DO NO HARM

Honouring my Boss (now ex-boss): 10 Commandments

Contrary to my prior posts, the open expression of emotions and appreciation is not something easily done by myself (we could have a discussion on whether its related to my culture, or my own historical upbringing, but that would probably have to be another post by itself.) 

How then do we honour the work of someone who had been instrumental in our personal development and professional growth? A post to acknowledge the gifts of knowledge received might do the trick. 

Here are the list of things I've learnt under Mr Chua, and gifts I hope to pass on to the "next generation" of social workers:

1. Believing that everyone has their strengths and ability to play an important organisational role. 

2. Constantly question certainty and, more importantly, critically assess the structures that maintain certainty. 

3. Inspire people to be the best that they can be, as opposed to forcing them to do things against their will.

4. Don't sweat on small things that would not make a difference in the larger scheme of things. 

5. Manage upwards and downwards

6. Be accessible to your colleagues

7. Reflect on the implications of your decisions. If making decisions is like playing a game of chess, reflect on 2-3 moves in advance. 

8. An inaction can be a powerful action. 

9. There is no set template of interventions for our clients. It's usually good to start where our clients are and plan interventions and positions that fit. 

10. When you are not in crisis, you are not improving

 

Doing Good

 

I was enjoying my usual Sunday game of Floorball, and was preparing to leave the courts in Kallang area, when I saw a fellow floorballer (you might want to google floorball if you are not sure what this sport is about) leaving the area.

Thinking of wanting to do some good, I called out to him and found out that since he was going to the MRT train station, I could give him a lift.

What I didn't realise however, was how different the area now was, with the spanking new Sports Hub being recently opened and all. I managed to get myself lost in a sequence of multiple roundabouts, and almost entered the expressway.

I was rather apologetic to the guy, and he was really nice about it. After some discussion i realised that the station was actually nearer to the floorball court area than I previously though, a u turn and another sequence of roundabouts later, we finally found a place that he could alight. Unfortunately he still had to walk some distance to the station.

He was really nice about it, thanked me and got on his way. As I sat in my car, partly due to my strained thighs, but mostly to reflect on what happened, I thought a bit of some "life lessons" I could draw from this incident:

Narrative Responses to Children's Trauma

 

Angel Yuen (2007) proposes the exploration of responses to trauma as opposed to delving too much into the effects of the said trauma in children's lives. The re-experiencing of a traumatic event may actually re-traumatise the persons we work with and may not necessarily be a collaborative agenda for intervention.