Book review: The Post Qualifying Handbook for Social Workers

The Post Qualifying Handbook for Social Workers

Edited by Wade Tovey Jessica Kingsley Publishers

ISBN 978 1 84310 428 5

The purpose of this book is to provide a resource for social workers aiming for post qualification awards.

As a practitioner who has recently been through the PQ award system I can confirm this would have been a useful resource. It helps you revisit all the values and ethics that you are taught on your course. What I found encouraging is that much of it is written by people who are practitioners. So it is rooted in the social work office and not the classroom.

There are chapters on all areas of social work. The two areas in which I have worked, with older people and with people with mental health problems, are very well written. They provide the reader with much opportunity to reflect on their practice, which in my recent experience is exactly what PQ assessors are looking for. There is also good practical advice on how to approach PQ and how to construct the dreaded PQ portfolio.

A few of the chapters, notably one on transformational practice, were beyond my understanding, but these were the exceptions in a well written book.

Peter Corser is a social worker in mental health




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