Support Systems

If you work in the field of social work, having a network of support is vital to survive the ups and downs that you are likely to experience in your job.

As a social worker, you have unique needs when it comes to requiring emotional and mental support.  Oftentimes you are exposed to the tragedies of life that few can understand.  I consider it to be a "brotherhood" or "sisterhood" if you work in the field because likely it is only other people in the helping professions who can understand how draining the job can be.  Social workers have constant pressure on them to juggle files, manage risk and take immediate action in emergencies.  Rarely can we afford a sick day as we feel that our clients are depending on us.  And often we get blamed when clients are unhappy about decisions we make even though these decisions are determined by policies and risk.  To many people we are the bad guys.

Therefore, after experiencing all this negativity day in and day out we feel that we need to vent.  The first people to hear us are our partners, children, or parents.  If they are not in a helping field they may have a hard time understanding the unique responsibilities we have and the guilt we feel when things don't work out as we would like them to.  For our friends, many cannot fathom the horror stories and they get tired of listening to what our day job is like.  Slowly normality slips away and we become desensitised to the abuse, drug addiction, poverty, neglect and crises that we deal with everyday.  But that is why it is good to have support from people outside the field - they provide us with a perspective that usually we have lost.

Oftentimes those close to us will ask us why we continue to be in this field, exposing ourselves to all the ills of society.  They can see the emotional, physical and mental toll it takes on us sometimes and it hurts them as they feel they cannot help us.  For those social workers whose loved ones don't support them at all, they can feel especially isolated.

Other forms of support can include co-workers or those within the helping field in general like police officers, nurses, teachers, principals or psychologists.  Sharing our stories and the similarities of our work can provide a sense of comfort and can help dispel the isolation.  However, it is important to maintain friendships outside the helping arena as well since we don't want to be focused on our work constantly.

It is difficult to put into words the importance of helpful support systems in our lives.  They can brighten our mood after an especially hard day, provide much needed perspective, and give a voice of reason when we are feeling completely engulfed in the problems that surround us.

My only advice is that every once and a while you thank these supportive people in your life for making dealing with your job easier.  Oftentimes I don't think I could do this job without the help I receive behind the scenes!