It sometimes feels like resilience is a dirty word. Whispered in hushed tones in corridors in case over heard. Or spoken out loud as a rallying call to try harder and be stronger. It shouldn’t be this way. Resilience is crucial to a productive life but in social work it is in danger of being... Read More

Uncategorized

exercise, nutrition, productivity, resilience, sleep

March 10, 2020

0 Comment

Empathy, Sympathy and Compassion

“Empathy Is Walking A Mile In Somebody Else’s Moccasins. Sympathy Is Being Sorry Their Feet Hurt”. (Rebecca O’Donnell) The nature of our work as social workers, (or any caring profession for that matter) is dealing with some marginalised sections of society. We do our job because we care. By the very nature of ‘us’ caring, are we... Read More

Commentary, Practice, Productivity, Self Care

compassion, empathy, sympathy

March 10, 2020

0 Comment

The Merchant of Venice and Critical Thinking

Was Shylock in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice making a critical decision that was necessary and proportionate, when he was demanding his pound of flesh? Let me give you a brief rundown on how Shylock found himself in a position where he was able to demand a pound of flesh from the poor Antonio. Shakespeare sets... Read More

Commentary, Practice

DoLs, liberty, shakespeare

September 20, 2019

0 Comment

To be or not to be? Did Hamlet have the Mental Capacity to make that decision?

If the Mental Capacity Act was law in Denmark in the fourteen hundred’s would poor Hamlet have been able to make the decision, to be or not to be? Let’s explore the troubles and musings of poor Hamlet, as scribed by Mr. William Shakespeare. In the most famous speech from the play Hamlet is quoted... Read More

Practice

hamlet, mental capacity act

August 1, 2019

0 Comment

Who IS to blame….?

The Guardian this morning (August 1st 2019) reports that social workers are being blamed for their own stress and burnout. You can read the article here.There are some very damning statistics in there about how social workers are feeling about this and how they are maybe being made to feel by employers. Indeed, the HCPC... Read More

Commentary, In the News, Productivity, Self Care

productivity, resilience, self care

May 6, 2019

0 Comment

Is it really Social Work that’s making you fat?

With my passion for Self Care I’ve read with interest a couple of Social Work Tutor’s posts lately. The ones about social work making us fat. The problems he lists are ones I hear stated lots of the time from a range of professionals so I think they are worth exploring. In one of the posts... Read More

Commentary, Productivity, Self Care

eating, healthy, nutrition, stress, walking

March 14, 2019

0 Comment

Unique!?

Recently, when teaching the first year BA students where I work I’d gone off topic….. this never comes as a surprise. And I asked the students, “What is the unique contribution that social work makes to the professional world?” Now, it’s not the first time I’ve asked this question, and the answer I get is... Read More

Commentary, Practice, Self Care

contribution, motivation, self, unique

February 19, 2019

0 Comment

How to start your day!

Start right! If we are going to be productive throughout the day how we start our day is crucial in setting ourselves up with the right frame of mind. Too simple? Well, neuroscience tells us that the impact can be quite dramatic! Visualise Thinking about our day, visualising what we want it to look like... Read More

Practice, Productivity, Self Care

productivity, visualisation

Social Work Shorts

Social Care, Risk, COVID and True Uncertainty

Resilience – dirty word?

Empathy, Sympathy and Compassion

The Merchant of Venice and Critical Thinking

Dr Dan Siegel’s Hand Model of the Brain

To be or not to be? Did Hamlet have the Mental Capacity to make that decision?

Who IS to blame….?

Is it really Social Work that’s making you fat?

Unique!?

How to start your day!

Social Work Shorts

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Recent Posts

Archives

Categories

Meta

Social Work Shorts

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Recent Posts

Tags

Archives

Categories

Meta