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Emalia
Student
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How do social workers balance the emotionally challenging part of their career after all that they have seen and experienced?
I plan on majoring in social work and psychology. I want to be a social worker that works with kids, and I know that a lot of children have been in hard situations that social workers have to deal with and that it can weigh on a person.
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2 answers
Michelle M.
Actress
3284
Answers
Updated
Michelle’s Answer
Hello, Emalia !
I will assume that you are in the United States. Before I advise you about vicarious trauma which you've asked about, I have to say that I highly urge you not to Double Major for the path towards Social Work. This is highly not advisable. Choose either Psychology or Social Work for your Bachelors Degree with no Minor. You can take single classes in social work or single courses in psychology but do not double major. The appropriate path would be to obtain your Bachelors Degree in Psychology and then your Masters Degree in Social Work. You will need a strong psychology base in order to be a social worker that provides therapy to the mentally ill. Double majoring is not a sufficient path nor will it afford you the smooth track and enough time for assignments, writing papers, reading, projects and possible internships. Choose one Major.
Working with children in the social work realm is the most challenging and hardest niche you can choose. I assume that you want to be a therapist ? Or do you want to work in child protective services ? It all depends. Regardless, you already realize that vicarious trauma - being affected by your client's experiences - does happen. Rest assured that through the proper social work track, this will come up in class, trainings or conferences. It all depends on the person, too. Some people have triggers in certain issues and you will only find this out once you start working with clients. Do not start worrying about it now before you even begin. It has to be experienced to know how you're going to deal with it or if it will even be a thing that affects you and different issues affect the provider differently.
During the course of your studies you will have to work with all populations. Once you obtain your Masters Degree, certification and Social Work License, then you can apply for whatever population you want, but you're going to want to not wait around for a position serving only children. Try to be open to working with all populations and then when something opens for children apply for it.
The reason why working with children is so difficult and sad is because you don't only work with the child, you work with their family of which there is usually great conflict within the issue they need your services for. Also, what you may believe is best for the child and family may not be what your employer agrees with due to guidelines and funders expectations or local laws or lack thereof. Child protective services is very stressful, so try to shadow or do an internship before ever making a commitment to that realm.
You have to actually get experience working to know how to deal with vicarious trauma, if it will affect you and what issues would affect you. As a social service case manager, I worked with former criminals, homeless, severely mentally ill, but the one thing that gave me vicarious trauma was seeing a client in withdrawal from drugs. I just would have a very adverse reaction to that and it would stay in my mind. Many times, co-workers had different things that affected them that didn't bother me. It's just something you discover as it happens and no one can tell you how to deal with it however, trainings help a great deal.
I am guessing that the least vicarious trauma would come from being a Clinical Social Worker that does therapy in scheduled sessions with the clients. That would make things more "in the moment" and conversation one on one instead of many people involved and the emotional impact that child protective services can include. All this to say, you are going to learn everything in your Masters Program, conferences, trainings and you just have to get the experience to see what the best way is FOR YOU to handle it. Hopefully you'd be working in a very supportive office, with both a supportive supervisor and supportive co-workers. That will make all the difference in the world.
So try not to think of it too much before you start. Consider one Major for your Bachelors Degree before your Masters in Social Work. Go to as many trainings, conferences, etc., especially ones presenting the topic of Vicarious Trauma. I hope this helps and I wish you all the best !
I will assume that you are in the United States. Before I advise you about vicarious trauma which you've asked about, I have to say that I highly urge you not to Double Major for the path towards Social Work. This is highly not advisable. Choose either Psychology or Social Work for your Bachelors Degree with no Minor. You can take single classes in social work or single courses in psychology but do not double major. The appropriate path would be to obtain your Bachelors Degree in Psychology and then your Masters Degree in Social Work. You will need a strong psychology base in order to be a social worker that provides therapy to the mentally ill. Double majoring is not a sufficient path nor will it afford you the smooth track and enough time for assignments, writing papers, reading, projects and possible internships. Choose one Major.
