Career Way as a Clinical Social Worker - Essay Example

My Career as a Clinical Social Worker Introduction I would like to discuss my career as clinical social worker. Modern community is facing many challenges these days; many of them are due to lack of access to counseling services. It is very sad to point that many people have developed mental problems and many have become addicted to drugs. Abuse of drugs has been very common among youths and adults in our community nowadays. Many un-Godly issues like family breakdown, school dropout, immorality, and mental illnesses might often be a consequence of excessive drugs abuse. This has highly motivated me to choose clinical social work as my career. I believe that my career will help change the lives of many community members because social work is a profession that presents humane and effective social services to groups, families, individuals, communities, and society to enhance and improve both the quality of life and social functioning (Zastrow 28). Having mention clinical social work as my career, this paper will analyze my goal as a clinical social worker, and its importance both to me, and society. What Motivated Me to Choose Clinical Social Work Due to the increasing mental and health risks due to lack of effective counseling in the society, I am, and I will continue putting more efforts to ensure I achieve my goal in the next seven years. Clinical Social Work involves giving help to: families, individuals, couples, and even undersized groups notice issue challenging them, and provision of specific strategies in improvement of their exceptional situations (Ritter, Halaevalu and Kiernan-Stern 106). By definition, clinical social work is referred as social work theory and treatment methods application, to prevent psychological problems, impairment, mental ailment, and emotional disorders and also, helping the physically disabled community members. My goal is; “I will be a Clinical Social Worker in the next seven years.” Since I was young, my dreams have been that one day I will pray for, and help many people in the world in most burning life issues. Many people in the community has been addicted to drugs. This has consequently caused thousands of deaths because of cancer diseases caused by smoking and alcohol taking. In my own opinion, if these people in the community can be counseled and youths well advised before starting abusing drugs, cases of deaths of cancer will cease. To get people under these cases helped, I consequently chose to work as a social work. This will indeed, create a community of healthy and God-fearing people. People will be healthy because when advised, psychological and mental problems are minimized. In addition, cancer cases will cease. In short, my interest in clinical social work developed because of my inner dream to help people get out of their undesirable situations. Significance of Clinical Social Work Social work involves a series of caring services like; advice and guidance, education, health, housing community regeneration and development, social care and offering care and other services among children and younger persons. The social workers play major roles in ensuring that the above are services are rendered to the community. Indeed thousands of people in different communities find themselves into difficult life situations, unable to work them out. Social workers therefore, get in to help the community in solving the problem. Since helping people has been my hobby, I did not hesitate in making a choice to join social work as my future career. Effective delivery of these caring services to the community will therefore, mark the significance of clinical social work career. Clinical social worker helps to enhance and maintain the coping skills of the people they are rendering services to, within the context of one’s environment to achieve a living balance in case confronted by challenges (Ritter, Halaevalu and Kiernan-Stern 106). This means, social work professionals help people in the community know how they can handle the challenging situations in their environments for a better and changed future. I really feel fitting in this field because I have a passion in helping the challenged people. Social work again has eliminated social discrimination among the community members. This discrimination is based on wealth, physical disabilities, groups sharing common issues, and topographical basis. Clinical social workers help in minimizing health and mental problems in the community. It is common that a high population of teens is alcohol and drug abusers. It is then the task of a Clinical Social Workers to address these problems through giving a piece of advice to these groups. It is therefore good to conclude that, social work plays a big role in minimizing risks of drug abuse in the community. A social worker is trained and therefore, handles a wide range of people’s common personal and social challenges (Zastrow 28). These challenges are diseases, addiction, family break-ups, alcoholism and drug abuse, warfare, homelessness, natural disasters like floods, drought and famine, and lastly, unemployment among many other issues. All these assure me that social work is best career I fit in, because of my passion in helping. Plan of action towards achieving the goal To accomplish my goal, I have put down some guidelines to help me in its achievement. Firstly, effective goals are known to be written (Wilson and Dobson 4). For this reason, I have written down my goal as; “I will be a Clinical Social Worker in the next seven years.” For instance, everybody else has his or her dreams and goals but only a few who achieve theirs. Surprisingly, many