Professional Social Work Strengths and Areas for Improvement “Enhancing Self-Awareness in Social Work Education: A Study on Behavioral Exercises, Critical Observation, and Reflection Activities”

( First discussion response with one resource. Please keep seprated.) 
Karissa Tongue
Today at 10:34 AM CDT
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Hello!
One of the concepts for human behavior that I have been focused on this term at my internship site has been through focus groups and making sure that I am following best practices in order to get the information that is needed to move forward. I utilized these skills during my process recording interview. I am not working with clients, so I had to be creative in what I was going to do during this time.
One best practice for focus groups is that they need to be given some information prior to the interview. I made sure that I did this with my process recording as well. The more information that I gave them on my project, the better prepared they would be to giving me feedback. I also made sure to reassure them that their information would be kept private so that they would feel more comfortable sharing any harsher feedback that they had. Mandatory child abuse reporting is a hot topic, especially in communities that have historical traumas from their experiences with the child welfare system.
Before the interview, I was actually nervous. I did not want to mis-represent the agency and cause issues there, but I also wanted to make sure the person I was interviewing had their opinions heard. The more relaxed I got in to the interview, the better it went. I was able to listen and understand what they were saying. Sometimes I struggled with listening to respond instead of listening to understand and that is a place I could use more practice in the future.
( second discussion response with one resource. Please keep seprated.) 
Faleka Singleton
Yesterday at 10:12 PM CDT
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What professional social work strengths can you identify in yourself? What are areas you might work on?
As a professional social worker, some of my strengths include building rapport with clients, empathy, advocacy, cultural competence, and active listening skills. Having these strengths helps show the client that I’m offering support and willing to provide the necessary intervention tailored to their needs. Showing empathy and active listening skills helps build trust with the client. Being relatable and transparent with the clients, with professional boundaries, shows the client that you are human as well without judgment. Cultural competence has always been one of my biggest strengths. I always enjoy other artistic ways of life and compare and contrast the different upbringings. Being sensitive to your client’s diverse background shows the client that you respect their way of life and traditions even when you disagree with them. As a social worker, doing your research is essential to tailor the client’s intervention to meet their needs and implement best practices for the client. In addition to advocacy, I’ve always kept the clients’ well-being in mind and helped them engage in services to help them better themselves. Ensure that they have access to resources and communicate with the client frequently to enhance positive outcomes for the clients I serve. Interpersonal skills courses often begin with the observation and articulation of feelings and encourage students to progressively critique their interpersonal performance (including things like the observation of micro-skills such as physicality and the articulation of feelings associated with client issues) until they make deeper connections between their own beliefs and experiences and their professional practice. (Blakemore & Agllias, 2019)
Recognizing and using these skills helped me during the recording process and effectively document interventions that will contribute to a positive outcome for the client’s treatment services.
While I’ve identified several strengths, I’m also aware of areas where I can improve. One such area is organizational skills. I’m committed to enhancing this aspect of my professional practice, further enhancing my ability to serve clients effectively. 
Findings from this study suggest that behavioral exercises, critical observation, and reflection activities directly promoting or pertaining to self-awareness can be useful even in the beginning years of social work education. This research shows that students identified their personal ideas, beliefs, and behaviors and made important connections between theory and professional interpersonal practice. (Blakemore & Agllias, 2019)
Reference:
Blakemore, T., & Agllias, K. (2019). Student reflections on vulnerability and self-awareness in a social work skills course. Australian Social Work, 72(1), 21–33.
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