How to Become a Better Social Worker

There are few fields more demanding and psychologically grueling than social work. And if you want to become the best social worker possible, you have to develop an intentional strategy that strengthens and empowers you to reach this goal.

5 Tips for Being a Better Social Worker

Social workers serve a range of important needs for the public. In fact, it’s a social worker’s primary goal to relieve people’s suffering through support. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. 

The life of a social worker is often frustrating, challenging, and full of uncertainty. You’ll find yourself in situations where you’re genuinely trying to help someone, yet get rejected over and over again. You have to push through this and avoid letting isolated situations ruin your big-picture perspective. 

If being a better social worker is the aim, here are a few things you can do to accomplish this goal:

• Get the Right Education

If you’re just getting started in the industry or are a student who is looking to launch a career in social work, you must get the right education.

The right education isn’t necessarily a degree from the most prestigious or expensive university. What you need is a quality program that uses the right learning objectives and curriculum to prepare you for what can be a challenging career. 

For example, some of today’s top social work training programs offer video recording and simulations as part of their programs. This allows for interactive sessions and rich feedback that can’t be replicated in a traditional classroom setting. Be on the lookout for these types of programs.

• Surround Yourself With the Right People

Be mindful of the type of people you spend time with (inside of work and outside of work). You spend your entire week pouring into other people and helping lift them up out of undesirable situations. Make sure you have personal friends and loved ones who are pouring into you during your time off. Whether it’s a support group, church, or close-knit group of friends, every social worker needs people they can lean on. 

• Find Work-Life Balance

As difficult as it can be to tune out after the workday ends, you have to find as much work-life balance as you possibly can. Explore new hobbies, exercise often, and take care of your body. Time away from the stress of social work is a must.

• Never Lose Empathy

If you look at individuals who ultimately become burned out on social work, there’s often a direct correlation between their interest and empathy. Empathy is an extremely powerful tool, and you absolutely must have it in spades if you want to be a successful social worker.

“Research shows that being able to understand and feel what others experience can improve patient outcomes in a social work practice, “ Walden University explains. “As with most traits, the degree to which we empathize is on a continuum. Some practitioners may seem more empathetic than others, but there’s no empathy yardstick.” 

It’s easy to become calloused the longer you stay in the industry. If you find yourself losing empathy, open up and speak to someone. A therapist or trusted colleague can help you get back in the right mindset.

• Avoid This Trap

While it’s important to be empathetic, you also have to be realistic with your expectations. Avoid falling for the mental trap that you can help all clients at all times.

As the old saying goes, you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to help themselves. That might sound harsh, but it’s true. You can bring as much support, encouragement, and creativity to the table as possible. But if the client isn’t interested, you can’t force change on them. The sooner you embrace this reality, the better. 

You Were Made For This

It’s a cliche, to say the least, but if you want to be the best social worker you can be, you have to believe that this is your calling in life. It’s not a glamorous job, you’ll never make a high six-figure salary, and you’ll probably never earn amazing accolades and awards. 

However, if you put your heart and soul into this job, you’ll leave more of an impact through your career than the average person could ever dream of. And if that gets you energized to go out and become the best version of yourself, then you’re in the right industry.