Becoming a social worker was the worst decision of my life. It is definitely not for everyone. And many social workers go into the field because they are codependent... thinking their self worth and identity are about helping others. But if others decide that they don't need your help.... (working with mandated clients like mine) your identity gets free to realize that your self worth is not defined by your ability to help others or in others needing you. And you become sort of this free agent. Anyway I am leaving the field of social work as soon as I can after making this realization after 8 years in the field.
Yes! So happy you made this realization. The field is not for everyone and I myself had to battle codependency as a social worker/therapist for mandated clients and families.
Honestly, schizophrenia is the problem that I think is being discussed here. Let's be honest. Health and human services is an easier college major than STEAM, medicine, or law. The same government that removed and displaced First Americans, invaded Africa, enslaved people, silenced women, put immigrants in internment camps also built social work from what it was to what it is now. It's designed to appeal to those who are emotionally, cognitively, and behaviorally low on self-esteem in order to teach them to pass on that learned helplessness in exchange for a degree, a global community, a prestigious clinical license, close knit communities of people who share your lens. Doesn't 4 months of paid vacation, student loan forgiveness, and government benefits for an educator sound too good to be true? Health and human service is the government's way of saying to stop fighting and save social justice, equality under the law, participation in the democratic process, the grand challenges for social work, etc... Just save those for the next person or the less fortunate. You've peaked. You chase that dream. The big picture is just too hard for you.
Social Work is used to maintain the status quo for the elite - not to actually help society. Health Care for everyone as a right? Nahhhhhhh, cuz not EVERYONE agrees with that, just the vast majority of people.... The Codes of 'Ethics' are flowery language that doesn't actually say anything because they are treated as all having equal value by those accrediting bodies, because the NASW and CSWE are corrupted by latestage capitalism and the same power structures that existed when Jane Adams 'founded' Social Work, which is the rich and powerful's 'Right' to make money by taking advantage of poor people and not actually solve society's problems. Ida B. Wells was never mentioned by any of my professors, not to mention anyone else who wasn't white. Medicare for All doesn't exist in the United States, which is the ONLY industrialized country in the world without a universal healthcare program for that reason. Even with those accrediting bodies coming out with statements decrying their racist and ableist histories - those have only been words without real action. Thank you @loveisamixtape for having the courage and moral compass to refuse to be a complicit cog in the wheel of oppression.
My jadedness comes from the organization I work for. Policies and procedures that are oppressive in nature and do more harm to clients than good. I love my clients. But sometimes working in a broken system is exhausting and can make me feel helpless. Especially when decisions are made by administrators that don’t work frontline with the clients and don’t see the repercussions of those decisions. For context, I work in an emergency family homeless shelter.
It can be super difficult to deal with homelessness, poverty, domestic abuse, and death all before 8am on Tuesday. But you have a good cry at your desk, remind yourself why you do it, and remember you wouldn't be crying if you didn't care and didn't make a difference daily.
I’m a social worker. And I’m burnt out completely. My first year I was super upbeat and happy. And excited to help people. This career has made me dislike people sooooooo much. Some people genuinely need help. But some people honestly are just big babies. And you cannot help people who don’t want to help themselves. It gets very repetitive and tiring and draining. At some point we gotta take of ourselves more. Cause these ppl drain our souls. Some of them feed off of it. I’ve had ppl just be rude to me cause they feel like they simply “Can” And it’s embarrassing that we have to put up with it, cause of their mental illnesses. People are always assuming things about me and assume I won’t help them, make judgments too quickly and don’t even give me a chance. Some are down right disrespectful. Even the best social worker can be easily effected.
Social work was also one of my biggest mistakes as well. Worked in a variety of settings and they are all garbage. Medical social worker: you’re drs, rns, all the providers b*tch. Ur a secretary. CPS investigator: Busiest most burdensome work. Seen grown men have panic attacks due to amount of work. System is the worst. Juvenile rehab officer: Punk kids want nothing to do with you and assault you at first opportunity. Homeless advocate: awful ppl with no resources and hope in sight. Fostercare social worker. Started work at 6am and was home at 12am. Crap pay. Depressing work. Horrible fostercare system and providers. Therapist: love doing therapy with no benefits, health insurance and working with kids/ teens that don’t wanna do it. I love hearing “good” 1000x per session. Also most of these jobs paid horse crap. Your fellow social workers are also clients. I’d say most social workers have serious mental heal issues that are unresolved.
wow... maybe, just maybe, reflect on what you just said. You are not why Social Work and orgs like the NASW are upholders of oppression, ableism, and oligarchy - but you do perpetuate and enable that by you attitude. Maybe consider how people so often products of their environment and are not these unworthy 'babies' as you have stated.