Working with children in the social work realm is the most challenging and hardest niche you can choose. I assume that you want to be a therapist ? Or do you want to work in child protective services ? It all depends. Regardless, you already realize that vicarious trauma - being affected by your client's experiences - does happen. Rest assured that through the proper social work track, this will come up in class, trainings or conferences. It all depends on the person, too. Some people have triggers in certain issues and you will only find this out once you start working with clients. Do not start worrying about it now before you even begin. It has to be experienced to know how you're going to deal with it or if it will even be a thing that affects you and different issues affect the provider differently.
During the course of your studies you will have to work with all populations. Once you obtain your Masters Degree, certification and Social Work License, then you can apply for whatever population you want, but you're going to want to not wait around for a position serving only children. Try to be open to working with all populations and then when something opens for children apply for it.
The reason why working with children is so difficult and sad is because you don't only work with the child, you work with their family of which there is usually great conflict within the issue they need your services for. Also, what you may believe is best for the child and family may not be what your employer agrees with due to guidelines and funders expectations or local laws or lack thereof. Child protective services is very stressful, so try to shadow or do an internship before ever making a commitment to that realm.
You have to actually get experience working to know how to deal with vicarious trauma, if it will affect you and what issues would affect you. As a social service case manager, I worked with former criminals, homeless, severely mentally ill, but the one thing that gave me vicarious trauma was seeing a client in withdrawal from drugs. I just would have a very adverse reaction to that and it would stay in my mind. Many times, co-workers had different things that affected them that didn't bother me. It's just something you discover as it happens and no one can tell you how to deal with it however, trainings help a great deal.
I am guessing that the least vicarious trauma would come from being a Clinical Social Worker that does therapy in scheduled sessions with the clients. That would make things more "in the moment" and conversation one on one instead of many people involved and the emotional impact that child protective services can include. All this to say, you are going to learn everything in your Masters Program, conferences, trainings and you just have to get the experience to see what the best way is FOR YOU to handle it. Hopefully you'd be working in a very supportive office, with both a supportive supervisor and supportive co-workers. That will make all the difference in the world.
So try not to think of it too much before you start. Consider one Major for your Bachelors Degree before your Masters in Social Work. Go to as many trainings, conferences, etc., especially ones presenting the topic of Vicarious Trauma. I hope this helps and I wish you all the best !
Kim Igleheart
Career Counselor | Police Officer
1831
Answers
San Antonio, Texas
Updated
Kim’s Answer
Compartmentalization.
Here is the AI explanation. It's what we did as cops. As this definition points out, bottling up one's emotions may not be the wisest way to go. We also worked out, joked about things we shouldn't have been joking about, played pranks on each other, and other such "mature" coping mechanisms.
In psychology
Mental separation: It involves mentally separating conflicting thoughts, feelings, or behaviors so they don't interfere with each other, such as separating work from personal life.
Defense mechanism: Coined by Sigmund Freud, it is a way the psyche copes with stress or overwhelming emotions by isolating them.
Example: A person may compartmentalize the trauma of a difficult event, focusing on daily life but dealing with the associated emotions in private or at specific times.
Potential negative consequences: While it can be a helpful stress management tool, it can become problematic if it's used to avoid processing deeply distressing feelings or lead to a fragmented sense of self.
It's not an easy road, and, may or may not be rewarding. But, we need good people going into that field. It's discouraging how little progress we've made in the last 40 years.
I hope you are able to learn to deal with the feelings so you can excel at your profession.
Here is the AI explanation. It's what we did as cops. As this definition points out, bottling up one's emotions may not be the wisest way to go. We also worked out, joked about things we shouldn't have been joking about, played pranks on each other, and other such "mature" coping mechanisms.
In psychology
Mental separation: It involves mentally separating conflicting thoughts, feelings, or behaviors so they don't interfere with each other, such as separating work from personal life.
Defense mechanism: Coined by Sigmund Freud, it is a way the psyche copes with stress or overwhelming emotions by isolating them.
Example: A person may compartmentalize the trauma of a difficult event, focusing on daily life but dealing with the associated emotions in private or at specific times.
Potential negative consequences: While it can be a helpful stress management tool, it can become problematic if it's used to avoid processing deeply distressing feelings or lead to a fragmented sense of self.
It's not an easy road, and, may or may not be rewarding. But, we need good people going into that field. It's discouraging how little progress we've made in the last 40 years.
I hope you are able to learn to deal with the feelings so you can excel at your profession.