Student to Student

Krista_21_Canadian_SSW student.This blog is a reflection peice on my personal experience at my SSW (Social Service Work) placement I did while attending Canadore College in North Bay Ontario. Come here to get some tips and tricks and learn what to look out for, so you can avoid those uncomfortable situations.

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Mental Illness is nothing to be ashamed of, but stigma and bias shame us all

Bill Clinton

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Secret Placement Tips

I am not going to put down where and what the agency is that I did my placement at this year out of privacy. However, the agency I did my placement at was an agency for domestic violence victims (more so women, but men as well). They provided one-on-one sessions, drop-ins, they help other organizations with things (ex. The Good Food Box), but mainly, they did workshops. My placement agency mainly focused on the various amounts of different workshops that they do. 

At this specific placement, I ended up doing a lot of paper-work and research, but I was also allowed to attend all the workshops that were being put on everyday for a duration of weeks. I was also allowed to attend different outings/meetings/workshops that the workers themselves went out of the agency to attend. Because of this, I only got real client interaction the last 4 out of 12 weeks attending my placement. I really didn’t like this, I am not someone who is made to work an all-day office job everyday, I like interacting with clients and more hands-on stuff, so getting through this was a challenge for me. 

For anyone in the future that will be attending the same agency I did my placement at this year, (although you won’t know because I didn’t give a name of the agency out of privacy and confidentiality. But still, here are some tips for a placement that sounds similar to the one I attended), here are some tips to get you through it:

1. You usually will always be there before any workers, even if you get there just on time. The door to the building is locked because no one has gotten there to unlock it yet, so you have to go in through the back of the building, go up an old, rickety elevator and wait in the halls. This way you won’t have to stand out in the cold, snow or rain.

2. Until Workshops start, pretty much all you’re going to be doing is research and “paper-work”, (just work in general) that the workers themselves don’t want to do, so you will be sitting at a computer all day for most of your days. Bring headphones so you can listen to music when you research and do “paper-work”, and make sure to pack snacks. You’ll be looking at a computer screen pretty much all day, which will make you exhausted by the time you get home, so try and give yourself breaks so you don’t get a headache or get too exhausted to be able to do work in the first place, because you’ve been staring at a computer screen all day. 

3. The secretary is bossy, don’t take it personal, I think that’s just her personality. But being aware of it will help, so you know that you aren’t a bad worker, she just comes off as rude, sometimes even when she’s not trying to be.

4. You will be treated more like a client than a worker/placement student. We had to do screenings and assessments when we first started, as if we were clients ourselves. We are to sit in the workshops as if we are clients. Or, we are treated like assistance instead of workers, giving us all the small, easy but tedious work that they themselves don’t want to do.

5. In the workshops, very personal information is shared (that we placement students also had to share, which I found was wrong because this isn’t about us as workers, its about the clients. My personal life has nothing to do with the client and their problems. As a worker, I don’t want to share my deepest secrets with my clients, that’s not what I am there to do. I understand that it helps the clients relate more with us, however, I still felt off, uncomfortable and felt a little weird about it.), so look out for that! Because of this personal information being shared, there are a lot of tragic, heart breaking and traumatic stories that you are going to hear. Prepare yourself for them. It’s different to hear someone tell their most painful memories with you in person, then it is in theory.

6. If you feel overwhelmed, just know that you can get through this. You completed 3 semesters already in college, you can push through these last 4 months of placement. Focus on one task at a time, and work towards your end goal; finishing your placement.

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Tips to a Successful Placement

Going into placement, (especially for the first time), is going to be a little intimidating and nerve raking. Well, here are some useful tips to help you through your placement, so you can have the best placement experience you can:

1. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time in the morning so you aren’t rushed to get to your placement. This will help start your day off right.

2. Make sure to take time off and have some “me time”, even if it’s only for a half-hour. In this time you have just for yourself, you can do things that help you relax, these things could include; having a nice bubble bath to yourself, reading your favourite book, writing, drawing, painting, going for a walk, working out, or even just some down time to watch your favourite show and relax, or take a nice, well needed nap. All of these things are self-care. Taking care of yourself and your mental health is really important, don’t neglect it!

3. Do the best you can at the tasks given to you by your supervisor, ask for new tasks when you complete the ones given to you and go around and ask the workers if there is anything they need help on that you can do when you have nothing else to do. This will show that you are a hard, willing and reliable worker. It will show determination and the passion you have for your job. 

4. Make sure you know your boundaries and the limits/rules in place for placement students such as yourself. If you are unsure of them, don’t be shy to ask for clarification. Your supervisor will be a lot more pleased with you and your outcome if you ask for clarification so you can complete the task exactly how it is being asked to get done. It also shows to your supervisor that you care about the work you are doing.

5. Try and be at least 10 minutes early each day. This will help ease stress in the morning, helping you be an all-around better worker. It will also show determination and good work ethic to your supervisor.

6. If you feel you are being treated poorly, don’t be scared to contact your Program Coordinator/School Supervisor and let them know what is going on so things can be fixed. Don’t think you have to just put up with being treated badly, being taken advantage of, overworked, being undervalued, etc.

7. Remember you are not a worker, so there are some tasks you are unable to do, and if they are asked of you, you are entitled to say no to them.

8. Try to complete the tasks/objectives/assignments given to you as soon as you can. This will help relieve stress, as, if you do the tasks right away, then you won’t have a bunch to do all at once, (unless you are being overworked) near the end, right before the “due date” of your task/objective/assignment.