4:30 (BSW student) I think I have an advantage here because I've almost always understood that there are vile aspects of humanity. I can still be shocked but it's really hard to surprise me anymore. Social work appeals to me because of the tools and authority to actually push back against both systemic incompetence and real human evil. But you're right, it's always nice to go to someone strong and tell a few details and hear, "Wow, that is fucked up." Thanks for being you, I'm jealous of your clients!
I'm a BSW student as well. I plan on going into medical social work and I also plan to get my Doctorate of Social Work because I want to work in the medical field. I have a brain disorder that was treated when I was a child and you know seeing how doctors and nurses worked help other people and coming from parents who are in the medical field my dad he's a Critical Care Nursing my mother is a nurse practitioner and seeing how they interact with people inspired me to want to do something to help others and after doing a lot of research and soul-searching as thought that I wanted to you know be a medical social worker and after doing you know research on a doctorate in social work I decided that after I pursued my Master's and I want to get my doctorate because I want to be able to you own my own business have my own private practice to focus on one particular group of people to help them. I plan on helping people who have newly diagnosed disabilities, also people who are struggling to cope that they have some type of disability that is you know hard on them and also the elderly because you know they need help as well so I want to be a therapist for them to have a voice so I'll be able to listen to them you know help them get through what they're going through because I can sympathize with people who have disabilities and also I can sympathize with the elderly because they have a lot of you no health problems so I want to be that voice and that person who can provide assistance for them and you know they'll be able to have a voice and I can refer them to the best doctors the best specialist for the best care that they need. I believe our social workers if you are able to put yourself in your clients use and understand what they're going through their social work is for you if not just about you know helping people it's about being able to view what they're dealing with and sympathizing with them and getting an understanding of what issues are going through and that's how you gain a better understanding and how to help them it also gives people of boys because sometimes people aren't able to communicate what they really need in a social workers were able to advocate for people and give them a voice so they'll get the resources that they need
Thanks…school social work, 18 years. Love it but I have struggled with my “world view” these days. Also, it can be difficult over time, to work with great teacher, but may have very traditional views about mental health and behavior. As usual, the kids are great but all the adults involved make it harder. Lol. ❤️
Thank you for making this channels so people aspiring to social work will have someone to look up to as an inspiration like was said in the video! We do need social work to be better defined for people to understand should they wish to enter social work! I agree it can be great to have one's own space as a social worker defining one's own on-goings and schedule/duties. Our society does need more social worker role models for "us" (meaning people aspiring to social work and people in general) to look up to. Really appreciate the insight into social workers having a dark sense of humour, avoiding getting jaded, being able to laugh it off, people's resilience and the believing in change for the future.
I love helping people. It’s been 15 years since I’ve been in the field. I can honestly say it was a huge mistake. Mainly because of the terrible wages. Leadership only care about numbers and treat patients like trash. And did I say the high case loads….. yeah I’m done see you on true other side.
A friend was a social worker , she was put on cases that did not require a social worker . Unfortunately some controlling people are trying to take over relatives lives and declare them mentally challenged , weird situations . One case was a dishonest relative wanted to declare another relative mentally challenged to get money , people are so evil !
You are awesome-love this real talk-so refreshing! I’ve recently pivoted to working in the school system and you’ve already been so helpful! I was able to shadow the previous social worker for a few months but my biggest concern were the parents….I’m wondering how you get parents more invested in their child’s treatment goals…especially in student support teams. Thanks for the help 😊
Thank you for your videos. I've been a case manager for 4 years now and I love what I do, but the burnout feelings have been strong this year. I'm sure because of covid and how it has effected my line of work since I deal with the elderly and disabled community. But I am feeling much more lifted and inspired again.
Thank you for doing this. As an MSW student, I sometimes feel the "heaviness" of the material and content we're reading...that really evil side of humanity...in addition to the emotionally challenging work with families.You've helped me to see this is normal and natural and also to create built in "re-sets" for myself so I don't burn out.
I wish i had this video like 3 years ago when i had colleagues that came from structured sw agencies that had everything provided for them. Lol they had a hard time and i was trying to explain that we all just learned as we went but it wasn’t flying. We worked together to make up our own standard documents we needed for our program and talked alot to help them through it but it was a rough transition for them.
Hi I have just finished the first year of my MSW program. I am feeling worried regarding the great harm that the social work profession has committed on historically marginalized populations. The term "social worker" sometimes has a negative connotation in the public zeitgeist, specifically in white social workers taking away indigenous children from their families. Thoughts? Thank you.
