No claim is made to cure any medical condition. Complementary health assistance must be with medical doctor's permission and following the client consulting a medical doctor.
No Claim is made to be a qualified Solicitor or DipSW (CCETSW) qualified Social Worker.

Social Work Related Therapy and Advocacy
 

Most people first meet a social worker when something has gone wrong, usually badly wrong. 

Classic case examples would be when a child protection social worker introduces themselves to you, or when an elderly relative is unable to cope anymore unassisted.

What happens next often colours the viewpoint of the individual towards social services for life, and is unfortunately rarely positive. In almost every case the person is completely unprepared for the type of conversations, processes and relationships with authority that follow.

The other classic scenario is when you are desperate for help, but a social worker appears to be nowhere to be found!

Powerless

Most "service users" as social services like to call their clients, report feeling powerless in the social work relationship. Although social workers are meant to inform ad empower their "service users", in practice few feel they have been left empowered at all!

Depending on the circumstances the service user can be left feeling accused, discriminated against, or simply ignored. 

Why is the relationship so one sided?

Partly as the result of a change in policy some decades ago, social workers began receiving broad based training without the level of specialty they used to receive (some exceptions include Mental Health S.W's). The formation or a profession of "experts" in everything social work related may have contributed to the attitude held by most local authority social work departments. Certainly much discussion and liaison goes on behind the scenes without "service user" involvement or consultation, especially in Child Protection. Sadly despite the fact that the professional training course has increased from 2 to 3 years, the standard of graduates, or rather the breath of their knowledge, never seems to match the assumptions of competence.

Senior Social workers are used to monitor and supervise the less experienced SW. Unfortunately although this seems a good idea, it presupposes that the Senior has attained that position through some degree of unbiased competence. Often Senior level is "time served" promotion. Since time service experience and results are gained through adherence to budgets, and the gaining of positive court decisions, this may not be the case. Frequently it appears that the most successful Social workers at gaining the court outcomes the local authority wanted are the ones considered competent by the department. This may not mean they are on the "same wavelength" as the poor "service user". 

A further contributory factor is that many "pro-client" social workers leave the realm of social services and instead work in the voluntary sector, where they rapidly ditch the title of "social worker", preferring the more empowering and friendly titles available outside local authority control.

A last quirk of the industry is that the court appointed "independent" social workers (Guardian Ad Litem), and chairpersons of most social work convened meetings are former social workers themselves. This can make them independent in name only, since they are often old friends of the social workers convening the meeting, or presenting a case to the court. Therefore take care before being too honest or critical about your social worker to either party, since it may not go in your favour! One service user remarked to me that their court appointed social worker was "about as independent as a brick being hurled at my window". In other words their preconceptions and opinions made them predetermined towards favoring the local authority.

Paul S Morgan-Ayres FRSH FIHPE FSHTC
(Professor of Religious Studies, Psychotherapy and Counseling U.K. Division, Interfaith Seminary) 

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What can be done about it?

 Just as the strength of the local authority  is in behind the scenes networking and politicking, so networking and gaining information can be strength of the service user.

1. Always gain expert legal representation

2. Always build a confidential support network, avoiding any network that reports back dutifully and in a biased manner to social services

3. Never loose your temper with a representative of the local authority, remain calm and think before speaking.

4. Always gain the support of as many professionals who may support your position as possible. These may be medical staff, school personnel etc. Always note the name, date and what was said if that person makes a positive or useful comment / statement.

5. Always make clear notes of any meeting with Social Services within 24 hours of it taking place, sign it and keep it as back up evidence should your solicitor need it.

6. Always check whether the advice or information given to you by a social worker is correct. Do not take the accuracy or lack of bias for granted.

7. Avoid appearing to pick a fight with social workers. Use phrases like "sounds fine, but of course I must just check that with my solicitor before agreeing", rather than "you have to be kidding pal".

8. Social workers often hate clever service users. To appear to clever, knowledgeable or intelligent tends to threaten their sense of superiority, and seems to make them assume you are guilty of something! The logic seems to be along the lines of clever = criminal mind = threat
 thick = normal = non-threatening = relax

 

Where can you get help?

1. Find a specialised solicitor that deals with your kind of "family law" case. A starting point is your local Citizen's Advice Bureau.

2. Familiarise yourself with the law. There are perfectly good "idiot guides" to family law. Have a pick through one to understand where your "local friendly" social worker is coming from. Do not expect to become a legal expert, but this will help you to avoid being baffled with jargon.

3. Seek mental health / stress management support from a professional with some knowledge of social work. Use sensible judgment here, lots of former social workers leave social work and become therapists. Some remain social workers at heart and are therefore pro-local authority, others left to make a difference. Communicate with them and see where they are coming from and get the "feel" for their position. A good professional can provide counselling, stress management, advice about resources, advice about handling confrontational situations and possible basic advice about social work. 

 

Some social workers are indeed excellent and caring professionals. If you get one appointed to you hold on to them! if you get any other "flavour" of social worker then you are advised to muster your resources and learn how to handle your "new friend".

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Paul used to work for both Children's Services for a major Social work department, and with a leading voluntary agency re-homing former children from care. He has also worked in ISS learning difficulty and mental Health settings, and in crime reduction youth and community work. He has received training from both Social Services, independent bodies and completed approximately half of the MSc DipSW in Social work, before having to leave because of family illness reasons. Since then he has actively provided support to "service users" in child protection, learning disability, elderly person resources and youth matters. 

In addition to his experience and training in social work, and professional qualification in counselling and psychotherapy, Paul has a professorship in Divinity including Social work Ministry with an Interfaith Seminary College. He also has the dollowing ASET accredited awards:

Social Work Competence in Practice (ASET Level 4) 

Mental Health and Social Work
(ASET Level 4)

In General Social Care and Social Work Advocacy (where it does not conflict with therapy NOS National Occupational Standards), we abide by the National Code of Practice for Social Service Workers. 

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