Skills and Knowledge in Placement - Essay Example

Reflective Essay Many students will tell you that they had mixed emotions when they started their placement, but they were glad they did it because of the experience they received from it. A practice placement enables one to apply knowledge and key skills he has acquired from the course (Shardlow & Shardlow, 2002). This essay will show my area of interest in undertaking my placement as well as identify the key skills and knowledge I have acquired that will assist me in my placement. I will also discuss practice principles I intend to apply in my placement. The essay will also show the identification of gaps in my knowledge or skills and discussion on how these gaps will be addressed. Challenges that I am likely to encounter in my placement will be identified and a discussion presented on how I will manage them. When choosing my area of placement I had various interests including being a counselor, a manager or an administrative assistant. I searched within myself to identify what I like to do most and what it is that I do with enthusiasm. To achieve this I identified something that motivates me to take up a placement. I then realized that I like to help people discover who they are, what best they can do and how they can achieve their dreams. Mostly, I like to work with young people aged between 13 years and 20 years. I see them as my little brothers and sisters and when I am around them I like to counsel them and motivate them to go to greater heights. I therefore looked for a non-profit organization that deals in counseling young people. Different young people come from different backgrounds. As they grow up some loose their focus in life and because challenges they go through, they drop out of school, give up on going to college or getting a job. But I believe no one can change the past but the future can be changed. People can realize their dreams no matter what state they are in now. The organisation that is working towards the same goals as I do is Creative Dynamics founded by Joseph Ticehurst. It is in this organisation that I decided to take up placement as an Assistant Counselor. I intend to integrate theory with practice in my area of placement. The course has enabled me to gain knowledge, learn theories and research. This guided and informed approach is important to help me work with clients effectively because I will guided by the theoretical approaches (Raschick, Maypole & Day, 1998; Cleak & Wilson, 2007). I have some skills and knowledge from my coursework that will enable me to become a professional practitioner in my placement. I have possessed knowledge of equity in which I need to treat all individuals equally, without fostering discrimination in terms of race, disability, gender or class. Good professional practitioners acknowledge the fact that everyone has freedom to thoughts (Osmond, 2006) and expression and so regardless of my private opinions I need to handle my colleagues and clients fairly and equally. Community development skills I acquired will enhance my understanding of the community and the need to empower it to build social justice. I will involve the community in the issues arising depending with the statistics I gather from our clients in order to address them and tackle them as a community. Community development theory discovers how a community can be moved from a lower tier to a higher one focusing on different approaches (Robinson & Green, 2010). In this case my approach is improving and supporting the lives of young people. If a community a higher number of young people who are not focused then there will be no future for the community. Reading and written communication skills I have acquired will enable me to communicate effectively with both clients and colleagues. I will be able to read and respond to letters and write reports. There are several practice principles identified by Gardener (2006) that I will use in my placement. The first practice principle is maintaining breadth of vision. This is being always aware of my professional goals and the vision of the organization I will be working with. My goal is to empower young people to realize their dreams and the organisation’s vision is to place people where they want to be. Sometimes when I become busy with my work and I face stressful situations I may loose focus on my goals and what the company needs to achieve. If this happens I will need to take time and go back to my goals in order to reconnect with the organisation’s mission and vision. The second practice principle is seeking for just and fair society. This means that the role I choose to work in or the organization I choose to work with should be one that promotes change and improvement of the society. My main role as a psychology student is to promote change and improve lives of other people. People have what it takes to be whatever they want to be only that they need someone to show them the direction to follow, which is a role I gladly want to take. Applying this principle will enable be to stay connected to my goals and values, as well as maintain integrity in my placement. The third practice principle is working towards wholeness. Gardener emphasizes that “we do not practice with one part of ourselves, and live a personal life with another, all the elements of ourselves are each a part of the other” (p. 161). This means when working or dealing with people I should not only consider their experiences and how they relate to my job but also their whole person. I should know that I am part of the whole body of the organization and whatever I do or the decision I make may affect the organization as a whole. Therefore, being aware of this will enable me to work as a team, mind others and the organization. The final practice principle is valuing the connection of knowledge and skills. There are several theories and skills like behavioral theories that I have learnt in my course, and which I will need to use when working with clients or my colleagues. I will use listening skills in management conflict and in talking with clients. My work colleagues come from different social and educational backgrounds and therefore have different opinions or perspectives on subjects. Applying these skills and theories will enable me to improve relations with clients and workmates. My work placement will require specific skills in order to be effective. The first and the most important skill is interpersonal skills used to interact and communicate with other people including active listening and confidentiality. It is the ability to operate at work by relating well with other people. Communication theory states that “all living beings existing on the planet communicate although the way of communication is different” (Mortensen, 2007). This communication is through body