20 Life Lessons I Learned Working in the Social Work Field.

Lots of life lessons while on the wrong path.

I was in the middle of my social work degree when it suddenly hit me hard, “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

I had already been working in the field for almost a decade. I started volunteering for a suicide prevention line, worked with people with disabilities in group homes overseas, worked at a residential brain injury rehabilitation center, and finally as a financial aid worker for the government. The next step was a Bachelor of Social Work degree and a job as a child protection worker.

“I don’t want to do this anymore”. So I stopped. I was on the wrong path, but I learned a lot of life lessons. Here is some social work wisdom that can apply to life in general.

1 Most people just want someone to listen to them. Many new social workers think they need to offer advice or take action to fix the problems.

But, in the end, we all have to fix our own problems and we probably know what to do.

We really just need someone to lend a sympathetic ear. To just know someone heard us. Then we can usually get on with it.

2 You can't help anyone that doesn't really want help. This was hard to learn. It still is, I keep learning it over and over again.

I’m here to help; I have all these resources to offer. Why aren’t they following up?

Take a step back. Put your energy where it will make an impact. When they are ready, it will happen.

3 Disaster can hit anyone at any time. Some people seem to have it all. Then a relationship, job, or career suddenly ends, and it is all upended. Physical or mental health can take a nosedive.

Some lessons from this point are: be grateful, be humble, help others when you can, and have a Plan B and a Plan C.

Have a sizeable emergency fund. Ideally much bigger than the experts recommend. Sometimes I’ve heard it called “Opportunity money” but I like to call it my “F*** You” fund.

4 School is not "real life". This is a bit of a cliche, but it's true. In social work school, we would learn how we would assess the situation, take action…

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