A Motto For Social Work (and everyday)

Source: Therese on Pinterest

Up In Smoke

It's got to be one of my least favourite thing about my job - my hair and clothes smelling like smoke after doing home visits*.  Many clients are courteous, and don't smoke while I visit.  Some just find it too difficult to  it though the appointment without smoking.  In summer we often accommodate this by meeting outside.  But it's currently winter here in Canada, and temperatures are too cold for that.

Some job postings in this field state that the candidate should be aware they will be in smoking-environments.  Mine didn't but I've long recognized it as an unavoidable workplace hazard.  Sure, if I really wanted I could try to insist that clients meet me elsewhere, but the home visit plays an important role in my work, puts focus on me rather than the client, and possibly makes them feel guilty.  That's not what I'm trying to do folks.  Besides, it's their room/apartment/house.

Not so fun fact: rates of smoking for people with schizophrenia are estimated at about 88% - three times that of the general population.  And smoking cessation is just not high on the list of goals or priorities for most of my clients, who are busy trying to manage their symptoms, maintain their housing and survive on a few hundred bucks a month.

So until this changes, you'll see my huddled in my big coat and hat, driving with my windows down in winter trying to air myself out.

*not every home visit.  About half my current clients are smokers

The Mental Health Worker’s Reminders to Herself

1. When my supervisor assigns me a new client she is not trying to sabotage me. She is trying to get me to do my job.


2. When a client repeatedly cancels/misses appointments, there is likely something making it hard for them to come. It’s nothing against me.

3. When it is something against me, this is okay too. Not everybody has to like me. I will not be the best match for everyone. Learn from it.

4. Doctors are people too. They are likely rolling their eyes right back at me.

5. A client’s goals for themselves need to come before my goals for them.

6. When clients are skeptical because “you look too young to help me” remember – you’re a lot less young than when they were saying this to you 5 years ago!

7. Caring for myself will help me to care for others.

8. People will come and go, but paperwork is forever.

9. It’s okay to drown your sorrows with pizza and a half bottle of Shiraz on Friday night.

Tell me Going Mental readers - what reminders do you need to keep yourself going?

Fingers Crossed (Toes Too)

I applied for a job yesterday. 

Truthfully, I do this all the time, but this is one job I think I'd actually like to get.  It looks great on paper, and seems to fit most of my job search criteria.  So I tried to make myself look good on paper, and sent off the ol'resume.  Well, acutally a new resume.  I tend to nit pick and rewrite obsessively when applying for any new posting. 

So now fingers are crossed that I will get an interview.  And that it will go better than the last one!

In the meantime, I'm trying to follow-through with the goals I set for myself at work this year and remain positive.  One day at a time, right?

Friday the 13th resolutions*

So I realize I'm a little late to the game, but I've decided it's time to make some resolutions for 2012.  Not for my personal life which is practically perfect in every way (or not, whatever) but for my professional life. 

It actually makes more sense to do this now that on January 1st. 

On January 1st I was in full-blown vacation mode.  Driving along country roads gazing at the snow dusted fields, fresh from enjoying a cozy night with some friends in an old farm house.  Pleased with myself for downing enough water and eating half a loaf of olive bread to soak up the booze so I didn't feel too hung over.  Spending the rest of the day snuggling on the couch....ahem, what was I talking about again?  Oh yeah, resolutions. 

So anyway, things were rosy at New Years giving me no impetus to change.  By now I've been back to work for a week, and admittedly it's made me a bit of a grumpy bear (that's what AM would call me in his most mock-caring voice).  This attitude sucks.  For me, and everyone around me.  I'm sure this doesn't exlude my clients.  I care about them, I really do, and I don't like to feel that this doesn't come through in my work.

