Back track to the suicidal caller, what do you think of this.
When she says, "I don't know if counseling helps."

Me: Hmm, I see that you have some doubts about it. So what were your expectations when you called this number then?"

My rationale being, she must have harboured some hope though she was doubtful, so this could lead her to talk what she thinks might be a little source of light for her. Makes sense?
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Day 08 @ Care Corner 17 May 2006

Took an intake case today. Interesting. I was quite calm, yep thank God. Actually, it's not that scary afterall.

It was also interesting to see dynamics between supervisor and staff - not between Lydia and myself, of course.

I guess the colleagues a person has in the workplace makes a huge difference. Hmmm.. still pondering over this. Oh well. What I envision may not be what's presented on the plate for me. Let me just rattle on. It's about managing expectations. Good learning point. Oh well.

Gotta find time to read! Need regular academic food.
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Day 07 @ Care Corner 16 May 2006

Watched Weiping in her first session. Woohoo! She was so calm! Solid.

First session:
Hmm what the sups taught us is really quite in line with the stuff in Anthony Yeo's book.

- Arrange chairs beforehand if more than one client comes.
- Introduce myself if need, introduce the room, explain the video cam, colleagues and sups watching. [Was reading those notes I wrote in Ms Sudha Nair's class. Sth like "My supervisor is observing from another room, she's like the extra pair of eyes helping us in this session."]
- Talk about sup calling in when necessary.
- Ask what they understand about coming down for the first session. "What is your understanding of you coming down today?" "What brings you here today?"
- Anthony Yeo talked about building rapport. Yea I shall ask my client about chicken pox. Gosh she was infected when I saw her the last time. Goodness. Pray I don't get it. Don't think so la, the last time my mum and bro got it, I was still unaffected even though I shared food with them. Yay.
- Ask what her concern is.
- Be very specific in getting financial information. I find this a very intrusive process. Differential power relations - it just puts them down on the other end. Is this an issue? What implications does this have on the working relationship?
- When they ask if they can get $ help for sure, don't commit! Many factors involved.. who else is helping out? What level of savings do they have?
- We need time, darling.
- Can also explore what they would do differently to survive if they can't get $ help.
- Again, know the policies and resources... CPF, Shaw Foundation.. what's available there?
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Day 06 @ Care Corner 15 May 2006

Went back to school for tutorial. Erm, it was a waste of my time. Future tutorials should be more interesting. But it was good going back. Kinda miss school during placement. One thing that stood out was that people said they hoped to find out if they're suited for social work thru this placement. Implicit assumption is that there's an ideal kind of social worker they'd imagine exist. But really, I don't think there's an ideal. It amazes me that there're so many different types of personalities who appear to do well in social work. So if there's ever an ideal, I guess the ideal one would be the one willing to work hard and apply his/her brains coupled with good networking skills to get things done. And yes, someone who can derive satisfaction from this work.

Lots of readings to be done! Yes, I'll try to get the readings done next tutorial and engage Kumar more meaningfully.

Working life ain't easy. The work sphere assumes you have no other life than work. The lady that came up with this dual-sphere ideology is Helen Lopata, a sociologist. I think she's so smart. Let me continue. The work sphere assumes you are primarily a worker and nothing else. It doesn't consider the fact that you might be a Christian who has to honor your commitments to God or that you're a mother who occasionally needs to take time off to visit your son perform in school. Ya! That's how I feel. I feel so hard-pressed for time. Basically, after work, I don't really have time to call up the cg members. Argh. Will have to find a way and some time.

Let me take it further. How is this affecting me? I don't want to be a student on attachment who's seen as a slacker or someone who puts in less than what is necessay. If that's the case, then I'm shortchanging myself. And I refuse to be mediocre. I also do not want to be a cg member who cannot be there for the cg members. Then I'm not effective on both ends. Yes I shall find a way.. God's grace is sufficient for me! Should be ok once the FASS open day is over. Oh yes, and there's time-off to claim. Thank you Jesus.

As Frances put it very aptly, I am the one who decides where to draw the line.
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Day 05 @ Care Corner 14 May 2006 SML

Whoa. Yea.. read about teenage pregnancy... it's different meeting them in real life. They don't seem as deviant as textbooks make them out to be. I mean, once on the street, they look like any other teenager. Still, I wonder if they know what they're getting themselves into.

But one thing, I can see family context plays a big role. A couple seemed overly-involved in their son's life and eager to save their own 'face', one didn't seem to know what was going on, one appeared helpless and resigned.

The only pity about this SML thing is that we don't get to follow up on them. I wonder how it affects the participant who's still in secondary school and is also the father of a 3-month-old baby. We can say that he's mature to take up responsibility. But really, how much of his identity has already been established before he took up the identity of a father. I wonder which stage he is in - identity achieved, identity diffused, identity moratorium or identity foreclosure? What kind of implications does imposed fatherhood have on him?

SML only provides the basic start-up knowledge for the start. How far would this go in helping them? Frances has also emphasized to the parents that the problems come up later. Would they seek help later? Without a follow-up program, we can only hope so.

What kind of follow-up programs can we come up with?
Support group for young parents? Hmm, also what is the level of need like?
What kind of needs would warrant a follow-up program to be necessary? I guess this would depend on agency goals and resources (funding) as well + needs assessment and sufficient staff to run programs. Anything else?
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Day 04 @ Care Corner 11 May 2006

Had the opportunity to sit in during Lawrence's supervision time with Frances. Anyway, the interesting point was what Frances said after that which would make for a nice discussion topic.

The aim of supervision is not to produce a mini-Frances or a mini-Lydia. Discuss.

Let me respond to that. I think in terms of style - yes, the aim of supervision is not to produce a mini-Lydia. But I guess, in terms of principle and work ethics - no, I think supervision time is a good chance to 'impart' (for the lack of a better word) these. This sounds so vague. Let me ponder further.

Learning points:
- When you ask a certain question, what is your purpose?
- When you feel heartless to tell the client the truth, whose needs are you looking at? The client's needs or yours?
- When client shares, what is his/her purpose? [In Ms Sudha Nair's own words, it's always important to "listen to what is not said".]
- Help client cut the problem into small parts. Don't ask "What is your problem now?". How about sth like "What is giving you stress now? How is it affecting you now?" Be very SPECIFIC and CONCRETE.