I sometimes get bored whenever I get caught up in conversations about setting clear guidelines and goals, in an intervention project, or even about the roles of social workers in general. Clear structure is needed in order to be effective in the work you do, or so I've heard.
But then the lack of boundaries is probably what makes social work unique from other professionals. We work within specific principles with clear values, but the boundaries that define how we actually help our clients can remain fluid. In that way, we can bring our clients to the hospital (if its in line with our intervention plan and assessment of the case, and our presence would help the process), conduct some level of psychotherapy with them and their families, and also advocate for their needs at the community or policy level. That fluidity allows help to be rendered at all levels.
Maybe we should focus less on asking "is this what I should be doing?" and instead have the voice in our head saying "How can I contribute to the helping process?" My thinking is: If there is a need, we should go straight into addressing it, instead of hesitating whether or not that need is part of our job scope.
But then, another thing I learnt is that we need to pick our battles to fight.
And more importantly, how to fight them.
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