So I'm working on resolving this (ha, see what I did there?) or perhaps to put it in some more social-worky terms I'm trying to develop some strengths-based goals for myself.    In some cases I'm just renewing old goals.  Here's what I've got so far:

1. Practice positive thinking, not just for clients but for myself
2. Better self-care: always
3. Learn to say NO to things that will only drag me down (I really suck at this currently)
4. Keep up the job search, the right one WILL come along
5. Find creative ways to get involved at this job that will promote a better experience
6. Be thankful for what I have - be happy

They're not exactly SMART goals yet (10 points if you know what that is) but like I said, I'm working on it.

So what about you, any professional or personal resolutions this year?  

*I know there is some kind of joke about bad luck in here, it's just not coming to me.  TGIF

Deal Breakers

Inspired by a recent list from Social Worker Mom I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my “deal-breakers” in my eternal ongoing job search. They have modified slightly over time, but my goals have remained generally the same for a couple years. Am I being to picky, unrealistic or ambitious? I don’t know, but any jobs I look at must:


1. Be somewhat local to me.

2. Offer regular working hours – I can do the occasional evening or weekend, but not shifts. AM works irregular hours already, so one of us has to be home with the kiddo.

3. Offer pay, benefits and holidays comparable or better than my current job (decent where I am, one of the reasons I haven’t left yet)

4. Not require a vehicle. I hate driving, and am not a fan of taking clients in my car (which I do now).

Besides that, area of focus is important. I’d like to work in a women-focused service, preferably a feminist organization. I’m also interested in trauma and healthy sexuality, and keep trying to increase my experience in these areas but it seems like most of these type of jobs want nurses. I have no desire to go back to school for nursing!

The other main challenges for me are that many women-focused jobs are in shelters, which 9 times out of 10 means shift work (see item #2) or are immigrant based services requiring language skills I do not have. My French is pretty good, but it’s not an in-demand language around here. Maybe I need to suck it up and learn Punjabi, Tamil, Urdu or Mandarin. Or just be patient.

Interesting Things

...that I learned yesterday in French class.*

In french, you pronounce the ps in psych as in "psychiatre" (psychiatrist).

That is going to take some getting used to!








*our agency has been designated to provide french language services, so I've had the opportunity to start taking this class which is being paid for by my employer.  It's geared specifically toward people working in health-care settings, which has been really interesting so far!  Improving my french skills has been a personal goal for a long time, so I'm loving this.

Happy Belated New Years!

Well, New Year’s day has come and gone and so far 2011 has been a blur! I realized that I hadn’t christened the year with a post yet, and thought I’d better reassure you all that I survived the holidays.

A quiet couple of days in the office at the end of December let me catch up on a lot of backlogged notes and assessments, so I was able to start this year with a clean slate. Let’s see how long I can keep up, hmm?

There are some changes that I know will be happening this year, and some that I am hoping for. Let’s start with some things I can count on:
In 2011…

 I will be transitioning away from doing Intakes, and back to full time case management. We’ve already started gradually increasing my case load which has been at about half for the past year.
 Our new office will open (likely Feb or March) and although I am staying put at the old location, this will certainly bring a lot of change!
 I will have a new niece or nephew…we’re expecting to meet them any day now!
 Two close friends are also expecting, so there will be babies abounding.
 AM and I will figure out our next plans for the house and keep fixin’er up.
 My best friend and I will mark 20 years since we first played on the teeter-totters together. We plan to celebrate by getting matching tattoos!

Things I’m hoping for in 2011…

 Getting our financial ducks in a row. I need to book a meeting with our advisor!
 I WILL learn to crochet! As soon as I get some of my current embroidery projects out of the way.
 The job search shall continue. *sigh*
 I want to find a volunteer opportunity that we can do as a family – AM, the kiddo and I.

When I’m making these resolutions, I try to think of them the way I work with my clients to develop goals – they need a plan, and timelines. I’m getting there.

Here’s to a grand 2011!

Pills

I've just decided.

My main hope goal in life: to never have a med list as long as those of some of my clients.

Yikes.