Reasons to go slow in social work
Hi friend,
?
Last week I was driving to deliver training, and the route took me off the motorway and onto a windy country road which to be quite honest is my idea of driving hell.
?
I was arriving the night before, so along with some challenging bends, it was also pitch black with no street lights to guide me.
?
I was going about 40mph and the limit was 60 mph. I felt safe at 40, and by safe I was still tense, hunching over the wheel wide eyed and at this point had turned off my music to concentrate which is a signal for me that things were serious.
?
I started to notice cars behind me. Thankfully they were at a safe distance, but I was conscious that I was not hitting the speed limit and that they were perhaps more confident drivers than me, itching to overtake and maybe getting annoyed at my speed.
?
It speaks to the fact that I need a genuine break from work, that in the midst of my stress I thought, hmmmm how can I turn this into a lesson for new social workers (what a sad little life Jane)
?
But the lesson is this; if you don't feel safe, go slow. There may be people who try to push you to go faster, but you are the only person driving the car. The pressure to move is difficult, but the danger of going too fast before you are ready should outweigh any external factors.
?
If you are bravely taking it slow this week, you are not alone.
?
Take Care
?
Vicki
?
ps. the irony of me sending this is that I've just done a speed awareness course so look out for more driving related lessons/rants about average speed zones/lessons from speed cameras
?
We're revisiting an episode on Motivational Interviewing this week: I talk to Charlie Whittaker about her research and there are so many practical tips in this conversation. LISTEN HERE?
?
?
I'm always grateful to you for sharing the podcast, it's coming up to a special milestone for me soon!
Members, this week we have 2 masterclasses:
?
Tuesday 29th at 8pm
Introduction to Anti racism in children's social care, with Esher Williams ?
(prioritise live attendance as this will not be recorded)
?
Wednesday 30th at 12pm
Assessment and Child Protection processes with Vicki
(recorded and kept in the CPD hub)
?
If you are from a local authority or organisation and would like to talk about group membership, hit reply to this email.
?
If you are an individual join the waiting list here - there's nearly 200 of you on there so it will be first come first serve when spaces reopen in December.
The Space will be changing in 2025. I'll no longer be sharing on LinkedIn and it will be exclusive to my email list. Make sure you are signed up.
In the spirit of reminders to go slow, I feel like it's important to reflect that whilst I'm currently doing lots of in person training and events (which I'm so proud of), I spent 12 months posting on instagram and growing my podcast when I first started this thing I now call my job. I did this whilst working full time. I'm coming to my second year of self employment and its been really hard with lots of struggles but all worth it. Some of you have been here since I started and I am so grateful. But if you are new around here I think context is really important so just wanted to reiterate things take time, and for most things in life there are no shortcuts even though the media we see every day tries to convince us there are.
?
Thank you so much for reading, sharing and connecting.
?
Vicki