"Being a social worker is amazing"

There is a great deal of doom and gloom surrounding social work. Some of this, sadly, is unavoidable given the nature of our profession. After all, we are tasked with supporting people at what are often the lowest moments of their lives.

Such is the nature of intervening during these moments of crisis that we will inevitably see the worst of our fellow human beings, both in their suffering and in their acts. We do great work but it can, at times, come at a great cost to ourselves, as the daily stresses and strains of the job impact our own wellbeing.

This is not the be all and end all of social work though, despite what the generally prevailing narrative may dictate. Although the political discourse around social work tends to focus upon perceived failings, tragedies, reviews, and promises that ‘lessons will be learned,’ the truth is there are tens of thousands of successes for every single failure. Yet those successes rarely, if ever, gain any sort of political traction, because they cannot be used as a stick to beat the opposition with.

Behind the political arguments, negative headlines, and toxic campaigns and complaints though, there is a profession that is quietly and humbly doing amazing things that make a real world difference to millions of people every single day, all over the world. These stories of greatness are not ours to tell because they belong to the people that we support, but their untold nature does not make them any less true.

Behind these stories are many social workers who are happy, thriving, and loving life.

Indeed, most of those social workers are far too busy out there making a difference in the world to want to engage with the toxic narrative that the profession is failing or being failed.

That is not to say that our profession is without problems, or that we should simply accept poor practice if we see it - far from it. There is a valid need to strive to improve social work and call for meaningful action on behalf of those we support. However there is a marked difference between suggesting there is work to do and that we could, of course, be doing better, and writing off an entire profession as toxic, corrupt, and inept.

I genuinely believe that being a social worker is amazing, and there is nothing else I would rather do.

I feel incredibly lucky to be a social worker and there is barely a day that passes when I do not experience a ‘wow’ moment, as I recognise how grateful I am to do this for a living. Most people I speak with feel the same way - it is just that those happy stories do not make good headlines, abrasive political arguments, snappy campaign slogans, or titillating pseudo-intellectual tweets.

It is a shame that our politicians, journalists, and even some of our own fellow social workers would rather sow negativity for the sake of their own agendas than spend more time showcasing how great social workers are and how great the work we achieve is. Rather than wait for these people to stop singing their sad laments, let us instead apply another social work technique and be solution-focused. That includes me too of course, so watch this space for many more positive stories about how amazing being a social worker is!

By Vince Peart