Looking Back:  For this week's blog, please use this space to comment on your year, expectations vs. reality, what you have learned, how coursework and field came together.  We will use this time to begin the process of consolidating what you have learned.  In the next and final blog, we will be "Looking Ahead" to next year.  

Next class we will focus on your ending field for the year.  Briefly share the thoughts and feelings you are having about this ending and how you are addressing these feelings/endings with your clients and co-workers.

Week 11:  – Termination  - April 7

Sweitzer, H. (2004) Traveling the Last Mile: The Culmination Stage. The Successful Internship. Brooks/Cole, Belmont. CA.  pp 263 - 279

Baum, N. (2011) Social Work Students' Feelings and Concerns about the Ending of their Fieldwork Supervision. Social Work Education  30(1), 83-97

Spirituality in Social Work Practice

For our next class, on 3/31, we will focus our discussion on spirituality in Social Work practice. It is a great chance to visit this topic whether this is an area of much meaning to your or a topic in your life that has not received much attention.  Share briefly on something from the article that struck you and how/whether spirituality may or may not be part of your practice.

Hodge, D. & McGrew, C. (2006) Spirituality, Religion, and the Interrelationship: A Nationally Representative Study. Journal of Social Work Education. 42 (3) 637-654

Barker,S. & Floersch, J. (2010) Practitioner’s understanding of spirituality: Implications for social work education. Journal of Social Work Education, 46, (3) 357-370

This next week we will continue a focus on self-care as well as consider the compassion we have for others.  Please post, just briefly, on what you take from these articles, and if there are any self-care ideas you have used that you can share with the group.  

Barnett, J. et al (2007) In Pursuit of Wellness: The Self-care Imperative. Professional Psychology, 38 (6) 603-612

Figley, C. & Radley, M. (2007). The Social Psychology of Compassion. Clinical Social Work Journal, 35, (3), 207-214 

This week's focus is on the ideal of mindfulness, and as the Time cover above shows, it is a major idea that has woven/and is weaving into social work practice.  Briefly share your thoughts on the article AND, then consider when mindfulness may or may not be the best intervention/fit with your clients.

Dual Relationships in Social Work Practice and Life!

This week's focus is on dual relationships, the tension between how close and how far from each other we can be and see through our professional obligations to our clients.  Dual relationships come up more often than one would think and affect our ability to solely focus on our client's interests. After reading the articles, share what strikes you, or something you learned, or whether you can relate to any of the situations even prior to starting at UNH in other roles you have had.

The Supervisory Relationship

There is so much more to supervision than one might expect.  This week's articles by Bennet and Miehls introduces the "behind the scenes" action that may be occurring.  After reading the articles, share briefly about how you relate to these ideas within your own supervision.  This exercise will help us all share about this often complex and very personal relationship and then continue the discussion in class.