Reference no: EM133680276
Describe insights you have gained from reading their post about purpose and career path. Then, identify additional ways in which their internship this term could help facilitate their overall career goals. I chose bilingual therapy or working as an adoption agency.
Post a description of how you envision your social work career path. What purpose, population, or cause drives you as an emerging practitioner?
Soon after graduating, I plan to test for licensure and continue my social work practice at the agency I am currently interning at for the next 2 years. I have been working in foster care for children needing higher levels of care. During this time I have been able to observe different family dynamics and cultural beliefs. I can recall a time during my undergraduate field experience to which a client's mother was not cooperative and expressed a belief that the social workers and therapists within the agency were judging her and had a motive to not reunify her with her children. I later learned that this belief came from her own experiences working with the child welfare system, and the beliefs she obtained from her own family.
Although there are some differences, but this reminded me of my own experiences and family beliefs about therapy. Needless to say, this wasn't the first time that I have heard someone express something similar. Unfortunately, this belief continues to cycle, and children are left with unaddressed trauma that impacts their feelings and behaviors. Children in foster care are such a vulnerable population, and they often experience trauma that can begin in utero. My hope is to continue advocating for children and families in foster care, to include supporting policies that help children, and providing psychoeducation on trauma, it's impact on the brain, and how we as social workers and clinical social workers can help.
What are your overall career goals, and how do the short-term goals in your Learning Agreement connect with them? How will your work at the agency this term contribute to your envisioned career path?
My ultimate goal is to become certified in Trauma Focused- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) and provide therapy to children and later adults as I continue to learn and grow within my career. My short term goals align with this as I need to competent and comfortable with assessment, and interventions. My work at the agency will greatly contribute to this as I will have numerous opportunities to engage with clients one on one, and in groups. In working in a foster care agency, the children that are coming into care have experienced some type of trauma, so I will gain exposure to various situations and the appropriate treatment modalities, which may not include TF-CBT, however it will help me gain an understanding of both the benefits and limitations of different interventions.