Becoming a Visionary of Change in Social Work Community Practice

We know from our reading that “professional social work practice requires ethical, ideological and emotional grounding” (Hardcastle & Powers, 2004). “Personal fortitude, integrity, and dedication” are also mentioned in our text as necessary personal attributes for skillful practice in community work. Interpersonal skills are extremely important in direct service provision as well as in community work. These skills include such things as “awareness of the feelings of others and attentiveness to our body language when we are uncomfortable or annoyed” (Ibid, 209). It is extremely important to be able to flow with a client and to have internal and personal boundaries so, as clinicians and caseworkers, we are not hypersensitive to the thoughts, feelings or words that we hear in our work and that we do not take any of these things personally. If feelings of resentment or anger towards a client appear, it is our responsibility to look within ourselves to discover the reasons or “triggers” for these feelings. Our clients can be the mirrors for deeper learning about ourselves if we are willing to do the interpersonal work.

It is also our responsibility in our positions to be able and willing to communicate with our coworkers and supervisors in a genuine and authentic manner. We cannot avoid communication opportunities that may produce positive and healthy outcomes in uncomfortable situations and relationships because it is easier to do so. It is also unproductive to take the problem to someone else because of our inability to effectively participate in the communication process for true understanding between individuals to occur. I would not want a client or coworker to take a complaint about me to a supervisor instead of respectfully talking to me about the problem, especially if I had made it clear that I looked forward to such exchanges. We show respect for ourselves, and others, by our willingness to fully engage in the process of honest and genuine communication efforts, especially in times of conflict.

It is equally important to pursue learning and continue to take advantage of educational opportunities that will broaden our skills, knowledge and awareness that can be applied in our lives and work. If I am unwilling to engage in learning opportunities because I don’t think the knowledge applies to my life or the work I wish to do, I have limited my interpersonal and professional growth, which is the antithesis of being a student of higher learning.

A few years ago I read a media report that received attention because it focused on accomplishments that improve women’s self esteem. Completion of a graduate program appeared on that list because this endeavor was seen as highly effective for improving self-esteem, and transforming self-awareness and emotional intelligence in women. I know that many women wish they had the resources, time, and emotional and physical support to accomplish this goal. I feel honored to have this opportunity to participate in the social work graduate program at Humboldt State University. I am thrilled and humbled to have an opportunity to pursue my dream and to accomplish such an important and worthy pursuit in my life instead of staying in a job that was unfulfilling and meaningless. I am also aware that many women do not have this opportunity because of oppressive class, power, and financial structures that keep them buried in a daily struggle to survive. I am privileged because of my skin color, ethnicity and educational background and it is clear that I have a political, spiritual and moral responsibility to challenge the status quo and to become a “visionary of change” for the oppressed, subjugated and powerless in this world (Hardcastle & Powers, 2004).

I have walked a long road of healing that began when I was a young child and realized that I carried around a seed of hope within that saved my life. I have seen first hand what violence, rage, and refusal to face our deepest insecurities and fears can create in the external world. Our society is physiologically addicted to violence and suffering. We see it every day played out in movies, television shows, news coverage and in our own relationships. We see it played out over and over again in places like Viet Nam, Cambodia, South Africa, Lebanon, Palestine, Guantanamo Bay, Pine Ridge, South Dakota, Big Mountain, Arizona…. People turn away from the homeless who often display their misery for all to see because it strikes something deep inside that is too uncomfortable, too fearful, too real. I appreciated the pictures in Dr. Yellow Bird’s class for this reason. I never want to forget that people suffer and die on this planet and in my own back yard. Would someone help me if I was homeless and dying on the street? What am I doing to help them? What am I doing to stop my government from continuing the practice of genocide and oppression in my own backyard, and around the planet? I need to look at the pictures and be reminded of all that I have and all that still needs to be done.