Discouragement

One of the things I find really frustrating – and I have to be honest here as there’s no point being otherwise – about being a social work practitioner, is dealing with the feeling of discouragement. There are just so many factors that can contribute to that sinking feeling that I suspect you know and have experienced for yourself on numerous occasions.

You know what I’m talking about!

Those occasions when you have a statement to write and a care plan that has to be filed today, but you also have a child protection report for the conference tomorrow, that should have been completed last week, only it couldn’t be, due to other emergencies thrust upon you, which caused you to drop everything else at the time.

So, what happens?

Perhaps by working all day and most of the night you get one or two of the tasks done satisfactorily, but not all three.

And then you get the feedback from the conference chair, that not only was your report late and not shared with the family, but to put it bluntly it was ‘not worth the paper it was written on.’

They continue on to explain how unfair it is to the parent and family concerned and during the conference itself can’t help but express aspects of dissatisfaction with your work in the presence of everyone else.

Which of course is sweet music to the ears of any families who don’t like you.

Embarrassed and ashamed, you acknowledge inwardly that it wasn’t your best piece of work and feel terrible about letting the family and yourself down. Then, you brace yourself for the criticism you’re likely to receive in the future from the family and any core group members who display a propensity to side with the family against you.

Sound, or feel familiar?

Wouldn’t it be great if as professionals instead of often feeling discouraged we felt, for the most part, encouraged when dealing with most of the professionals, families, agencies and circumstances with regard to your work!

What a difference it would make to your work environment!

The problem is that there’s rarely enough time to do the work you want to do to the standard that’s worthy of you and the families you work with.

Consequently, it is so easy to spend a significant amount of time feeling a sense of discouragement. And who does that help?

No one at all!

So what can you do to counteract that horrible sinking feeling?

The first thing you can do is, instead of chastising yourself, congratulate yourself in relation to your valiant efforts.

You had three things to do all at the same time. Under the circumstances, if you did one of them well, you should be proud of your achievement because you were under a lot of pressure and had insufficient thinking and preparation time.

The problem with social work as a profession is that we are expected to be Tom Cruise and achieve ‘Mission Impossible’ every day without the necessary time and resources to accomplish your tasks.

The second thing you can do, particularly with regard to your personal life is surround yourself with people who are positive and supportive of your growth and development. It’s wise wherever possible to distance yourself from people who either pull or put you down and are negative.

The third thing you can do is to be very clear about why you do this job and what you want to get out of it. Have a definite goal and a clear plan and decide how long you will do the job.

And the fourth thing you can do – and I do not say it is easy, but you can do it – is to recognise that criticism, which is often unfair, is an unpleasant reality of your profession. But that does not mean it is in any way a habit to be emulated. Decide instead, that you are above criticising others and become in your attitude and the exemplary way you deal with everyone, the best version of yourself.

Be the example, or the way you would want others to behave towards you.

Be the light of encouragement you would want others to shine on you!