Discussion 7.2

Discussion 7.2

Self-Awareness and Professional Social Work Practice

As social workers, we have contact with people and situations that are different from our own. Sometimes these situations test our beliefs and values and cause us to have an emotional reaction. How we handle these reactions is so important for us, our clients, our co-workers, and the larger systems that we work within.

In addition to the Code of Ethics, social workers need to be self-aware and possess self-understanding. We need to realize that our worldview (our way of doing things and our values) is not the only option. We also need to recognize when a situation causes feelings from our own personal life to surface that it is not about the client, but instead about us. When this happens, we need to recognize these feelings for what they are: ours. With self-understanding and self-awareness, we are able to recognize how our own feelings, values, attitudes, and behaviors shape us as professionals. This insight allows us to be able to effectively help others.