researchers have shown that failing in achievement of these dreams and goals may come due to lack of writing down what you want to achieve. To provide a concrete perception of reality in my dream, I have therefore written it down on my notebook. Wilson, and Dobson guides that this is the foremost pace towards goals achievement. After stating my dream to becoming a clinical social worker in my notebook, I further went on with its description. This description incorporated its measurable terms, visualization, chances of its achievement, setting realist deadline to its completion, assuming a number of problems that may hinder me from achieving the goals, assessing possible actions to minimize potential problems, and lastly, knowing the rewards of reaching or achieving my dreams and goal. This makes up the steps towards achievement of goals and dreams. Noting that every goal must be measurable to ease evaluation, the goal should then consist of three segments; the subject of the goal, life span of the goal or the time to will take one to achieve his or her goal, and lastly, the desired outcome. Looking at my example; “I will be a Clinical Social Worker in the next seven years”, the life span of the goal is seven years, its subject if profession (work), and the effect is becoming a clinical social worker. I have again been visualizing my goal. Visualizing involves someone picturing him or herself reaching his or her goal, foreseeing the result, moment, and one’s feelings. Because the goal is all what has been in my mind, I must have been picturing all these aspects where I spiritually see myself work as I desire. In addition, effective goals as always said to be achievable (Wilson and Dobson 7). These goals sometimes become a challenge to one’s abilities and skills, though they do not discourage their efforts and performance. There are several challenges I expect on my way to achieving my goal of being social (clinical) worker in seven years time. One of these challenges is family decisions, in that my parents may not want me become a social worker by profession, but this will not hinder me from achieving them. Am praying to God that He implants a special understanding in their minds that they will not become an obstacle to my career. A goal that is effective has realist deadline as well. As stated above, goals should have a time bracket to their achievement and, therefore, I have schedules my goal to have enough time to be reached. To me, the seven years frame is very much realistic in that, it will take me two years from today before joining the college, four in college, and one for seeking where to work from. For me to achieve this goal, I will really avoid, at any given time, changing the period knowing that, giving myself less time than seven years is not realistic, and giving myself more than seven years might cause discouragement to me just before I achieve the goal. As goals that are effective get analyzed for their potential problems, I have established the goal while putting in to consideration the above steps towards goals achievement. Addressing the potential or possible problems that may prevent me from reaching my goals, which I have found to be parental discouragement, I have planned to approach them (my parents) in a way they will understand that this is all what I desire for my life, and I believe that God will guide me in that. To prevent this problem happen in the future, I have decided to approach and tell my parents of my dreams earlier before they start thinking of my career. Another thing that may prevent someone from achieving his or her goals is lack of confidence, that is, all what one needs to have is courage and confidence to pursuing his or her goals. When somebody lacks confidence, he or she will probably end up being a failure. To me, I will keep on encouraging myself, through initiating a thought in me that everything is ever simple until I achieve my goal. I have a feeling that whoever fails in life fails because he or she did not realize how close success was before giving up. This really makes me feel encouraged despite the many challenges I will pass through, just before I achieve my goal. Every goal should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and time bound. Conclusion In conclusion, social work besides helping people get solutions to most challenging issues in the community, society, individual, family, or even a group, it also creates infinite opportunities that advocate for family and individual capacity building, community capacity building, and importantly, the social change (Ritter, Halaevalu and Kiernan-Stern 15). In addition, the services targeted to be offered to these categories of people include; advice and guidance, education, health, housing community regeneration and development, social care and offering care and other services among children, teens and adults. These services have greatly helped many people model their future. Since helping people has been my hobby, I have then decided to work as a clinical social worker so that I can help people get out of their beating challenges. My set goal therefore, is; “I will be a Clinical Social Worker in the next seven years.” Works Cited Ritter, Jessica A, Halaevalu F. Vakalahi, and Mary Kiernan-Stern. 101 Careers in Social Work. New York: Springer Pub. Co, 2009. Internet resource. Wilson, Susan B, and Michael S. Dobson. Goal Setting: How to Create an Action Plan and Achieve Your Goals. New York: American Management Association, 2008. Internet resource. Zastrow, Charles. Social Work with Groups: A Comprehensive Workbook. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, 2009. Print. Read More