Reflections on Becoming a Social Worker

“Which prison do you work in?” asked my blind date, 25 years ago when I told him I was a Social Worker. I married him anyway!

Like my husband, many do not know what we as Social Workers do, where we work, and certainly do not understand why we would choose this field.

However, if you ask any of the over 700,000 licensed social workers in the U.S., you will find richly diverse answers to those questions and a great deal of passion for the profession.

For me, wife, mother, and Social Worker are the three titles of which I am the proudest. Of those three, Social Worker came first. I initially thought I was going to be a psychiatrist, however, organic chemistry during my pre-med studies quickly set me straight. Medical school was not in my future, but I still wanted to become a therapist. I pursued my Master of Social Work (MSW) immediately following my college graduation and was a Licensed Social Worker by the age of 23.

With my degree in hand, I embarked upon what, 31 years later, has turned out to be an exciting and windy path that has given me the opportunity to touch and be touched by the most incredible human beings – both consumers, patients, members, coworkers, staff, and mentors.

My positions span from staff social worker to Chief Operating Officer and everything in between, in all settings inclusive of inpatient mental health and substance use facilities, Assertive Community Treatment teams, day treatment programs, outpatient clinics, private practice, behavioral health sales, and Managed Care Organizations.

Each position, my first at Brookdale Hospital’s Child Outpatient Department, becoming the Chief Operating Officer at ICL while pregnant with my second child, taking on a sales role with at Optum, to my current role as Vice President of Behavioral Health at Healthfirst, has initially been a stretch. I begin each role with a great deal to learn and then I search for those that are willing to teach me. I have never been disappointed. There are wonderful people in this world that are eager to help and as I like to say, relationships make the world go ‘round. Establishing connections has truly been the secret to my success.

The highlight of each of my experiences has always been the people that I have met along the way. An 8-year-old girl, my very first patient, displayed bravery and courage far beyond what should ever be demanded of anyone, as the sole witness to her father shooting and killing her mother. She came to session twice-a-week to prepare to testify in front of the judge presiding over her father’s murder case. An 11-year-old boy and his family who came to therapy to prepare for the boy’s second heart transplant, taught me the true meaning of gratitude. The single HIV+ mom, in the 1990’s, arranging custody for her son, demonstrated what is possible through a mother’s love. I am forever humbled by so many such experiences of human beings sharing their humanity with me.

Through it all, I've been supported and carried by an army of mentors who have taken me under their wing and literally given me multiple opportunities of a lifetime.?A few of these mentors include a trailblazer and second African American graduate of her college in 1950, a doctoral graduate student founding a community-based housing agency during deinstitutionalization that grew into one of the largest non-profit mental health providers in NYC, and an international executive healthcare leader.??

The social work profession is only 114 years-old with a rich history. Please do read this Social Work History article to understand why I am as enthusiastic about the profession today as I was in 1991 when I earned by MSW. I am continually inspired by each of my colleagues with whom I work elbow-to-elbow and by each of the individuals we are privileged to serve.

Happy Social Work Month!