again good supervision and good team members led me into Practice Teaching Award. Then there was Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI) Training in the Fostering and Adoption Team. I believe that treating everybody with Unconditional Positive Regard (A Rogerian term) will stand you in good stead. Maybe getting hold of 'Working with Children and their Families' by Martin Herbert or 'What do you say after you say hello?' by Eric Berne. Tons of old stuff and lots of new stuff to dig into. But your best asset and always available is yourself and as Mary says 'If you dont know, say you dont know' It's no good trying to Blag in a social workers role. Think Values, Values and Values.

The bit about pinching ideas really made me smile.  I did it all the time and used to say why use your own head when you can use someone elses !!!!  Phrases like 'children should live in families unless there are compelling reasons they cannot'  the child/ren need 'wholesome nurturing parenting' 'the child is too young to obtain his/er views and wishes (for very young children) therefore decisions need to be made that are deemed to be in his/er best interests' and advice from a much admired senior colleague many years ago at my first contested Court case (I was petrified) 'you must never let fear get in the way of doing what's right for a child'. Vera Fahlberg's  'A Child's Journey through Placement' an oldie but good, Billy Books (can't remember where I got them from but your fostering colleagues should know) for young children going from foster care onto permanence or adoption.  Subscribe to Jessica Kingsley Publications (it's free) and your County Council website should have all the most recent research available.

 

My biggest ice breaker was my pencil case, which looked like a huge tube of fruit pastilles, so I used to fill it with all different pens and crayons and take a folder of coloured paper with me for the children to do me a picture, which I always took away with me.  I do not and cannot interpret drawings and never tried to but accepted what the children said they represented. They sometimes helped me to understand the way they were feeling when I checked that out. I always used to tell them my name and ask them if they knew what a social worker was ?  Invariably the answer was that they did and we 'put people in homes' when they were bad !!!! I would correct this by being very worried they thought this was all we did (but acknowledged sometimes children couldn't stay at home but they were the exceptions) as all social workers really want to do is to work with mums and dads (or any combination of) to try and help children and to make things better, so that they could all be happier and safe at home.  The best feedback from a lad of mine was 'it's everso easy to be naughty but it's everso everso hard to be good'.  He is now training as a plumber having made it all the way through secondary school. 

 

I like Spartacus love Carl Rogers and still have his books.

 

Mary B

Like Mary I also favoured the crayons and paper "technique". Most children love to draw or write (even toddlers) and the thought of having ones artwork displayed on a fridge or a wall is usually sufficient enticement for artists of any age.Even today with modern technology like PSPs and Laptops and Nintendos etc etc children just love to make things and present them for others to praise and enjoy.

I work with an art therapist and she has just purchased a book for our team that you mayu find interesting its called: Understanding Children's Drawings 1998 by Cathy A Malchiodi Publisher The Guildford Press ISBN1-57230-351-4 (hc) ISBN 1-57230-372-7 (pbk) price £19.99 I have reviewed the book and it is very straightforward but comprehensivw.

I'm interested to know if people think there is enough of a therapeutic element in social work training?

Simeon.....................No. We need the therapeutic element addressed by Practice Teachers/Assessors I believe. 

Rachel (justme on this site) has in - "Aspirations, Encouragement,Realism, Openness, A guide to help increase children's happiness and potential in and outside schools" -, what appears to be, a good therapeutic tool  for working with Children/YP's. AERO only cost £7.00 and Mark Doel thinks it could be used/adapted for other Social Work user groups. I'll have a read and maybe let you know what I think - if you're interested.

A few years ago I did an introduction to counselling course at my local college. They usually run one evening a week for 10 weeks. I found it fantastic and would recommend it to anyone. It gives you a chance to practice counselling skills and massively improved my confidence. It also introduces you to psychological approaches and cost about £120. It is a recognised qualification. I know lots of colleges offer this. I enjoyed it so much I went into the next level. Last year I had the option of completing the final level in counselling to become a fully qualified counsellor. But I wanted to branch into social work instead. I feel that I want to encompass all the counselling skills that I now possess and use them within my social work practice.