What is a personal practice model?
August 4, 2008
What is a personal practice model? This is a question asked by countless numbers of professional supervisees and trainee social workers. A personal practice model is a way to professionally organise that which you know, are influenced by, do and subscribe to. It is everything about you, your blend of personal and professional and those ways which you like to work. It is your considered answer to the “why social work?” and it is what sexuality is to sex: sex is what we do, sexuality is who we are.
Professional knowledge pertaining to the field of social work has largely been influenced by other social science knowledge: psychology, sociology, social policy, organisational theory and by historical trends. Social science knowledge has, in turn, been influenced by the scientific method.
The professional knowledge of social work is commonly categorised into five main knowledge forms: theoretical, empirical, procedural, practice wisdom and personal knowledge. My anecdotal practice experience as a peer, a colleague, a teacher and a supervisor is that MANY social workers struggle with their use of self, their personal knowledge and their personal bents, in their practice. They struggle often because they are either not comfortable with themselves or comfortable with using who they are, because they wrongly think that have to become professional social work clones.
To help integrate personal bias and personal knowledge, I have found it helpful for all social workers to become familiar with their personal practice model – their particular way of organizing all that they know (professionally and privately), do, subscribe to and are influenced by.
We are too often trapped into a single way of thinking and doing – a ‘professional’ way that mandates that we articulate (mostly oral and written) and recall with accuracy. Ummmmm, perhaps this is what the constipant is for those unable to clearly articulate their personal practice model – the fact that it is to be articulated without any clear understanding of the use of self in that framework.
Articulation in an academic sense often translates as writing a paper. Certainly, part of the definition of being a professional is having the ability to clearly articulate what you do so it is very important. Can you talk or draw what it is you do rather than write what it is you do? Articulation can take many different forms: including expression through art.
I encourage my supervisees to present their personal practice model in a way that is different to how they usually present: to either tap into their creative side if they are overtly academic or to write a formal description if they are overtly artistic. This visible difference evokes a necessity to think differently about a topic that most social workers struggle professionally with – themselves and their practice!
My self is naughty (toilet humour), undisciplined and outspoken. The professional me is the antithesis; controlled, systematic and elegantly articulate, albeit often scathing of child abuse, social control and social injustice. Rather than denying who I really am (personally and professionally) and failing Congruency 101, placing one side of me over the other allows me to use my self and professional me together in the best possible way for client outcomes. My professional values and my ethics stop me from ever emotionally hurting a client and my boundaries tell me when to pull back and let less of my self into the therapy room. It is my values, ethics and boundaries gathered through life experience that greatly influence my professional practice.
My personal practice model? I present my personal practice model as a window, my professional view of the world, with skill curtains that can be pulled across at any time. Through my window I understand myself in the wider world, groups, and individuals. Sometimes I don’t like what I see so I pull the curtains across, after all it’s my choice to use my skill curtains as I want to. Similarly, sometimes I don’t want others to see me so the curtains are closed (my boundary). Conversely, sometimes I open the curtains wide so that the window framework is boldly on display.
My creative personal practice window has a solid outer frame that holds the window together (my theoretical framework) and there are four panes of glass (my experience and my lens) each held together by smaller framework (my values and ethics - both personal and professional). I change the curtains from time to time. Their fabric is skill: when I learn new skills I try them out on the window. Sometimes I dig through the cupboard of my mind and pull out old skill.
I boldly draw up my model on a white board, during supervision, to demonstrate to my supervisees how I am influenced by theory, experience (personal and professional), my place in the world according to me and what other’s have to say about the world. I name my window frames and the decorative print on my curtains are words: my different skills that I can draw upon at any time. I’ve actually now become adept at drawing windows 
What has influenced your practice and what is your personal practice model? I encourage you to think analytically about all that makes you a professional and to not be scared to articulate and use it. The use of self in social work is indeed a skill that many other professions have left out. If you don’t know you though, how can you successfully develop an inclusive personal practice model?
Happy personal practice modelling. I would love to hear of how you creatively present your model. The feature picture is the personal practice model of our talk doctor, Fran Burke. A visual representation of all that she does and is, she has used a collage to juxtapose her narrative, client centered, solution focused and empowerment frameworks of delivering a service to her passion target group: women, most of whom have been sexually assaulted. I love it and I think it would make for a wonderful poster presentation on personal practice models. What do you think of it?
Here’s some other supervision articles on professional practice skill:
10 steps to counselling children
Supervision for social science workers
The cost of caring; vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, burn out
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Working in Innisfail today
July 31, 2008
Somebody staple my feet to the ground. I honestly have not been around Imaginif house very much this last week! Poor Boy, he must wonder if his mother is still part of the family!!!!!
For those trying to contact me today, I am working in Innisfail again (Thursday only, no over night stays this time). I am doing some contract work for Wulngah, a drug and alcohol program offered through Mamu Health. Leaving at 7.30 am, I will not be back in Cairns until 7.30 pm. The wonderful administration fairy Amanda will be around Imaginif House in Cairns to take calls and book appointments and both talk doctors, Rebekah and Fran will be in today (albeit in the counselling rooms behind closed doors).
