Leading Consciously logo
Chapter  
7

Can Anyone Be a Social Worker? The Challenge of Correcting Misinformation

By Alicia Beatrice

Chapter  
5

Learning to Test Negative Assumptions

by Eli Davis

Chapter  
8

Clearing Emotions Can Be a Daunting Task

by Carole Marmell

Chapter  
17

We Will Learn Today

By Charles Shaw

Chapter  
15

Act Out of Values Rather than Emotions

By Ashleigh Gardner-Cormier

Chapter  

I Need to Understand Where She's Coming From

By Ashley Ochoa

Chapter  
18

Testing! Testing! Digging Deeper into Initial Resistance to Change

By Erika Young

Chapter  
21

Goal: Create A Culturally Responsive Organization

By Sylvia R. Epps

Chapter  
19

Introducing New Ways of Thinking into a Risk-Averse Organization

By Melissa Simon

Chapter  
6

Dashed Hopes and Expectations

By Tracy Forman

Chapter  
13

How Do I Deal with a Hostile Work Environment?

By Orfelinda Coronado

Chapter  
16

Compassion Wins the Day

By Treshina Smith

Chapter  
20

Anticipate a Certain Amount of Resistance

By Mary H. Beck

Chapter  
7

Can Anyone Be a Social Worker? The Challenge of Correcting Misinformation

By Alicia Beatrice

Chapter  
9

What You See Depends on the Lens You Use

By Steven Hayes

Chapter  
4

Choosing a Career Can Be Emotional Work!

By Shanquela Williams (with Amy Foy Hageman)

Chapter  
5

Learning to Test Negative Assumptions

By Eli Davis

Chapter  
3

Hijacked!

By Emily Schwartz Kemper

When I first became a social worker, I decided to seek experience working with as many different populations as possible. Since then, I had worked as a case manager and clinician with individuals who were homeless, disabled, dealing with chronic and acute mental illness, or had substance-abuse issues. Clients had included families, children, men, women, people of different faiths, individuals identifying as LGBTQ, and those of different races and ethnicities. I was pleased to have a new opportunity to continue my work in an agency focused on serving various populations.

The New Supervisor—Sigh!

A few months after I took the position, there was a change in leadership.

Here we go again, I thought. Why do I always seem to land in agencies in the middle of mergers, re-organizations, policy changes, or new program developments?

“Do we know anything about the new supervisor?” I asked one of my coworkers.

“Not really. Upper management will be interviewing the candidates and making the final decision. I haven’t heard any details.”

I told myself not to worry too much. Maybe it’ll be a good thing. I’ll get to observe the transition and learn early on whether this agency is going to be a good fit for me. I get along well with the rest of the staff, why wouldn’t it be the same with the new boss? But maybe I’ll plan an exit strategy, just in case.

When the announcement was made, an individual I will call Kim was selected. Since she had extensive experience working in similar agencies, I was eager to hear about her background and how she could help us. When Kim met with our staff the first time, she introduced herself and outlined her education and work experience.

“I’ve performed all of your roles, except that of nurse,” she said, then proceeded to list the various titles she’d held over the years.

As soon as she mentioned the role of social worker, I was curious to inquire about her credentials, and hopeful that there would now be another social worker on the team. At the first opportunity, I asked her, “Can you tell me your qualifications to be a social worker?”

She replied, “My education. As I said, I have a PhD.”

With effort, I hid my distaste. Kim’s tone sounded more than a little arrogant. I won’t ask any more questions right now. But I do wonder if she’s another one of those people who call themselves a social worker because she’s “helping” someone. I find that so annoying.

In Texas, professional social workers must have a degree in social work and be licensed by the state. They practice in a variety of settings and are professionals who pursue the betterment of the lives of individuals, families, groups, communities, and societies. Social workers receive specialized training in health, mental health, diversity, and social issues so they can practice effectively with vulnerable individuals. The licensing process is extensive and requires demonstrated competence in the field.

I often found myself advocating for my profession. This had been a “cause” for me for some time, one I felt passionately about. I had worked long and hard to become a social worker—it takes almost as long to become a clinical social worker as it does to become a medical doctor.

