Nov
30
2006
2

Promises, promises

Having had a moment of questioning the very profession I signed up to yesterday, today I had two really good things happen today. Sorry, this might be quite a long entry!

First off… I saw a client today that I have been working with for a couple of years. She is now a year abstinent from illicit drugs, and 7 months abstinent from all drugs, illicit and prescribed. When I started working with her she was on a methadone prescription and wanted to go to rehab, but for various reasons it didn't happen. Anyway, she worked through loads of her issues, reduced herself off her methadone, started doing some voluntary work and really got her life together. It was such a joy to see her today and to be able to sit and have a conversation with her when she is totally clear-headed and revelling in a life which 2 years ago just wouldn't have been possible for her. She is just 3 weeks younger than me so we shared the trauma of both turning 30 about this time last year and it is a real pleasure to be able to see her on an equal footing, rather than as a professional and a client. In the New Year I will discharge her, and she is hopefully going to go on to work in the area of addictions. I am just so proud of her and what she has achieved.

I also saw another client today who is in a very different situation. She is on a treatment programme, but struggling and still uses heroin on top. She suffers with an eating disorder and clinical depression and her life is just full of chaos. Last week when I saw her she was so low, and just before she left I gave her a big cuddle as I felt she really needed it. When she came in today she told my student that that cuddle made such a difference to her, and that she couldn't believe that someone would want to touch her, let alone give her a hug. To be honest it hadn't even crossed my mind at the time, but I knew she needed that little bit of positive physical contact.

These were two totally different clients, and yet the joy at seeing change is immeasurable. Sometimes I get asked how often we see success stories, and my answer always is ‘it depends what you mean'. The amount of people becoming totally abstinent from illicit drugs is probably less than 5%, but if we measure success by an improvement in the lives of our clients then the figure is much higher.

In October 1997 I really felt God gave me a verse which was to characterise my future…

“The LORD will guide you always:
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.

Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”

Isaiah 58:11&12

At the time I wasn't sure what this would mean, and I definitely didn't think it would be fulfilled in my future career. Some days I have to keep reminding myself that my work is a vocation and a privilege. When all I hear is about funding cuts, drug-related deaths and the sheer bureaucracy that goes with drug treatment I keep trying to hold onto this promise. The two clients I saw today personified this promise, and just when I needed it God gave me a very vivid reminder both of what he has done in my life, but also what he does through my life.

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
Nov
29
2006
1

Social workers? Pull the other one!!!!

Ok. This is where I start to grumble!

As part of my job I work as a practice assessor for social work students and this morning I went to a workshop for assessors at the university. I should also mention that I sit on the assessment board and therefore look at all the portfolios that are submitted after a student has done a placement. A couple of years ago the format of social work training changed from being a diploma course to a degree course. The job also finally gained a ‘professional' status and there was also a requirement that all social workers were registered. This is no bad thing as it means that social workers can be struck off for bad, dangerous or unethical practice. All good so far.

However, one of the problems with social work training becoming a degree course is that we are now in the situation where we are being presented with newly qualified social workers who can write a fab essay, but have absolutely no idea how to engage with clients, carry out a risk assessment etc. Also, now it is a degree course the universities have to accept students who are just out of school… which leads me to ask… how can an individual who is 18 have enough life experience to be able to work as a social worker who is required to relate to a broad-spectrum of people, many of whom are struggling with extraordinarily difficult life situations? I am fully aware that there will always be the exception to the rule, but I struggle with this whole issue. I mean, I qualified when I was 25 and I was the youngest of my year, but I had already done a degree and a variety of different jobs. I was still young, but social workers can now qualify at 21. I hardly knew who I was at 25 let alone 21! Grrrr…. can you tell I am frustrated with this?!!!

I love my job, but I find it unbelievably stressful, tiring and frustrating. I don't want to do anything else, but I didn't become a social worker to be able to write an essay. I became a social worker to make a difference, and yes it helps to be able to write a decent assessment but the reality is that engaging with clients is the stuff that makes a difference and brings about change. The ability to relate on a personal level is crucial, and that means I need to know who I am as this impacts the job I do. I am now not really sure why I am writing this… maybe I just need to reaffirm to myself why I do what I do and to remind myself that the job is about people not academia!

Anyway… back to writing up my assessments!!