Maybe dismantling and decolonizing the career? This happens with many professional careers, many of them have their roots in systemic racism or contributed to it (for instance, western medicine).
I was a sw....earn much less doing unqualified work now, but my soul is recovering and I sleep well. Respect to those who do it, but it's an impossible role now
A big foundation of my belief system is that all humans are born into sin. Therefore we are all inherently evil. The goodness that is in the world and the goodness people do to each other is a result of God. How do i handle it when I’m bombarded with the sorrows and just evilness of the world. I already have a dark sense of humor to an extent but I suppress it. Should I nurture it?
Paperwork and more paperwork and clients given bare bones lol .. society's upper echelons laughing at the thought of social justice .. Just to name a few for not being paid enough .
So Micro and macro files has different course to do in collage or it’s just the path we choose to work post graduate? Is that okay to work in both path on time to time?
In 2020, Texas Social Work tried making it ethical to discriminate against the LGBT community. Oklahoma Social Work board follows legality on discriminatory practices against people living with HIV. Social workers put the profession over the marginalized populations.
@@SocialWorkScrapbook Licensing boards don't need to practice social work values. They get put in power to fight diversity in social work. Remember, Social Work started off by wealthy white women who put in place a code of ethics to separate those they help from helping their own community. Damn shame... nope, just social work.
Im looking into mastering in social work. I’m confused what’s the difference in LMSW and LCSW. how do you get into the clinical side of social work. Just looking for some information.
Becoming a social worker was the worst decision of my life. It is definitely not for everyone. And many social workers go into the field because they are codependent... thinking their self worth and identity are about helping others. But if others decide that they don't need your help.... (working with mandated clients like mine) your identity gets free to realize that your self worth is not defined by your ability to help others or in others needing you. And you become sort of this free agent. Anyway I am leaving the field of social work as soon as I can after making this realization after 8 years in the field.
Yes! So happy you made this realization. The field is not for everyone and I myself had to battle codependency as a social worker/therapist for mandated clients and families.
Im thinking about this feiod because I genuinely was failed so badly, I want to be the type of social worker I needed.
I can relate to this!
Honestly, schizophrenia is the problem that I think is being discussed here. Let's be honest. Health and human services is an easier college major than STEAM, medicine, or law. The same government that removed and displaced First Americans, invaded Africa, enslaved people, silenced women, put immigrants in internment camps also built social work from what it was to what it is now. It's designed to appeal to those who are emotionally, cognitively, and behaviorally low on self-esteem in order to teach them to pass on that learned helplessness in exchange for a degree, a global community, a prestigious clinical license, close knit communities of people who share your lens. Doesn't 4 months of paid vacation, student loan forgiveness, and government benefits for an educator sound too good to be true? Health and human service is the government's way of saying to stop fighting and save social justice, equality under the law, participation in the democratic process, the grand challenges for social work, etc... Just save those for the next person or the less fortunate. You've peaked. You chase that dream. The big picture is just too hard for you.
Social Work is used to maintain the status quo for the elite - not to actually help society. Health Care for everyone as a right? Nahhhhhhh, cuz not EVERYONE agrees with that, just the vast majority of people.... The Codes of 'Ethics' are flowery language that doesn't actually say anything because they are treated as all having equal value by those accrediting bodies, because the NASW and CSWE are corrupted by latestage capitalism and the same power structures that existed when Jane Adams 'founded' Social Work, which is the rich and powerful's 'Right' to make money by taking advantage of poor people and not actually solve society's problems.
Ida B. Wells was never mentioned by any of my professors, not to mention anyone else who wasn't white.
Medicare for All doesn't exist in the United States, which is the ONLY industrialized country in the world without a universal healthcare program for that reason. Even with those accrediting bodies coming out with statements decrying their racist and ableist histories - those have only been words without real action.
Thank you @loveisamixtape for having the courage and moral compass to refuse to be a complicit cog in the wheel of oppression.
My jadedness comes from the organization I work for. Policies and procedures that are oppressive in nature and do more harm to clients than good. I love my clients. But sometimes working in a broken system is exhausting and can make me feel helpless. Especially when decisions are made by administrators that don’t work frontline with the clients and don’t see the repercussions of those decisions. For context, I work in an emergency family homeless shelter.
It can be super difficult to deal with homelessness, poverty, domestic abuse, and death all before 8am on Tuesday. But you have a good cry at your desk, remind yourself why you do it, and remember you wouldn't be crying if you didn't care and didn't make a difference daily.
I’m a social worker.
And I’m burnt out completely. My first year I was super upbeat and happy. And excited to help people.