Normally, I would debate with anyone who called themselves a social worker without the proper credentials, explaining what social workers do, their educational requirements, and what it takes to become one. I often succeeded in enlightening individuals about the profession. But in this case, I decided it was too early to have a disagreement with my new supervisor.

A few weeks after that initial meeting, the issue of who was or was not a social worker came up again.

During a staff meeting, Kim said, “If anyone needs to take time off, I can help out,” adding, “I can fill in for anyone except the nurse.”

My annoyance and frustration began to surface again: She thinks she can do everyone else’s job but needs to do her own. I could feel myself getting hot and emotionally distancing myself from the group. I don’t want to play these games anymore.

I decided to consult my former clinical social work supervisor, Sue (a pseudonym). As an outsider, I figured she might help me get level-headed.

“Kim told me she can fill in if we need to take time off. She said she can do everyone’s role except the nurse. Why can everyone be a social worker, but no one can be the nurse?”

Sue asked, “Does she have a social work degree or license?”

“I know she has a PhD.” I made a face, recalling the snooty way Kim informed us of that. “But I don’t know what it’s in. And I don’t think she has a license.”

Sue checked the online verification site of social work license holders in Texas: “She doesn’t have a license. It’s illegal for her to perform any social work duties or call herself a social worker without a license. I’ll have to report her if you tell me she’s doing a social worker’s job.”

Shifting Myself for a Better Outcome

I didn’t want Kim to be reported, nor did I want to compromise my responsibility to the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics and Texas Social Work Board of Examiners Code of Conduct. This dilemma added to my emotional turmoil.

The only way I could think to get some perspective on all this was to take some time off from work to separate myself from it. I prayed, cried, and slept. And I spent some time doing uncensored journaling, writing:

If Kim thinks she can do my job, doesn’t that devalue what I bring to the organization and its clients?

If she, a non-social worker, can do my job, is my position even necessary to the organization?

How was she able to get by with performing social work duties without a license at another agency?

I hate this! I don’t need this crap; I can find another job.

Values, morals, privilege, that’s what this is. She’s privileged. Lived in a bubble all her life and thinks she can do whatever she wants.

I wrote along those lines until I felt calm enough to conclude: No one can be a social worker unless they meet the requirements. The social work role is not only valuable, but legally necessary to organizations with some types of government funding.

I then switched gears and instead of complaining, began journaling things I was grateful for.

I have the job I wanted.

I have a flexible schedule, where I don’t have to sit in traffic and can spend more time with my family.

I have a supervisor who is willing to help her team any way she can.

I have a social work license and a career that has given me the reward of helping better lives and the community.

I also reflected on the initial interaction between Kim and me. Had she been offended by my asking about her credentials to do social work?

Just as I heard arrogance in the tone of her response, could she have heard the same in my tone?

I knew Kim had extensive experience and had supervised a team before. Could the issue of her facing legal consequences be avoided by talking to her about the legal boundaries of social work? Or maybe I could give a presentation to the staff about the role of social workers, as well as their qualifications?

Speaking Up for My Profession and for Myself

When the opportunity arose for me to communicate with Kim one-on-one via email about the legal requirements to be a social worker, I felt calmer. But in the interim, I’d learned our agency was taking on clients related to staff members.

Concerned, I emailed Kim:

I have learned that our agency has taken on clients who are relatives of some of the staff members. Providing counseling to relatives of my colleagues is problematic. I cannot be the social worker to a staff member or a relative of a staff member because it creates a dual relationship, against my license code of ethics.

She replied, Where does it say that about dual relationships of a social worker? Can you send me that document?

Social workers must be licensed by the state and adhere to a set of professional standards, I wrote. I attached a copy of the section of the Administrative Code covering dual relationships before I hit Send.

It still seems unclear to me, Kim responded.

I suggested, Why don’t we meet to talk about it?

She did not respond about meeting but acknowledged during a staff meeting later the same week that social workers were licensed by the state, and no one could be a social worker unless they had a license.

I asked for a brief, impromptu timeslot during the same staff meeting to discuss my job description with the rest of the staff, thinking I could help them better understand the value the social work role brought to the team. I read them my job description and discussed some of its elements in detail.

