 Unique Histories and Unified Futures: Future Trends for Human Service Graduates Entering Psychotherapy Fields

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-135
Author(s):  
Stephanie Drcar ◽  
Elliott Ingersoll

Undergraduate Human Services (HMSV) students are often interested in graduate education and might consider a career as a psychotherapist. The psychotherapy disciplines are primarily composed of psychology, social work, counseling, and addiction counseling, each of which have a unique history regarding their development and approach to clinical work. HMSV graduates aspiring to psychotherapy training need an understanding of the trends influencing the fields of psychotherapy across disciplines. This article presents an overview of trends and factors to prepare the next generation of psychotherapists to work as a unified collective to address societal and individual challenges.

Author(s):  
Rebecca Soraya Field ◽  
Donna Chung ◽  
Caroline Fleay

Abstract With a record number of people reported to be forcibly displaced worldwide and an increasingly anti-asylum policy environment in Global North host nations, it is critical to examine social work and human services with people seeking asylum and people with refugee status. This scoping review sought to identify and review the existing qualitative research on such practice from the perspectives of social work and human service practitioners, people seeking asylum and people with refugee status and clients in Global North host nations. The review presents the key findings and trends emerging from twenty publications and identifies areas for future research to further develop knowledge of this field of practice as there is a dearth of research on this topic. Through thematic analysis of very different publications, it was found that Global North host nations have varying forms of restrictive policy and dominant anti-asylum discourses. This and other factors result in many potential areas for improvement of social work and human services. The findings include recommendations for more inclusive and compassionate policy, person-centred and strength-based practice approaches, and further qualitative research with people seeking asylum.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 207-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jochen Devlieghere ◽  
Rudi Roose

Over the last decades, transparency about what is happening on the ground has become a hot topic in the field of social work. Despite the importance of transparent social work, the realisation in practice is far from obvious. In order to create this transparency for a diversity of stakeholders, legislative bodies and human services increasingly rely on so-called electronic information systems. However, it remains unclear how frontline managers make use of these systems to create this transparent practice and which obstacles they might experience in doing so. Based on empirical data collected in Flanders (Belgium), we argue that frontline managers as well as practitioners, when confronted with the obligation to use electronic information systems to document their actions and create transparency, find a beneficial element in using such a tool for the purpose of transparency. However, we also argue that the idea of transparency through documenting human service practices by the use of electronic information systems seems to be nuanced, as tension or ambiguity occurs in daily practice. Our data show that many aspects of the service user’s life story become invisible because the documenting system is unable to grasp its complexity, resulting in a lack of transparency.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 469-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin Heffernan ◽  
Trevor G. Gates

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how perceived student entitlement influences the work experiences of a sample of teaching staff in human services, counselor education and social work. Design/methodology/approach To examine the relationship between perceived academic entitlement and job-related affective well-being among teaching staff in social work, counseling and human services, a cross-sectional design was utilized. To be eligible for the study, participants must have been 18 years of age and currently employed as teaching staff in a human service program in the USA. Findings A convenience sample of 118 teaching staff demonstrated that negative well-being is correlated with perceptions of academic entitlement. It also revealed that teaching staff with a lower academic rank perceived their students to be more entitled, suggesting that pressures of working toward tenure may influence these professors’ behaviors making them more accommodating to students. Accommodating behavior may be driven by a need for favorable teaching evaluations but impacts the quality of education a student receives. Originality/value These data shed light on the relationship between perceived student academic entitlement and job-related affective well-being among human service teaching staff and consider how a shift in students’ expectations influences the behaviors of teaching staff.


1989 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 499-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yeheskel Hasenfeld ◽  
Mark A. Chesler

The authors juxtapose autobiographical accounts of their personal and professional lives to examine the interplay of their personas and work in the social sciences. Chesler is an action researcher and change agent who focuses primarily on young people and their parents and on those providing them human services. Hasenfeld is an academic who focuses primarily on relations between clients and human service providers and on the systemic changes needed to improve these relations. They share domain assumptions, particularly a belief in the “good” society based on justice, social equality, and respect for diversity, are committed to improving the life chances of the oppressed and disadvantaged, and believe that empowering the clients of human service agencies is crucial to improving the effectiveness and responsiveness of such organizations.


1978 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 85
Author(s):  
Edward Humberger ◽  
Michael Hill ◽  
Robert Moroney ◽  
Valerie Bradley ◽  
Gary Clarke ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
pp. 193672442110274
Author(s):  
Christa J. Moore ◽  
Patricia Gagné

Much attention has recently been focused on the efficacy of cross-sector collaboration within the field of human services in response to increasing rates of child maltreatment and subsequent foster care entries nationwide. Our research includes 200 hours of participant observation, in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 65 professionals broadly involved in the protection of vulnerable children and the support of their parents, and an analysis of 45 case files. It was carried out in a rural region of Kentucky between May 2015 and July 2017. We used established principles of analytic induction to analyze our data. In this study, we explore perceptions of power, authority, inequality, and bureaucratic constraints that emerge during organizational processes of interagency collaboration among multidisciplinary human service organizations situated within the child welfare system. We argue that ethics of care and, subsequently, care work are constrained by power dynamics, primarily embedded in bureaucratically structured human service organizations as well as in policy mandates that embody ethics of justice. We conclude that the tensions between bureaucratic constraints and professional workers’ desire to care for and serve clients often disrupt and undermine organizational missions and policy goals targeting child protection. We indicate the need to examine these structural dynamics at a policy level and provide recommendations with policy implications.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-21
Author(s):  
Nasreen Lalani ◽  
Julie Drolet

Psychological First Aid (PFA) is becoming a universally accepted intervention in providing psychosocial support to individuals and families affected by trauma or disaster.  Our study aimed to measure the effectiveness of a didactic and simulation based Psychological First Aid (PFA) training program in Alberta, Canada.  Social work students, practitioners, and human service professionals from Calgary, Edmonton, and Lethbridge were invited to attend the training.  A total of 90 participants attended the training at three different sites. A pre and post survey questionnaire was administered to all the participants before and after the training.  Findings showed that the training has significantly improved participants’ PFA knowledge and perceived competence in PFA skill.  PFA training enhanced their confidence, disaster preparedness, and self-care strategies needed to provide psychosocial support to individuals and families in disaster situations. Our study provides preliminary evidence supporting the effectiveness of the PFA training program among social work students, practitioners and human service professionals for future disaster preparedness in Alberta, Canada.Keywords: Psychological first aid, social work, disaster preparedness, training, competency, effectiveness, Canada


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