This career has made me dislike people sooooooo much. Some people genuinely need help. But some people honestly are just big babies. And you cannot help people who don’t want to help themselves. It gets very repetitive and tiring and draining.
At some point we gotta take of ourselves more. Cause these ppl drain our souls. Some of them feed off of it. I’ve had ppl just be rude to me cause they feel like they simply “Can”
And it’s embarrassing that we have to put up with it, cause of their mental illnesses. People are always assuming things about me and assume I won’t help them, make judgments too quickly and don’t even give me a chance. Some are down right disrespectful. Even the best social worker can be easily effected.
Social work was also one of my biggest mistakes as well. Worked in a variety of settings and they are all garbage.
Medical social worker: you’re drs, rns, all the providers b*tch. Ur a secretary.
CPS investigator: Busiest most burdensome work. Seen grown men have panic attacks due to amount of work. System is the worst.
Juvenile rehab officer: Punk kids want nothing to do with you and assault you at first opportunity.
Homeless advocate: awful ppl with no resources and hope in sight.
Fostercare social worker. Started work at 6am and was home at 12am. Crap pay. Depressing work. Horrible fostercare system and providers.
Therapist: love doing therapy with no benefits, health insurance and working with kids/ teens that don’t wanna do it. I love hearing “good” 1000x per session.
Also most of these jobs paid horse crap. Your fellow social workers are also clients. I’d say most social workers have serious mental heal issues that are unresolved.
wow... maybe, just maybe, reflect on what you just said. You are not why Social Work and orgs like the NASW are upholders of oppression, ableism, and oligarchy - but you do perpetuate and enable that by you attitude.
Maybe consider how people so often products of their environment and are not these unworthy 'babies' as you have stated.
4:30 (BSW student) I think I have an advantage here because I've almost always understood that there are vile aspects of humanity. I can still be shocked but it's really hard to surprise me anymore. Social work appeals to me because of the tools and authority to actually push back against both systemic incompetence and real human evil. But you're right, it's always nice to go to someone strong and tell a few details and hear, "Wow, that is fucked up." Thanks for being you, I'm jealous of your clients!
I'm a BSW student as well. I plan on going into medical social work and I also plan to get my Doctorate of Social Work because I want to work in the medical field. I have a brain disorder that was treated when I was a child and you know seeing how doctors and nurses worked help other people and coming from parents who are in the medical field my dad he's a Critical Care Nursing my mother is a nurse practitioner and seeing how they interact with people inspired me to want to do something to help others and after doing a lot of research and soul-searching as thought that I wanted to you know be a medical social worker and after doing you know research on a doctorate in social work I decided that after I pursued my Master's and I want to get my doctorate because I want to be able to you own my own business have my own private practice to focus on one particular group of people to help them. I plan on helping people who have newly diagnosed disabilities, also people who are struggling to cope that they have some type of disability that is you know hard on them and also the elderly because you know they need help as well so I want to be a therapist for them to have a voice so I'll be able to listen to them you know help them get through what they're going through because I can sympathize with people who have disabilities and also I can sympathize with the elderly because they have a lot of you no health problems so I want to be that voice and that person who can provide assistance for them and you know they'll be able to have a voice and I can refer them to the best doctors the best specialist for the best care that they need. I believe our social workers if you are able to put yourself in your clients use and understand what they're going through their social work is for you if not just about you know helping people it's about being able to view what they're dealing with and sympathizing with them and getting an understanding of what issues are going through and that's how you gain a better understanding and how to help them it also gives people of boys because sometimes people aren't able to communicate what they really need in a social workers were able to advocate for people and give them a voice so they'll get the resources that they need
Thanks…school social work, 18 years. Love it but I have struggled with my “world view” these days. Also, it can be difficult over time, to work with great teacher, but may have very traditional views about mental health and behavior. As usual, the kids are great but all the adults involved make it harder. Lol. ❤️
Just accepted a school social worker position! So excited to start my career! Thanx for the videos!
So so exciting!!!!
@@SocialWorkScrapbook I was offered a little over $57k. Do you think this is a fair offer? Its my first ssw position and i live in the south.
@@asialeslie1995 What kind of work is it? It seems like a nice compensation as I know MSW who make as little as 38k
@@felikaish im a School Social worker on the preschool assesment team. And wow okay that makes me feel better about accepting the offer
BSW drug counselor here. I love my job. I make about 55k a year and I wake up in the morning not dreding going to work
I hope you don't live in California. 55k a year isn't worth it.