movement, speech, gestures visible changes or sound. Most of my interaction with clients and colleagues will be through constant communication. Active listening skills are very important as an assistant counselor. It is frustrating to engage a person in a conversation with no response or engagement. Active listening provides an effective communication which will help in building trust between my clients and I, allowing them to feel comfortable when pouring out to me what is inside them. Confidentiality is another interpersonal skill that is important when dealing with people. As a practicing counselor, I am not supposed to disclose my clients’ personal information to other people because it will destroy my therapist-patient relationship. Every little time I spend at work with my clients should allow my clients feel comfortable to express their feelings and concerns to me. It is important for me to always respect the privacy of my clients like it was mine. Practice management skill is the second skill that is very important to my placement. I will need to possess organisation skills like time keeping and prioritizing, lack of which I may appear unprofessional making it easy to create an environment for catastrophic outcomes for both the practice and the clients. It is essential to have good-recording keeping especially because of high confidentially of clients’ information. Note-taking is also important for a counselor during the session to ensure that every detail the customer says is not left out. I will also need to control my emotions during sessions with clients to avoid raising my personal issues. There are gaps in my knowledge and skills in my placement that I have identified. To be an effective and trusted counselor I need to have at least a masters degree in psychology and I should be licensed by the state licensing board. Some clients and colleagues may insist on making sure I have these requirements in order to trust my work and my commitment to the field. Another gap is inability to handle complexity of cases. Some clients may have complicated cases that may be beyond my control. In such cases it may make things worse to put on a confident face and claim that I can do it when I am sure that I cannot. A more experienced counselor will therefore be needed to step in and save the situation. I expect to face several challenges during my placement. The first challenge is fear of not satisfying clients or meeting their needs. Different clients have different needs and expectations. They may think that by being on placement I am not competent enough to handle their issues. If this happens it will prevent me to achieve my placement goals. The second challenge is inadequate resources in the organisation in terms of time and finances. The organisation opens at nine in the morning and closes at four in the evening. With the increasing number of clients in the organisation there may not be enough time to handle all of them, and sometimes it may force me to rush the session which may not bear fruit. Rejection by current employees is a third challenge I am likely to face. Some may not be willing to assist me when I approach them because they may think I am not competent as they are. They may try to give odd jobs like mopping the floor, sending me to get mails or tea for them. If this happens it will divert focus on the placement. This is normal as it may take some time for me to fit in. According to group work theory a group moves through certain phases (Burke, Lake & Paine). The forming stage is when people are brought together to work. The storming stage is where there is hostility among individuals leading to internal competition. Norming stage is where individuals tolerate each other’s differences. The performing stage is when the individuals get on with their job and the group becomes stronger. I too will undergo this stages together with my colleagues until we bond. Since I cannot afford to fail in achieving my placement goals I plan to deal with these issues in several ways. I intend to create and maintain a positive attitude towards the issues I find complex with clients. I will carry myself around with confidence and assure customers that they will be assisted by the end of the day. I will appreciate the complex issue then tell the clients that I will be transferring the issue to someone who can handle it better. The customer will appreciate the fact that I did not go all the way to tackle the issue even when I knew I couldn’t, but the fact that I referred him to someone who can assist him. To receive acceptance from my colleagues I will do my best to work hard, be willing to learn and be a fast learner. It is frustrating for a colleague to show me how to do something and get a feeling that I am not catching up, thus dragging his work. I will also identify areas of my work that give me problems so that I can seek assistance from my supervisor for improvement. When it comes to the challenge of time I will try to manage my time by asking relevant questions during sessions and offering advice or solution to the point to avoid hitting around the bush. This will save time and ensure that every client is served. I will also talk to other counselors and learn from them how they manage session time. A practice placement is important to me as it will allow me to apply key skills and knowledge I acquired from the course. My area of interest is counseling young people and to empower them to realize their dreams. I have identified key skills, knowledge and practice principles that will enhance my experience during the placement. I am also aware of gaps in skills and knowledge as well as challenges and I have it all planned out how I will tackle the issues. Reference Burke, W. W., Lake, D. G., & Paine, J. W. (2008). Organization Change: A Comprehensive Reader. John Wiley & Sons, pp. 441-452. Cleak, H., & Wilson, J. (2007). Making the most of field placement (2nd ed). Melbourne, Australia: Thomson Learning. Gardner, F. (2006). Working with human service: Creating connections for practice. Melbourne, Australia:Oxford University Press. Mortensen, C. W. (2007). Communication Theory (2nd ed). New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transactional Publishers.pg 6 Osmond, J. (2006). Knowledge use in social work practice: Examining its functional possibilities. Journal of Social Work, 6, 221-237. Raschick, R., Maypole, D., & Day, P. (1998). Improving field education through Kolb learning theory. Journal of Social Work Education, 34(1), 31-42. Robinson, J.W., & Green, P. (2010). Introduction to Community Development: Theory, Practice, and Service-Learning. Sage Publications, pp.196. Shardlow, S. M., & Shardlow, M. D. (2002). Learning to Practise Social Work: International Approaches. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, pp. 110-117. Read More