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
Nov
27
2006
1

Quack quack!

Here are a few photos from our little trip out to London on Saturday…

The ducks!
The pet ducks who came on the trip with us.

Waiting... for the rain?
Ooooo the anticipation!

Another Duck!
Another duck.

London Eye
The London Eye from the river

Anna & Stevie
Me ‘n’ Stevie

A fab day indeed 🙂

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
Nov
25
2006
1

Lovely weather for ducks

I have had a most entertaining day! I went on a Ship of Fools meet and we went on a Duck Tour It was pretty fab to be honest.

Anyway, back to the beginning… I arrived at the station in London to be greeted by this nutter holding up a cardboard sign saying Auntie Doris. I am not sure that Stevie gets out too often to be honest! The Duck Tour itself was hilarious… but a bit rainy to start off with. I was quite unnerved when the vehicle drove into the Thames and there was a moment when I thought we were about to sink… but then we floated our way down the river! The tour guide was very entertaining and generally quite rude… making comments like “And there is the big crane that is used to remove Tony Blair’s ego”. After the tour we had a spot of lunch and then some of us trailed off to The Tate to have a look at the slides and then the obligatory trip to a pub.

All in all a fab day! My life feels so weird sometimes – I never expected to be meeting up with people that I have only ever met on the internet. Oh well, my life would be much poorer without technology!

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
Nov
24
2006
1

Craft News 1

I have been inspired by birdie’s wiblog (I would love to put a link on here, but haven’t quite worked out how to do that yet!) and her lovely craft pics.

Those of you who know me in real life will be able to testify that I love doing ‘craft stuff’ and I have been known to make patchwork quilts, clothes, do embroidery etc etc. My most recent obsession is card-making as they are quick, easy and fun. I have been mass making Christmas cards since about September and I quess I have made about 500 – which seems ridiculous. I made about 100 personal Christmas cards but the rest have been sold to various friends and family and a couple of shops!

I have also been making personalised cards for special birthdays and celebrations and here is one I made recently for Auntie Billie’s daughter…

Jess 18th

Pretty huh?

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
Nov
23
2006
2

A happier day!

Thankfully I have had a much better day – busy but not quite so stressful!

I had a complicated assessment to do this afternoon thought. It was with an asylum seeker from Iran with an interpreter present. I never realised how difficult it is to do an assessment when you need someone to interpret for you… it takes forever! At least it was a bit more interesting than the usual assessments though and made a change from those clients who say ‘I am using heroin and crack cocaine and I am not sure if I want to stop!'

Thanks for all your support and comments… they made me feel a lot better 🙂

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
Nov
22
2006
2

Another dull, dreary day

Well I had hoped today would be better.

It started badly after I overslept and then when I got to work all the desks had been moved because they are doing some wiring in the office tonight. So, all the desks were facing each other which makes it so hideously noisy. I had to listen to my colleague constantly talking to herself next to me. I have never noticed how much she did it and probably I would have ignored it on any other day, but today I have been tired, scratchy and a right cow-bag.

So at about lunchtime my lovely boss collared me, asked me if I was ok, I cried and then he suggested I worked at home for the rest of the afternoon. So now I am sitting on my sofa in my pyjamas, with a cuppa, writing up my assessments and I am feeling a lot happier because there is no-one here to piss me off!

Sometimes I feel like the biggest bitch in the world, but I think I can cope for only so long with the amount of work I have to do before I start losing the plot. The trick is trying to work out where that fine line is and I am not sure that I have quite managed to work it out!

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
Nov
21
2006
2

*sigh*

You know those days when you feel like you would like to take a particular persons eyes out with a blunt spoon? I have had one of those! One of the other members of staff is driving me completely and utterly mental, and then there are the clients. Those who think that it is perfectly acceptable to come in and give me mountains of verbal abuse because I do a job in which I am (allegedly) meant to help and support them. Sometime I wonder why I bother!!!

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
Nov
20
2006
0

Weird? Moi?

You Are 40% Weird

Normal enough to know that you’re weird…
But too damn weird to do anything about it!

Ha! To all you people I think I am weirder than I am!!

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
Nov
20
2006
2

I would just like to say…

I truly believe I am surrounded by some of the most stupid people on the face of this planet. How they remember to breathe let alone do anything else is beyond me!

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |

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