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One of the Secrets of Success in Social Work Is To Self-Assess

by Alan S. Wolkenstein, MSW

     While Freud believed that the adult personality was partially defined by the ability “to love and to work,” we oftentimes have to let others pass professional judgment on our successes or failures in our work. My experience in consulting over the years has been that many professionals are deeply disappointed by this process. Under the best of circumstances, we are assessed (often very subjectively) only on the ability to perform our jobs, not on higher levels of success, enhanced self-awareness, or on our personal and professional growth to potential. Nor have I found anyone who was encouraged to self-assess by their employer. Maybe this is the time to begin the process for you?

     Learning to appreciate and use the skills of self-assessment gives us as social workers a clear analysis of whether we are achieving the goals we have planned for, as well as where we need to put our professional energy and resources in seeking to reach these goals. However, there are both internal and external components to this self-assessment. We must be aware of the social, political, and economic forces that can and do affect our potential for success, and from our internal voices derive the wisdom gained from our experiences.

Design a Self-Reflective Diary

     Try to carry a 5x7 (or similar sized) spiral notebook with you while working. In between sessions, meetings, conferences, or treatment, simply jot down what that last experience was like for you. For example:

     How might this exploration of thoughts and feelings help you in your work as a social worker? Questions based on where we want to go, what we are doing to get there, and our ongoing efforts are very important. If we cannot or do not take the time to articulate the end point of success powered by the means we have or need to achieve it on an ongoing and even daily basis, there is a greater likelihood we will not succeed. It also helps us to choose those times and plateaus where we can give ourselves permission to stop and think about what we do. This time and space to professionally rest and reflect is vital to the process.

Practice Self-Assessment Through the Use of “Pathways and Signposts”

     Over time, social work has wisely developed, metaphorically speaking, pathways and signposts to help us navigate through challenging circumstances and our own sense of professional uncertainty. Unfortunately, social upheaval; complicated biopsychosocial diagnoses and treatment plans; and even boredom, preoccupation, and fatigue cloud our vision of these helpful aids. We find that pathways appear to be in a variety of unpredictable directions, and signposts are clouded over, difficult to read and understand, and oftentimes encoded in ways impossible to decipher.

     The task then is to refocus these uncertainties into opportunities to utilize our own internal paths and signs to navigate through uncertain times and situations. This is especially important when our professional pathways and signposts as social workers become muddy and unclear and we need both the time and place to reflect; often with a trusted colleague or friend. (Sometimes, talking with someone outside of our profession gives us fresh insight and strength to navigate through the challenges, as well.) It is not unusual that we can seemingly forget our own internal sense of wisdom when overly challenged. Your wisdom is there and can be available for you.

Mindfulness of the Work To Achieve Self-Assessment

     Mindfulness is a process in which we focus on being intensely aware of what we are experiencing, sensing, and feeling in any particular moment, without interpreting or unfairly judging the experience. The more we know and understand about ourselves, the more we enhance the chance to know and understand those who come to us for our knowledge, skills, training, empathy, and compassion.

Don’t Forget Your Big Bucket List

     Once every six months or so is about right to take a break and assess your list of places to be and tasks to yet accomplish in your career:

     Without a similar bucket list, we may become prone to influences that deter us from our goals. A big bucket list of our professional intentions is crucial to self-assessment. Do not be surprised that many of us do not have such a list. The list may grow, diminish, or change over time, but changes are quite normative and very helpful as we work our way through our professional careers.

     Self assessment is never easy, but neither is our profession. Real and lasting success in social work is seldom based on wages earned, but instead on quality of care given, being mindful of the responsibilities we carry to be helpful to the journeys of those we care for and about, and satisfaction earned from our energies spent in learning and loving what we do as social workers over the course of our professional life cycle. Self assessment, in my opinion, should be a major component of the social work experience.

Alan S. Wolkenstein, MSW, is Clinical Professor of Family Medicine (Ret.), University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and Senior Educator and Consultant, Wolkenstein and Associates, LLC. Alan, or “Prof” as medical students, residents in primary care, and other learners call him, consults on the psychosocial journey of our gentle elderly and has a limited practice in elder therapy and inter-generational family treatment.

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