DO NO HARM

Musings of a Social Worker

I am a Social Worker in Singapore, where I work with individuals and groups in a community based setting. I am particularly keen on collaborative practices (using mainly ideas of Narrative Therapy developed by Michael White and David Epston, 1990), we seek to identify and expand alternative stories of the people who consult us, counter to the problem stories that may plague us. 

Doing this work for more than 15 years, has allowed me to have access to amazing stories and experiences when working with different people in the community. These experiences have taught me important life lessons, that I also try to document in this blog. 

 

Fareez

 

Rough Sleeper

“They tell me this place is keras, lots of Jinn and ghosts around,” Rosli started, opening his cracked lips take a long drag of his rolled-up cigarette.

“But I tell them this is all bullshit. I got sleep under trees, near the toilet. Even Sembawang park, near the Mandai Crematorium, nothing also. No Pontianak or Pochong, and I can sleep very well. Actually, nothing to be afraid of la. Even if we see all these beings, why do we need to be afraid? We are better off than them! We can walk around in this world and touch our feet on this ground, feel the air, and breathe.

“These beings, they should be jealous of us, because they are stuck in between this world or the next. If they can walk in this world, you would see them walking around in the day, right? Why should we be scared of them then? So funny to see people afraid of things they never see before, but life is like that right? Some more, some of these people are those who pray regularly.

Narrative ideas in Supervision - Social Work Supervision Seminar 2019

Here are the resources for my presentation on Narrative ideas in Supervision

My presentation slides:

Download Narrative Social Work Supervision

 

The Hero's journey can be a tool to support the new social worker in understanding what drew her into practice, and the responses she is taking to the challenges that inevitably come in the work we do. 

 

Download Hero's journey_Social Work Supervision

 

The Supervisor life certificate is a tool for us to reflect on our own values and histories that drew us as supervisors

Download Supervisor Life Certificate

 

A yet unpublished paper - do let me know if you want to circulate this

Download Supervisor Life Certificate & Journey Metaphor

 

 

A Narrative Inquiry for “Sparkling Moments”

 

Using Narrative Methods in Working with Patients Experiencing ESRD

 

Here are the resources for presentation on using Narrative methods in working with Patients experiencing ESRD (End Stage Renal Dialysis)

Presentation

Download Narrative Methods of working with Patients With ESRD

Hero's Journey Template

Download Hero's journey_Chronic Illness

 

Bringing Forth the Narratives of Strengths in Interviews (Epston and Ingamells, 2012)

 

Benefits and Adverse Effects of Mindfulness: A Reflection Paper

Advantages of Mindfulness Practices

For this section, I will draw on my own training as a social worker where I have started to realise the importance of body-oriented interventions in view of my understanding of Steven Porges’ Polyvagal theory (Porges, 2017). Porges discusses how the vagal nerve, which connects the brain to structures in the body such as the neck thorax and the abdomen, is linked to whether an individual gets escalated following a stimulus. The theory posits that talk therapy alone would not be able to influence “neuroception”, which is how our body neurologically responds to stressful events, as the brain would send signals directly to the body. This theory connects with my struggles when working with clients who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, who despite our conversations about finding ways to respond to stressful events, find themselves disempowered when responding to stimuli that they experience.

Leadership Legacies

 

Someone I know passed away this week, someone who played a part in my leadership journey. I won't say that I know him well, neither would I say that he was particularly influential in shaping my life. Nonetheless, I think it important that I preserve some insights I gleaned from him in my short experience with him, especially since they are still being practiced by myself in my own leadership journey.

2017 Narrative Practice Conference: Honouring History, Weaving Hopes

For my presentation handout on ideas that have started influencing our social work practice, 

Click the Link below

Download Narrative social work practice

 

Caterpillar Story to identify skills of children. 

Download Caterpillar dreams

Harry Potter: of Pensieves and Portkeys

 

Was binge watching Harry Potter over the Chinese New Year weekend, and thought that the ideas of the pensieve and portkeys were useful metaphors to think about conversations we might want to have when working through the process of grief. 

The Pensieve Conversation: Tapping on memories for healing

I sometimes find, and I am sure you know the feeling, that I simply have too many thoughts and memories crammed into my mind.... At these times... I use the Pensieve. One simply siphons the excess thoughts from one's mind, pours them into the basin, and examines them at one's leisure.

Albus Dumbledore

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Canadian Carnival

The place where I staying, is somewhere in this picture.

 

My latest adventure has found me in Toronto, where I am involved in a work externship with the wonderful team at Oolagen,  a youth mental health service that is influenced by Narrative ideas, not only in working with the people who consult them, but also in how the organisation is run. I have not been able to post much in the past, particularly due to recent busyness in my role as a manager in my organisation.

Since I have slightly more time to reflect on practices, will take a bit more effort to document my adventures here!

One interesting experience I had here was when my landlady, Jane Martin (who's really a very nice lady), brought me along to a Neighbourhood committee meeting, where members of the small community of Winchester were meeting to discuss concerns about the presence of drug related activities in the nearby rooming houses. Pretty impressed about how the community did not practice a NIMBY (Not in my back yard) mentality and instead were keen on discussing ways to ensure that the programmes conducted for residents were appropriately done. They were also keen to be involved in supporting the individuals and families there.

Will update more soon...

Preferential Flexployment

 

 

 

In 2013, a number of us from my organisation coined the term "Preferential Flexployment" as a viable alternative to structured forms of employment in Singapore (we skilfully played on the terms flexible employment, combined them to create flexployment! Get it? No?)

As mentioned by the newscaster (smugly I might add), it is essentially the idea of part time employment with greater flexibility. Take for example Bakery Hearts, a Social Entrepreneurship wing if you may call it as such (you can find out about Bakery Hearts here, here and here). 

Multipliers: How the best leaders make everyone smarter

   As I partake in my journey into social work leadership, I thought that it would be good to start documenting some bites of tips and ideas from books I have read, which I have started using in the teams I am in.