A Self Reflection Paper Analysis Social Work Essay

A Self Reflection Paper Analysis Social Work demonstrateCritically comment upon bangs in terms of my own talk over experience and experience working at bottom the organisation. My practicum was underinterpreted at Lifeline Community C ar Queensland, Fraser District in ring counsellor role. To be suited for a placement within the telephone management area, a Lifeline Telephone Counselling rearing course must first be completed. I was fortunate that I had completed the training a little over two years ago. Not only did I pose the basic training, that I was also a current volunteer in other roles within the telephone discuss area. I bene dieed from being familiar with the organisation, the relevant policies and procedures, and a number of staff members. I did non impart to go through new person difficul lots. I believe I befool a easily working relationship with my supervisors. New development activities included undertaking computer supervision, sit-in supervision and support, and providing administrative support. Continuous construe, self assessment and reflection, along with the keeping of journal notes proved in worthy to my learning and skills development. question in light of relevant theoretical concepts and researchWithout it being stated Lifeline telephone counselling uses a node order outcome informed approach (Duncan, Miller Sparks, 2004). In training we are educated in the principles of the callers story and of the need to explore with the caller their options, past coping and/or solutions to orchestrate their issue. The telephone counselling training details the Carl Rogers concept of vested positive regard (Lifeline Training Manual, 2009), without which it may be impossible to build the rapport needed to establish a counselling relationship. There is no measure of the help provided or feedback requested from callers to the 13 11 14 crisis line service. The Outcome rating Scale and Session Rating Scale (Duncan, Miller Spark s, 2004) are perhaps not entirely suitable for this purpose, but might be adapted in order to provide a feedback mechanism. Some callers chair you with truly work out indication of how they believe the call went and what was achieved. However in other courtings I am left wondering about client satisfaction. As the service is a crisis line, there is no luck to follow through with a client.Scott Miller (1997), in his audio CD, Working with man insured clients, identifies three types of clients the Customer, 15% of clients, the Browser, 65% of clients and the Visitor, 20% of clients. In telephone counselling terms I relate the customer callers to those who are in the preparation stage of change and ring to gain clarity, for support and/or someone to listen and result them in their planned action. The browser callers can break the trouble in detail, but appear to be stuck, this category would include the yes, but callers. The last group, the visitor caller, does not identify as h aving any conundrum themselves, e genuinelyone has a problem with them. Some of the callers I have spoken to, for example, some callers with mental illness concerns, perpetrators of national violence, and callers who report their drug and alcohol issues, I would place in this group.Reflect on own experience and learning in light of research and theory.As the role of telephone counselling was known to me, I was in a position to begin especial(a) reading from the commencement of the practicum placement. I chose material that I thought would provide relevant data to the provision of the 13 11 14 crisis telephone service and to improve my general knowledge. My supervisor suggested that as many as 85% of callers had a mental illness, not that all callers with an identified mental illness disclosed that as their reason for concern. In light of this eminent number I began my reading list with The everything health play to adult bipolar disorder (Bloch, 2006) and A family interventi on guide to mental illness (Morey Muser, 2007). These two books coupled with the Clinicians Thesaurus (Zuckerman, 2005) provided valuable information which helped to guide my questions to callers, in order to better understand their issues and holdations of their call.Callers at risk of suicide require a very high level of attention, these calls are stressful and can be challenging. My initial training in relations with suicide was comprehensive. I later completed the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (LivingWorks, 2004). Ongoing reading into the issues of suicide, loss and grief have improved my knowledge and in turn helped me to gain a greater understanding of the pain and suffering experienced by the person at risk and their families. The need for empathetic listening is understandably outlined in McKissock McKissock (1995) Coping with Grief and Appleby (1992) Surviving the Pain after Suicide, twain are small easy to read, and relevant books.Reflect/examine journa l entries as a whole. Go back over your supervision journal noting the main themes and patterns of thought as well and incidents and insights.Reference material, for example, decorous a Helper (Corey Corey, 2009) and the Clinicians Thesaurus (Zuckerman, 2005) outline informed consent, detailing what a client may expect regarding confidentiality, of their rights within the counselling relationship and the decision making process. Clients are also informed of the limitations of confidentially. This is not the case in telephone counselling, where confidentially is implied. In cases where police or medical interventions are required, this can empower an ethical and/or moral dilemma. If the caller has disclosed such issues that it goes against the morals of the telephone counsellor, the supervisor on call, and/or society, would it be better not to report the suicide in progress? In telephone counselling there is no opportunity to pick your calls, you cannot be a specialist in any one area. It is necessary to have the skills to work with callers on a wide range of issues. The concept of unconditional positive regard is questioned when I am faced with a caller who is drunk, abusive or is understandablyly sex caller (a caller who discloses unwanted explicit detail).In some cases there is a clear