I also introduced the problem of dual relationships. To provide effective counseling to clients, it is often necessary to involve their family members. And since these family members were also colleagues of mine, it presented boundary issues or conflicts of interest violating the codes of my profession. It made me sad that I could not be of support to them in my role as social worker if their family members needed agency services, but I was bound to the codes through my licensure.

Several colleagues said they would let me know when our clients could benefit from meeting with me. That made me feel good.

After the meeting, I sought out a coworker and asked her for feedback. She said she was not aware that staff family members as agency clients represented a dual relationship for me. So it was not just Kim who was unaware of my concerns.

I felt vindicated for speaking up.

Educate without Alienating: Speaking Up Effectively
(Reflections on Alicia’s Story)

To Alicia, hearing “I can be the social worker” from her new supervisor, Kim, was an emotional trigger. This represented an ongoing issue for her. An uninformed outsider might assume Kim was simply unaware of the formal licensure required of social workers. Within a hierarchical health organization, however, where professional role boundaries are upheld to protect patients, Alicia expected her supervisor to know this. Instead, Kim seemed aware of the role distinction of nurse, but not of social worker.

When her new supervisor did not acknowledge the unique advanced training and skills of social workers, Alicia began to wonder if Kim felt she was easily replaceable. This led her to feeling undervalued. These emotions clearly influenced Alicia’s perceptions of Kim. Unless Alicia questioned her emotional response and assumptions, the potential for disruption, suspicion, and distrust between them was inevitable.

Fortunately, Alicia made good use of journaling in clearing her negative emotions and in identifying and amplifying her positive emotions. Uncensored journaling allowed her to dig below the surface of her reaction and look for effective ways of dealing with the troublesome issue. Working through her emotional response was a crucial first step. It gave her new options for dealing with her dilemma—that’s when she first had the idea of making a presentation to the staff about the role of social workers.

Alicia consciously used herself in some ways. How to maintain her integrity as a social worker seemed to be the driving question for her throughout. And after journaling, she accepted responsibility for her own possible contribution by questioning whether her own arrogance might have been a contributing factor in her brief initial interaction with Kim.

Alicia also recognized her power in the situation. At no time did she throw up her hands and decide that since Kim had more formal power, there was nothing she, Alicia, could do. Instead, she sought expert advice outside the organization by consulting with her former clinical social work supervisor.

When Kim failed to follow up on Alicia’s suggestion of meeting to discuss the issue of dual relationships, Alicia could easily have interpreted the topic as something Kim didn’t want to talk about, an undiscussable. But it was important to Alicia, and she chose to address it directly in the staff meeting. In doing so, she demonstrated a growth mindset; that is, she believed her colleagues were capable of change.

It was to Alicia’s credit that she looked past the single individual, Kim, and saw an opportunity to initiate change throughout the organization. Her earlier emotional processing work was her commitment to personal change. But she also wanted her colleagues on board. She decided to try to get them there by sharing more details about her profession, the constraints placed on herby professional standards, and ways she could (and could not) be of service to colleagues and clients.

As Alicia discovered from feedback after her presentation to the staff, Kim was not the only one unaware of the services she provided or potential conflicts of interest. There was a larger void of information about her role as a clinical social worker.

By providing more information about that role and clearing up misconceptions about dual relationships, she increased the likelihood of her peers’ referral of clients to her when appropriate. She effected change in the organization that would outlast her tenure there.

Conscious Change Principles and Skills in This Chapter

  • Clear Emotions
    • Avoid emotional suppression
    • Clear your negative emotions
    • Build your positive emotions
  • Conscious Use of Self
    • Accept responsibility for your own contributions
    • Maintain integrity
    • Adopt a growth mindset
    • Recognize your power and use it responsibly
  • Initiate Change
    • Commit to personal change
    • Emphasize changing systems, not just individuals
    • Surface undiscussables
    • Gain support of one person (or small group) at a time

About Alicia

Alicia Beatrice received a Master of Social Work from the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. After an adventurous career track through several different helping professions, she continues to find purpose in her work as a therapist and entrepreneurial pursuits supporting Black and Brown women entrepreneurs. In her spare time, she enjoys movies, music, and spending time with her two sons.

She first learned the Conscious Change skills in a course taught by Dr. Latting in the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston, then worked with her while completing her graduate internship.