How can social workers be impacted by challenges they face in their roles?

University of Brighton social work lecturers Ian Dore and Paul Teverson, along with Kingston University lecturer Sarah Wilkins, ran an important event in March looking at practitioner vulnerability in social work.

The event drew on the presenters recent research and considered the wide-ranging manifestation of Social Worker vulnerability and ways it can impact practice – from providing motivation and enabling relationships with service users to provoking a sense of threat and discomfort.

feelings of vulnerability often arise from routine encounters with clients and it’s important that these experiences are recognised and validated

As the study found, feelings of vulnerability often arise from routine encounters with clients and it’s important that these experiences are recognised and validated by others, including colleagues and supervisors.

Vulnerability was also seen to be an important component of identity and a driver for practice, which needs to be supported (in both employment and education) by attention to personal histories, emotional challenges and self-care.

vulnerability was also seen to be an important component of identity and a driver for practice

Find out more: Practitioner Vulnerability in Children and Families Social Work – Identity, Impact and Implications Practitioner Vulnerability’ can be found in the British Journal of Social Work.

At the University of Brighton we offer social work undergraduate, postgraduate and CPD qualifications. Find out about studying Social Work at the University of Brighton.