“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

March 10, 2020

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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

August 1, 2019

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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

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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

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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 5, 2019

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Liam Neeson, ethnicity, and oppression

Liam Neeson is in the press today (Tuesday 5th February 2019). You may have seen that he has told a reporter that during a difficult time in his life he had walked the streets for a week with a knife hoping, he says, to take his anger out on any black man who approached him.... Read More

Commentary, In the News, Practice

discrimination, liam neeson, oppression, practice, racism, social work

November 4, 2018

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Part of the problem or part of the solution…..?

When I was a practitioner and then a social work manager I was fond, when times were difficult, of asking myself, “Do I want to be part of the problem or part of the solution?” I remember this acutely during the time the local authority I was working in were ‘rolling out’ new processes to... Read More

Commentary, Practice

3 conversations, conversation, model, practice, problem, social work, solution

August 2, 2018

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Get yourself organised, get yourself productive!

Yesterday I pointed you to some blogs of mine about self care ….and today I’d like to point you to some blogs about being productive. It’s part of the modern workplace and indeed modern life that we have more to do. It’s a curse and a blessing I feel. It’s great that we have so... Read More

Commentary, Productivity, Self Care

eustress, organised, planning, productivity, stress

August 1, 2018

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Review for BJSW of Organisations and Management in Social Work, 3rd edn, Mark Hughes and Michael Wearing

I have a particular interest in social work organisations and management in those organisations so was delighted to review Organisations and Management in Social Work, 3rd edition by Mark Hughes and Michael Wearing for The British Journal of Social Work…. You can read the review here…. You might also be interested in this article about Charles Handy’s... Read More

Commentary

book review, management, organisation, review

Social Work Shorts

Social Care, Risk, COVID and True Uncertainty

Empathy, Sympathy and Compassion

The Merchant of Venice and Critical Thinking

Who IS to blame….?

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

Unique!?

Liam Neeson, ethnicity, and oppression

Part of the problem or part of the solution…..?

Get yourself organised, get yourself productive!

Review for BJSW of Organisations and Management in Social Work, 3rd edn, Mark Hughes and Michael Wearing

Social Work Shorts

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