I mentioned in class that I no real desire to do solely macro practice. The conversation drifted to not being able to NOT do macro practice.
I felt myself getting defensive in the midst of people's comments, though it wasn't really warranted. I love counseling. After taking classes, I have found that counseling is where my passion is. I find it interesting and completely beneficial, to the point that I considered going to grad school to a counseling degree instead of my MSW. I could even see myself doing private practice, and I have no shame in that.
The reason I am still on track for social work is because of advocacy. I want to see change in the world and American culture for children with varying developmental abilities. I know this involves macro level ingredients such as policy and educational systems.
Being informed and interested in things going on at a macro level, does not mean that I am doing macro work. I believe that advocacy can be done well at an individual level, and that is where I feel my calling. I will GLADLY support the people who feel their calling to the macro levels in these areas. I admire their desire to help people in a way that seems daunting to me.
Observation: Over 3 billion dollars in government services were lost during the partial government shut down according to this article.
Comment #14
ReplyDeleteGreat blog! I’ve heard a lot of people talk about which area of focus they’re interested in, whether it be micro or macro level social work, but I think it comes down to recognizing the importance of both levels of practice. Like you said, you can have a passion for micro level social work (one-on-one counseling), but it’s still important to recognize the necessity of macro level activities (policy change, etc). Effective advocacy wouldn’t exist without people in both of these areas.