Good professional practitioners acknowledge the fact that everyone has freedom to thoughts (Osmond, 2006) and expression and so regardless of my private opinions I need to handle my colleagues and clients fairly and equally. Community development skills I acquired will enhance my understanding of the community and the need to empower it to build social justice. I will involve the community in the issues arising depending with the statistics I gather from our clients in order to address them and tackle them as a community.

Community development theory discovers how a community can be moved from a lower tier to a higher one focusing on different approaches (Robinson & Green, 2010). In this case my approach is improving and supporting the lives of young people. If a community a higher number of young people who are not focused then there will be no future for the community. Reading and written communication skills I have acquired will enable me to communicate effectively with both clients and colleagues. I will be able to read and respond to letters and write reports.

There are several practice principles identified by Gardener (2006) that I will use in my placement. The first practice principle is maintaining breadth of vision. This is being always aware of my professional goals and the vision of the organization I will be working with. My goal is to empower young people to realize their dreams and the organisation’s vision is to place people where they want to be. Sometimes when I become busy with my work and I face stressful situations I may loose focus on my goals and what the company needs to achieve.

If this happens I will need to take time and go back to my goals in order to reconnect with the organisation’s mission and vision. The second practice principle is seeking for just and fair society. This means that the role I choose to work in or the organization I choose to work with should be one that promotes change and improvement of the society. My main role as a psychology student is to promote change and improve lives of other people. People have what it takes to be whatever they want to be only that they need someone to show them the direction to follow, which is a role I gladly want to take.

Applying this principle will enable be to stay connected to my goals and values, as well as maintain integrity in my placement. The third practice principle is working towards wholeness. Gardener emphasizes that “we do not practice with one part of ourselves, and live a personal life with another, all the elements of ourselves are each a part of the other” (p. 161). This means when working or dealing with people I should not only consider their experiences and how they relate to my job but also their whole person.

I should know that I am part of the whole body of the organization and whatever I do or the decision I make may affect the organization as a whole. Therefore, being aware of this will enable me to work as a team, mind others and the organization. The final practice principle is valuing the connection of knowledge and skills. There are several theories and skills like behavioral theories that I have learnt in my course, and which I will need to use when working with clients or my colleagues. I will use listening skills in management conflict and in talking with clients.

My work colleagues come from different social and educational backgrounds and therefore have different opinions or perspectives on subjects. Applying these skills and theories will enable me to improve relations with clients and workmates. My work placement will require specific skills in order to be effective. The first and the most important skill is interpersonal skills used to interact and communicate with other people including active listening and confidentiality. It is the ability to operate at work by relating well with other people.

Communication theory states that “all living beings existing on the planet communicate although the way of communication is different” (Mortensen, 2007).

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