Social Worker Personal Statement

Upon completing this program I plan to work with individuals seeking support, guidance, and personal growth. To fortify this work, I intend to attain clinical licensure. Although social work practices can ameliorate client troubles, I would also like the ability to find possible solutions within diagnoses, further evaluation, and treatment. Utilizing the Advanced Clinical Practice concentration offered in this program will allow me to become familiar with working in clinical settings and apply my coursework knowledge to real work situations. A crucial piece I look for when entering an academic program or workplace is the ability to create real, tangible change.

I have struggled to keep my school work a priority as I need to balance it with my part-time work and with the things I like to do to keep my life as normal as possible (like cheerleading and spending time with my friends). I am very honored and thankful to be the first the person in my family to attend college fall of 2016. As I strive to end my senior year positive, I always remember to tell my younger siblings to try as hard as they can in school, because “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” I’ve decided that I would like to get my degree in social work, specifically working with children. Growing I’ve been around kids that are unhappy with thier home, but couldn’t do anything about it.

In this paper, I will assess my identity and my personal history and how it relates to social work professions. I first address my personal history and cultural background, where I came from, as well as my experience in working in the community. I then talk about my overall strengths, both in personal and professional lives. My strengths are listening skills, open-mindedness, respect for diversity and eagerness to learn and improve my weaknesses. Afterward, I discuss my weaknesses, such as nonassertive communication skill and low self-esteem problems, and how I plan to address these issues.

As a graduate student at Capella, I chose to obtain a Masters in Psychology. This field was selected because I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work and I felt it was best to get a well-rounded education. I do not have an interest in becoming licensed and entering the therapy realm, as I highly enjoy the case management side of things. My passion has always been working in the child protective services field.

Modern social workers are frequently tasked with certain objectives by their agencies, which leave little room for any work beyond specific treatments and timeframes (Gitterman & Knight, 2016). Although social workers are bound to the set of ethics put forth by the NASW, practitioners are often limited to focusing on the issues of the individual rather than the larger societal issues that may be behind those concerns. Additionally, many social work students end up working in direct practice, rather than macro work. There is a need for social workers to engage at the macro level in order to facilitate community organization and empowerment. Critics suggest this theory may not take into account the unique experiences of each individual and perhaps key characteristics of the individual or group are not taken into consideration (Sadan, 1997).

First of all, I had the opportunity to interview Kim Bartells who’s a Licensed Social Worker (LSW) in Michealsen Health Center and learn more about her role as a social work. Before I started interviewing Kim, I asked her if it was alright with her if I recorded the conversation and she said it was fine with it. I started the interview with asking what type of population Michealsen Health Center serves and she told me it was mostly elderly people. Kim works in a “Microlevel intervention involves working with individuals--- separately, in families, or in small groups---to facilitate change in individual behavior or in relationship” (DuBois and Miley 69). This types of individuals she is working with are elderly residents “who utilize long-term care experience a combination of physical or cognitive limitation that require some level of assistance in activities of daily living” (DuBois and Miley 314-315) and their families as well.

I am confident that the skills that I will gain from completing a social work master’s degree will help me collaborate with people in need and aid sustainable growth in their lives. My first introduction to social work as a profession came while living on a small

By advancing on into Graduate school, I can focus on strengthening the areas that needs more work such as enhancing my assessment skills. I am cognizant on the pertinence of assessments and how it establishes the needs and external and internal resources that may impact a client. Properly conducting an assessment is an important aspect of Social Work practice and is typically the first step in developing a strong clinician and client relationship. The findings from assessments are taken into consideration when developing plans of action, and goal setting. I will also continue to work on my advocacy and leadership intervention skills.

I am applying for a place to study social work because I have always wanted to be able to make a difference to people's lives. With social work I believe I can do this in a caring and supportive way. Many of my life experiences have led me to who I am today. The first thing I remember that caught my attention was how my cousin would always stay with my family. He would be spent weeks with at my house without contract with his parents.

I knew I wanted to help people, but the courses that stood in my way were definitely frightening. After consulting the course catalog at Grand View, I found our fairly new Bachelor of Social Work program. I thought like most of the public, naively thinking social workers just took away peoples’ children when there was a bad situation. With only days

I am also able to implement a range of interventions based on a comprehensive client assessment. I also have the ability to apply social work knowledge and theory to practice using critical thinking in a practice approaches and decisions. It also gives me the ability to engage in social work practice that is sensitive to issues of culture, ethnicity, religion, race, class, sexual orientation, age, gender, and physical and mental abilities. It also instill in me the appropriate and the effective communication skills. I am also able to demonstrate self-discipline, the ability to reflect upon and resolve ethical dilemmas.

Over the semester I have learned many new aspects of social work that have helped deepen my understanding of what social work is really about. This course has taught me things that will help me become a better person and will also help me with my future working with children. Self reflection is a key skill to have when working in social work. We need to understand how we are, and our social location, influence everything we do with social work. My beliefs and values would be beneficial for being a social worker because I have a caring no judgment, personality that allows me to be a neutral and to listen to people.

Why do you wish to study the program? With a social work degree, I would be able to achieve my dream of assisting people in need by using my life experience and the skills which I’m going to learn from school and placements. Moreover, I believe that taking this program will prepare me to assist families, anyone dealing with issues that affect their mental health and well-being. Another reason why I wish to study the social work program is that of the experience I had as a homeless youth.

As an undergraduate at Indiana University, I would like to major in psychology and minor in counseling. Later, I would like to pursue a career as a child psychologist or a social worker. I’m confident my skills would be best suited for helping families and individuals deal with their dilemmas. I believe it would be rewarding to guide people out of their problems and to help, anyway I can, stabilize their lives. I’ve developed a passion for being involved in people’s emotional needs.

As an applicant towards your course, my motivation to further my knowledge and enthusiasm towards this subject is key to success within this sector. Also with my cultural and ethnic background I understand the values of every individual and know that everybody is different yet unique. I have travelled extensively over the past few years. Within my travel period, it was obvious that my communication skills was key and made me realise my passion lies within helping other people. I hope the above statement has helped me to illustrate why I believe I would be a suitable candidate to be a student of social work.