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Itp Loop 5

The student social worker met with a client at their practicum who had become homeless after losing his family, home, and job due to addiction issues. The client was feeling depressed with nowhere to go during the day now that public spaces were closed due to COVID-19. The student referred the client to laundry and housing resources, and connected him with someone who provided a hotel room for two nights. The student reflected on maintaining professionalism while also building rapport with the client. Their field instructor felt they handled the situation appropriately and integrated classroom learning well.

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78 views

Itp Loop 5

The student social worker met with a client at their practicum who had become homeless after losing his family, home, and job due to addiction issues. The client was feeling depressed with nowhere to go during the day now that public spaces were closed due to COVID-19. The student referred the client to laundry and housing resources, and connected him with someone who provided a hotel room for two nights. The student reflected on maintaining professionalism while also building rapport with the client. Their field instructor felt they handled the situation appropriately and integrated classroom learning well.

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api-240553988
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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NAME: Alan Poirier

DATE: March 30, 2020

The Use of Narratives to Enhance Field Integration of Theory and Practice

Individually:

Recall salient facts of a recent practice experience. In a paragraph or two, briefly


describe a significant experience that has taken place in your practicum setting. In telling
the story, position yourself as the author using the first person. Things to share may
include: Interactions with significant others, links between present and past experiences,
feelings, ideas or meaning making that occurred. As relevant, include the intellectual,
spiritual, social, physical, and aesthetic dimensions in the telling of the story.

One of the Addiction Counselors came by and told me that one of his clients, who
attends Living Sober, was outside and wanted to speak with me. I went out and found
him the seating area outside the waiting room entrance. This client is currently living in
the shelter and is starting to feel a lack of energy and drive with having to vacate the
shelter in the mornings and having nowhere to go during the day now that most public
spaces are closed to the public. He told me that he rode the city bus for four hours
yesterday to have somewhere to sit and get out from the cold. He is typically very driven
to get himself out of his current predicament. According to his counselor, he was doing
quite well until his addiction led to losing his child, his home and his job.
The client told me that he went to the ER yesterday morning around 7:30 because
he threw up and had the runs. The nurse that he spoke with apparently chided him for not
staying home to isolate, and told him to get a job when he told her that he was living in
the shelter. He was sequestered in a mental room where a social worker and doctor both
saw him, apologized for the treatment and sent him on his way. Today he was looking for
some help with laundry services; so I spoke with the Independent Living Support Worker
and referred him to the old Dream Centre which has free laundry services. Unfortunately
there is no bus out there and so he can’t get there. Chaplain Kristy from Medicine Hat
College got in touch with one of her contacts, who met with the client right after we
spoke, to set him up with a hotel room for, I believe, two nights. The client was visibly
tired and his tone exposed his depressed mood. He expressed his appreciation of a hotel
room to rest and have some personal time to deal with his mental health. Our meeting
lasted perhaps fifteen minutes, before he received a call and left to meet with this other
person. I sent an e-mail to his counselor, and had a brief discussion regarding the topic of
our discussion.

Integration of Theory & Practice (ITP) Loop Process and Write-up

RETRIEVAL - recalling salient facts of a recent practice experience through the use of a
narrative (this is the write up done above).
REFLECTIONS - recall your thoughts and feelings about the situation. Focus on the
subjective beliefs and attitudes, personal experiences, and cultural /gendered/ political/
societal world views relevant to the situation. Identify how these factors influenced your
interaction.

My first thought when told that the client was asking to speak with me, was joy. I
felt happy and excited that a client asked for me by name. I believed that I must have
made an impact or made some connection with them that they asked for me. With these
thoughts, I mentally prepared to be “a social worker.”
When I found the client in the hallway, I sat down two seats over (being cognisant
of social distancing protocols that had just been put in place) and assumed a professional,
yet relaxed pose/demeanor to maintain professionalism and to make the client feel
comfortable (i.e. back in the chair, yet sitting upright and not reclining).
Throughout our conversation I continually reminded myself to maintain
professional distance. Part of me (my Spidey-sense?) was telling me that the client was
looking for a friendship; and I remained aware of this as I listened and responded to his
questions.

LINKAGE – identify the key actions you took and explain how you chose those actions.
Which practice models, practice wisdom, learned techniques or skills did you use or
consider?

The client, as mentioned earlier, was homeless at the time. Knowing this, I
acknowledged the hard work that he was putting in to finding a permanent residence,
work and ways to deal with having nowhere to go during the day (everything was
beginning to close due to COVID-19). I tried to not add to the stigmatization that he
already experienced (e.g. at the ER) and worked to build him up. I used listening,
repeating for understanding, empowerment, and the rapport that we had already
developed through our interactions in group meetings to provide him with the
information, and opportunity to simply talk to someone, that he needed.

PROFESSIONAL RESPONSE – consider whether your response was selected through


deliberate or intuitive use of reflection and linkage. Do you feel that your response was
effective, appropriate, or sufficient? What could you have done differently? What did you
learn about social work practice?

I found much of what I did to be intuitive. Although I was thinking, a lot, most of what I
did came naturally, the thinking was me being aware of potential faux pas or stepping outside of
the parameters of practicum student. As I debriefed with my field instructor, she advised me that I
had done everything right and expressed her pleasure to see how I had put everything together
that we had been doing all semester.

QUESTIONS & CONSULTATION – what 1-3 questions do you have for your peers
about this practice experience? What did you learn about your practice from the peer
consultation?
1. Have you had any experiences where you were able to put your learning into
practice with a client? How did you feel afterwards?

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