9. Make sure you have a good support system. Especially with working in the field of Social Service Work, you will be witness to several heartbreaking, traumatic stories, meeting people in their lowest points can really drag your own mental health down. If you have a good support system, then you at least have some people you can speak to about these tough things (within confidentiality standards), which will really help out your mental health in the long run. Although it’s hard in this field, try your best not to bring anything home with you.

10. Don’t try and “fix” people. People don’t need “fixing” they need guidance, education and support. We cannot “fix” people, all we can do is give our clients the tools to “fix” their problems themselves. People need to be ready to change, you can’t force it onto someone. All the hard work is being done by them, we are just here to help guide them through it. Don’t forget that!

11. Don’t be judgmental or prejudice. Sometimes we can be judgmental without even realizing it. This is something everyone needs to work on, but especially Social Service Workers and any other kind of mental health professional. We grow up with our own morals, rights and wrongs, beliefs and traditions, and sometimes they can get in the way of providing the best care to your client. Try your best to be as open minded and excepting/non-judgmental as you can. Your clients are here seeking mental health support, being judgmental about their live style is only perpetuating the stigma causing these people to avoid seeking services in the first place.

12. You only have a set time to be at your placement for, so if you don’t enjoy it, just focus on that. Focus on getting things done, and over time you will find yourself overall less stressed out because you’re thinking about the end goal, and making yourself determined to get through this and complete your program you worked so hard to get through, so you can start your future career and life.

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How the SSW Practice was Demonstrated at my Placement

The SSW (Social Service Work) Practice, is the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice under the OCSWSSW (Ontario College of Social Work and Social Service Work). This Practice and Code of Ethics are rules and principles that Registered Social Service Workers and Social Workers of Ontario need to stand by. This ensures that the treatment to clients be respectful, helpful, confidential, and ethical. 

Some of these Codes of Ethics are as follows; a client’s best interest should always be maintained, respect for the client and their worth must be maintained, professional duties and obligations must be carried out with integrity and objectivity. The worker should have and maintain competence in the provision of social work or social service work services to their clients. A worker should not exploit the relationship with the client for personal benefit, gain or gratification, etc. These are just a few of the Codes of Ethics in the OCSWSSW that Social Workers and Social Services Workers need to abide by, in order to protect the safety of the client, as well as the workers themselves.

At my placement, these Codes of Ethics were demonstrated through various ways. Some of these things are, but is not limited to; making sure that confidentiality is understood and kept, treating the clients with equal respect, demonstrating a healthy worker/client relationship by setting limits and boundaries, not exploiting the clients in any way shape or form, maintaining awareness and providing other social work/social service work/mental health/addictions/crisis services for the clients, etc. These Codes of Ethics were shown by the workers treating the clients equally and respectfully, maintaining and reminding everyone about confidentiality, displaying a healthy worker/client relationship and setting boundaries, providing different services and having a big shelf full of pamphlets for different services in the area that the clients and take, and so forth. 

It was nice to see that workers are taking these Codes of Ethics seriously, and that, at least at my placement, clients were treated properly and respectfully. 

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Psycho-Educational Practices

Psycho-educational practices is the process of providing education and knowledge to people seeking or receiving mental health services.

At my placement, they provided services to domestic violence victims and ran daily, all-day, for a duration of time over several weeks; workshops that women can sign up for, and if they attend the majority of the workshops they get to graduate from the program. Because of this, there was always psych-educational practices being used. 

I had to create and then facilitate a workshop of my own for half of the day, so I really got hands on with this approach. These workshops consisted of education on abuse, self-esteem, self-sabotage, anxiety, setting life goals, etc. Because of the various amounts of workshops that my placement provides, there is a lot of psycho-educational practice being used, that I was lucky enough to be able to be a part of.

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Mental Health Assessments

A mental health assessment or a “Psychiatric Assessment”, is the assessment and gathering of information on an individual’s mental health with the purpose of a diagnosis, or to obtain information on the individual’s mental health because they are a new client to the organization.  

At my placement, we (the other placement students and I) actually had to have an assessment done on us as if we were clients ourselves. We were told it was to “show us how it is for the clients”, and so I was able to experience how uncomfortable it can be for the client having the assessment done on them. We were also allowed to sit in on some sessions, some of them being assessments. This was nice because I was able to see the different techniques the worker would use with the client, so I found that very helpful. 

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Theory to Practice

Going to placement, we finally are able to get first hand experience and really get a feel for the field we are about to enter, or went to school for. It’s up to us to compare the things we learnt in class to our experiences we now possess. 

A few practices that I have used during my (this year’s) placement experience that I learnt in class was; doing mental health assessments, and a lot of psycho-educational practices. 

In comparing my first hand experience with my knowledge I obtained in class, I found that, although these things may be much harder when you actually have to deal with a real situation and act fast; the real-life experience, and putting those practices into use may be more challenging, and you may blank the first time, but the feeling of knowing you were able to accomplish that challenging task is such a great feeling. Plus, once you get the hang of things you’ll feel a lot more comfortable in your work abilities, and you will be able to think more clearly and use practices more efficiently. It may be overwhelming and scary at first, but remember you have the knowledge and education to do this and you are capable of achieving your goals. 

I found the practices we learnt in class were really helpful because going into placement we could at least know some of the theories that we may need to use, making our placement experience a lot more enjoyable and it helps ease the nerves as well. 

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About Me

My name is Krista, I live in Northern Ontario, I’m 21, and I’m currently finishing my second program and third year in college. I am currently finishing my Social Service Work Program this year and I graduated from the Mental Health and Addictions course last year as well.

Because of this, this isn’t my first placement experience and so I really found it interesting that I was able to compare my experiences, as they are relatively similar fields of practice.