Thank you for making this channels so people aspiring to social work will have someone to look up to as an inspiration like was said in the video! We do need social work to be better defined for people to understand should they wish to enter social work! I agree it can be great to have one's own space as a social worker defining one's own on-goings and schedule/duties. Our society does need more social worker role models for "us" (meaning people aspiring to social work and people in general) to look up to. Really appreciate the insight into social workers having a dark sense of humour, avoiding getting jaded, being able to laugh it off, people's resilience and the believing in change for the future.
I love helping people. It’s been 15 years since I’ve been in the field. I can honestly say it was a huge mistake. Mainly because of the terrible wages. Leadership only care about numbers and treat patients like trash. And did I say the high case loads….. yeah I’m done see you on true other side.
Exactly!
A friend was a social worker , she was put on cases that did not require a social worker . Unfortunately some controlling people are trying to take over relatives lives and declare them mentally challenged , weird situations . One case was a dishonest relative wanted to declare another relative mentally challenged to get money , people are so evil !
Hi Lauren! It's Amanda here. I enjoyed watching this video. I appreciate your honesty about some of the challenging aspects of social work!
Thanks!! It’s important to notice what bothers us and develop a way to combat the stress 🤎
You are awesome-love this real talk-so refreshing! I’ve recently pivoted to working in the school system and you’ve already been so helpful! I was able to shadow the previous social worker for a few months but my biggest concern were the parents….I’m wondering how you get parents more invested in their child’s treatment goals…especially in student support teams. Thanks for the help 😊
Thank you for your videos. I've been a case manager for 4 years now and I love what I do, but the burnout feelings have been strong this year. I'm sure because of covid and how it has effected my line of work since I deal with the elderly and disabled community. But I am feeling much more lifted and inspired again.
And we APPRECIATE you SOOO much for making this video! We NEED this,Thank you so much!
Thank you for doing this. As an MSW student, I sometimes feel the "heaviness" of the material and content we're reading...that really evil side of humanity...in addition to the emotionally challenging work with families.You've helped me to see this is normal and natural and also to create built in "re-sets" for myself so I don't burn out.
Social workers are hated by alot of people have a bad reputation. There is good social works out there who help keep families together
This is such good info for someone considering this career path!! Thank u :))
I wish i had this video like 3 years ago when i had colleagues that came from structured sw agencies that had everything provided for them. Lol they had a hard time and i was trying to explain that we all just learned as we went but it wasn’t flying. We worked together to make up our own standard documents we needed for our program and talked alot to help them through it but it was a rough transition for them.
Hi I have just finished the first year of my MSW program. I am feeling worried regarding the great harm that the social work profession has committed on historically marginalized populations. The term "social worker" sometimes has a negative connotation in the public zeitgeist, specifically in white social workers taking away indigenous children from their families. Thoughts? Thank you.
they are all evil by design!
Maybe dismantling and decolonizing the career? This happens with many professional careers, many of them have their roots in systemic racism or contributed to it (for instance, western medicine).
I was a sw....earn much less doing unqualified work now, but my soul is recovering and I sleep well. Respect to those who do it, but it's an impossible role now
I love your channel. Can you please do a video or point me to a video you have already uploaded on how you deal with that lack of structure?
A big foundation of my belief system is that all humans are born into sin. Therefore we are all inherently evil. The goodness that is in the world and the goodness people do to each other is a result of God. How do i handle it when I’m bombarded with the sorrows and just evilness of the world. I already have a dark sense of humor to an extent but I suppress it. Should I nurture it?
Paperwork and more paperwork and clients given bare bones lol .. society's upper echelons laughing at the thought of social justice .. Just to name a few for not being paid enough .
What about pay a lot of people tell me I’m not going to be able to support myself being a social worker
The pay sucks
hi ma'am. please suggest some social work outreach activities for school
So Micro and macro files has different course to do in collage or it’s just the path we choose to work post graduate? Is that okay to work in both path on time to time?
In 2020, Texas Social Work tried making it ethical to discriminate against the LGBT community. Oklahoma Social Work board follows legality on discriminatory practices against people living with HIV. Social workers put the profession over the marginalized populations.
Yes, this was overturned in TEXAS. Macro Social Work is so important to confront injustice like this.
@@SocialWorkScrapbook Licensing boards don't need to practice social work values. They get put in power to fight diversity in social work. Remember, Social Work started off by wealthy white women who put in place a code of ethics to separate those they help from helping their own community. Damn shame... nope, just social work.
Being a firefighter is a good career
I ruined my life going to school to learn how to “help”. My life fucking sucks
Im looking into mastering in social work. I’m confused what’s the difference in LMSW and LCSW. how do you get into the clinical side of social work. Just looking for some information.