breach of client confidentiality, such as the case when the telephone counsellor on shift, promised the caller that she would not contact the police (journal entry 17 October 2010), even after his disclosed that he had already taken a higher than recommended dose of medication and had a history of mental illness. After contacting Poisons Information it was clear that the callers life was at risk and intervention was required. Perhaps this could be viewed as the telephone counsellor, not calling the Police, but as the action of contracting the police was undertaken by another. The clients confidentiality was technically breached several times, in the TC providing me with de tails, in my providing the Police with the callers information and in consultation with the supervisor.Two books which have proved very valuable as resources are the Clinicians thesaurus (Zuckerman, 2005) as quick reference including treatment for specific disorders and concerns and a listing of common psychiatric and psychoactive drugs. The other reference is People in Crisis (Hoskinson, 2000), which has proven to be highly helpful. I use the book to ground me, when I am seeking reassurance that I am on track, when I am faced with a challenging issue or when I am undefended to issues where I am little or no experience.Analyse your experiences and record any modifications of your views.Overall I enjoyed the roles and activities undertaken in the practicum with Lifeline and I believe that the experience was a very valuable learning experience. redundant reading undertaken improved my general knowledge of many of the issues raised by callers. Although, only one counselling approach is used in telephone counselling, strengths base approach, this is similar to the solution focused approach that I believe will become my favoured counselling approach. This belief is based on my limited experience to date and on the feedback from callers when they find their own solutions. It is gratifying to hear the light bulb moment when callers realise what they have or can achieve.Ongoing training and development, such as at the Wide Bay Womens Centre, which provides videodisk viewing and networking opportunities, the Lifeline In Service Training and the GOSS nights are relevant and beneficial, as they present information that is generally immediately applicable in my role as a telephone counsellor. The Huntingtons Disease national Conference in September highlighted the art of listening. Of the problems associated with not listening with full attention, jumping ahead and interrupting the speaker system and of the importance of asking the right questions and of avoiding c omplex questions. The National Lifeline National Conference in November provided a greater insight into suicide prevention strategies. It was inspiring to hear from some great speakers such as Professor Brian Mishara, who spoke about suicide prevention and help lines. The Lifeline Suicide Prevention system was launched and a copy of the new booklet was supplied. The motivational speaker, Maggie Mackellar, the author of When it rains, spoke about her experiences. I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to speak privately with her and to purchase a signed copy of her book. check your experiences in light of any relevant research and theory that relates to the themes you have observed and highlight the implications and learning for your personal development.In a client directed, outcome informed approach to counselling there is a focuses on the relationship with the client and the clients additional therapeutic factors (Duncan, Miller Sparks, 2004). Corey Corey (2009) suggest th at when we engage with a client we are not consciously thinking about what theory we are using. Rather we adjust to fit the client taking into account their willingness to engage and the trust we establish together. In telephone counselling this is referred to as building rapport and exploring caller options (Lifeline Training Manual, 2009), the telephone counsellor works with the client to understand the problem from the clients point of view, and to explore with the client what they wish to achieve and to discuss the ways they can achieve their goal.Boylan Scott (2009) describe brief therapies a descriptive summary which could also be applied to define the functions of telephone counselling provided by the 13 11 14, Lifeline Crisis Line. The service provides short term, crisis support. There is not follow up contact or counselling and no client measurable feedback.Essay should demonstrate learning that is based on both experience and theory/research.In this placement with Lifelin e, telephone counselling, I was able to tie together past life and work experiences, Lifeline training, academic study and general reading. In a crisis line telephone counselling service, you never know what the next call will bring, however the extra reading has provided a greater knowledge and understanding of the some topics, but it is only is in the execute of asking of better questions of the caller that any real benefit is gained.In applying a client directed outcome informed approach (Duncan, Miller Sparks, 2004), the caller is recognised as the expert on their problem. A relationship (rapport) with the caller cannot be established without first listening and seeking to understand the callers issues from perspective, while valuing and respecting their position. lurch is driven by the caller and it is important that their ideas about options, management and change are explored. The need for empathy and compassionate and the ability to reduce the callers stress while providi ng an opportunity the caller to speak openly regarding their problems is paramount.I have long been aware of the need of self reflection and self care, the importance of which has been reinforced during this placement, along with the crucial requirement to keep reading, questioning and learning. I was very fortunate in having good support from my supervisors, I was able to debrief, question and discuss any topic or issue as it arose.My conclusion at the competition of CDS3000 practicum is that I remain a work in progress. I believe that I am a competent telephone counsellor, but I wonder if this will translate to face-to-face counselling.