Since moving to the new office at 30 James St I have received many cards and well wishes from blog readers and other people that I do not know. Thank you. It is wonderful to know that you receive some positive child protection tidbits from the blog. If child protection is everybody’s responsibility then you are all showing that you are those somebody. On behalf of children the world over, thanks for looking out for kids.
Yesterday I received a card from Cecelia. Unsure of which Cecelia it is, I just wanted to publicly say thank you. Your words were beautiful and bought a tear to my tough eyes. Thank you, and thank you also for caring about child protection.
Imaginif tips the top for case notes
July 27, 2008
I’m on my way to the top - the tip of Australia. Talk doctor Rebekah was this next week booked to go to Bamaga for the delivery of a case note training…but, talk doctor Rebekah is sick (nothing easy mind you, pneumonia no less!) so I am going up to deliver the training.
Bamaga is a beautiful place and I love visiting there. The most northerly town in Australia, Bamaga is located 61 km north of the Jardine River and 983 km north of Cairns. Bamaga is in Queensland, right on the northern tip, and it is an isolated settlement of some 2000 people, most of whom are Torres Strait Islanders. Facilities are limited and supplies are either shipped or flown in. I LOVE it and it is my ideal tropical paradise mini break. Flying up over the length of the Great Barrier Reef is spectacular. The variation in colours has never ceased to amaze and delight me…and the local people: what a delight they mostly are. There are still the social problems that plague most communities (child abuse, domestic violence, unemployment, drug and alcohol addictions, etc) but Bamaga is so close to my born place of Papua new Guinea that I always feel comfortable there - like I have arrived home.
I will be away from Imaginif for Monday and Tuesday: again without phone or internet 
. All of my supervision appointments have been rescheduled and step father placed on Boy duty. Amanda will be here at Imaginif (Cairns) to book appointments, answer enquiries and keep the coffee pot brewing. Should you need to talk to someone at Imaginif (or book for a massage), Amanda is that someone of first contact (07 4032 5034). Her hours are: Monday all day, Tue, Wed, and Thursday until 12 noon.
See you Wednesday.
Map of Cape York Peninsula compliments of Smallguide.
Group for women overcoming sexual assault
July 25, 2008
Sexual assault is said to affect one in three women. That is unacceptable!
It may have happened when you were a child or adult; it may have been non contact, contact or penetration.
No matter what form it took or when it happened, sexual assault is never your fault. Despite this, sexual assault often results in horrible and debilitating anger, depression, fear, control, anxiety, phobias or relationship problems for the victim.
You do not have to suffer those affects all of your life.
Imaginif there was a safe and supportive environment in Cairns where women could share their courage, strength and free will with other women survivors. There is, because:
Imaginif is running a private group for women overcoming the affects of sexual assault.
- Where: IMAGINIF 30 James Street, North Cairns
- When: Tuesday Evenings (runs for 6 weeks)
- Facilitator: Fran Burke - Talk Doctor
- Starts August 19th
- Time: 6:00pm—8:30pm
- Cost: $240 for the six week investment (workshop must be paid for up front and before group begins)
Ring Imaginif now (4032 5034) for your initial free interview and to reserve one of the limited positions for yourself.
Christmas in July opening and bloggers meet postponed
July 25, 2008
Happy mid year Christmas. Here in the southern hemisphere we are assaulted by the unkind lower temperatures of winter and use July 25th as an opportunity to have a full, hot, Christmas dinner. On Christmas day proper it is far too hot to 1) be slaved to a tradition of hot food where the indoor preparation may well result in cook’s dehydration and death by kitchen heat stroke, 2) to eat a hot meal, and 3) to even be bothered staying indoors unless indoors is fully air conditioned.
Have I ever mentioned that I hate the cold!!!! Cold indeed - here I am in Cairns, tropical Far North Queensland, a place southern Australians escape to for winter, and I am whinging about the cold. Jeeeeeeze!!!!It is currently 19 degrees celcius and I have but a light jacket and jeans on. Our winters are far different from the winters I have experiences in the U.K and the U.S.A! Now they are COLD! Being born and raised in Papua New Guinea (on the equator for those who don’t know) I have a strong love of warm sea air, palm trees and humidy running through my wardrobe! Once it drops below 22 degrees, it is freezing for me. I HATE winter.
Imaginif was set to have our Christmas in July new office opening tonight and a Blog on Cairns meet tomorrow night. Given an absence of a merry Ho, Ho, Ho during our recent move and the subsequent problems getting phone lines and internet sorted, we have decided to postpone both our Christmas in July opening and the bloggers meet that we were to have tomorrow. There’s been too many changes, frustrations and constipants to deal with and we have been unable to plan and prepare our Christmas bash. Bash….umm, I have considered that word in its violent form too. My view of Telstra and Bigpond is that they have been cold, big, fat, most unjolly ho, ho, hos and I have many times bashed my head on the wall while dealing with their business inadequacies! You aint getting a Christmas card from me Bigpond!
Our apologies for the Imaginif Christmas in July office opening postponment. Once we have regrouped, settled and our corporate business is fully operational (things like multiple phone lines in are fairly important), we will again initiate an Imaginif new office launch and a Blog on Cairns meet.
Merry child protection Christmas in July, and always, from the talk doctors at Imaginif.
PS: Do you know that Imaginif now has an office in Innisfail?
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