scholarly journals Co-Creating Authentic Sacred Therapeutic Space: A Spiritually Sensitive Framework for Counselling Children

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 524
Author(s):  
Heather M. Boynton ◽  
Christie Mellan

Social work values client-centered holistic approaches of care, yet there is a lack of approaches addressing spirituality in counselling with children. Children’s spirituality and conceptualization have been disenfranchised. Children’s spiritual experiences, ways of knowing and perceptions are important to attend to when supporting them through an impactful life event such as trauma, grief, or loss (TGL). Parents may not fully understand or have the capacity to attend to their child’s spirituality. Counsellors appear to lack knowledge and training to attend to the spiritual needs and capacities of children. This article offers some research findings of children’s spirituality deemed to be vital for healing from TGL and counselling. It provides an understanding of some of the constructs and isolating processes described by children, parents and counsellors related to children’s spirituality in TGL. It also will present a spiritually sensitive framework specifically attuned to the spiritual dimension and creating spaces of safety and hope when working with children. The implications of not addressing the critical spiritual dimensions in practice for children are discussed, and recommendations for continued research and training for further theoretical development and future social work practice are offered.

Author(s):  
Joseph Walsh

Direct social work practice is the application of social work theory and/or methods to the resolution and prevention of psychosocial problems experienced by individuals, families, and groups. In this article, direct practice is discussed in the context of social work values, empowerment, diversity, and multiculturalism, as well as with attention to client strengths, spirituality, and risk and resilience influences. The challenges of practice evaluation are also considered.


2009 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
William C.K. Chu ◽  
Ming-sum Tsui ◽  
Miu-chung Yan

English In their efforts to promote the Global Standards for the Education and Training of the Social Work Profession, the authors discovered the withering of the moral and political bases of social work practice in the West. The revitalization of the roots of social work is important to the promotion of social justice. French Dans leurs efforts pour promouvoir les Standards Mondiaux pour l’Enseignement et la Formation aux Professions Sociales, les auteurs découvrent le déclin des bases morales et politiques de la pratique du travail social en occident. La revitalisation des racines du travail social est importante pour la promotion de la justice sociale. Spanish En su esfuerzo para promover los Estándares Globales para la Educación y el Entrenamiento en la Profesión del Trabajo Social, los autores descubrieron el marchitar de las bases políticas y morales de la práctica del trabajo social en occidente. La revitalización de las raíces del trabajo social es importante para la promoción de la justicia social.


2005 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
pp. 573-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rich Furman ◽  
Kathryn Collins

Poetry therapy has become a valuable adjunctive tool in social work practice, as well as an important discipline in its own right. What has not been previously presented in the literature are intervention strategies designed for when clients spontaneously present their poems in treatment without prompting from the clinician. This article provides just such practice guidelines for clinicians, especially clinicians who do not normally use poetry in therapy. First, the article explores the uses of poetry in social work practice. Second, it presents general guidelines for how to handle the introduction of poetry by clients through the lens of essential social work values and principles. Third, a case study is presented to amplify these guidelines.


Author(s):  
Mo Yee Lee

Building on a strengths perspective and using a time-limited approach, solution-focused brief therapy is a treatment model in social work practice that holds a person accountable for solutions rather than responsible for problems. Solution-focused brief therapy deliberately utilizes the language and symbols of “solution and strengths” in treatment and postulates that positive and long-lasting change can occur in a relatively brief period of time by focusing on the solution-building process instead of focusing on the problems. Currently, this practice model has been adopted in diverse social work practice settings with different client populations, which could be partly accounted by the fact that the assumptions and practice orientation of solution-focused brief therapy are consistent with social work values as well as the strengths-based and empowerment-based practice in social work treatment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David McKendrick ◽  
Jo Finch

INTRODUCTION: This article explores how securitisation theory is mobilised in contemporary social work discourse, policy and practice. We draw on recent child protection research to support our claim that a new practice issue, described previously as securitised safeguarding, has emerged.APPROACH: We demonstrate its emergence using securitisation theory as a conceptual mode of analysis to describe how a securitised safeguarding response depicts particular families as an existential threat which, in turn, prompts a response characterised by forms of muscular liberalism.CONCLUSIONS: We argue that this emerging practice issue requires critical consideration and suggest it will have a significant impact on social work – one that is unlikely to be beneficial for the profession and, more importantly, families being worked with. By describing a process of de-securitisation, we offer an alternative and more nuanced approach that perceives families holistically, and mobilises a welfare safeguarding model. This more closely resembles traditional social work values of emancipation, liberation and empowerment within social work practice.


2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Yang Teh ◽  
Yoges Munisamy ◽  
Peace Yuh Ju Wong ◽  
Kevin Tan ◽  
Jingrui Huang ◽  
...  

This is a first Singapore exploratory study to understand Singapore social workers’ perceptions of their practice with lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) clients and examine how they may differ by their training, clinical experiences, and demographics. This is crucial, given the societal stigma and lack of social work support for the LGB populations in Singapore. A mixed method comprising a survey of 89 social workers and a focus group discussion was utilized. Findings suggest that clinical experiences with LGB clients, years of practice, and religious affiliations influence their work with this population. Recommendations include the need for more LGB-specific research and training, and review of practice supervision and ethical code to address practice dilemmas.


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