It’s Social Work Month! In some of your work settings, you might be honored with a mug or a fancy pen for Social Work Month. Maybe even a luncheon. In others, no one knows or notices. Except those impacted by your work. Your clients. Your students. Your stakeholders. What you do matters to them.
And you. Something brought you to this calling. I have noticed patterns in our profession. There are those who sought to do good in some way—any way—and social work was the path that opened up for them. And then there are those for whom this is personal. Perhaps their clinical populations are not “these people” but “my people.” Perhaps their lives were touched by helpers. They thought, “I want to help like they did!” Or perhaps, “I could do so much better.”
And some of us risk burn out when our beautiful ideals come into contact with harsh realities. Some of us risk burn out because our own traumas simmer so close to the surface. All of us need to honor ourselves and each other to be the best social workers we can be. And nurturing social workers is not about pens or mugs, as nice as those might be.
This month, and every month, nurture yourself. Give yourself grace and compassion. Honor the calling that brought you to this profession by holding to your ethics and honoring your boundaries. Honor each other by providing mentorship, peer support, and simply listening to each other. Laugh with each other. Cry with each other. We know this work in ways no one else does. We see each other.
And because of that, I am delighted to celebrate our profession with you, Missouri’s social workers. This is a diverse and strong community of thousands of clinicians, academics, helping professionals, policy experts and makers, and students. Our profession exists to Break Barriers. And we do. Our thoughtful use of self changes the world. What we do every day impacts the lives of tens of thousands of Missourians in positive ways.
This month, I honor you for what you do. I see you.
In solidarity,
Cassie E. Brown MSW, LCSW
(she/her/hers)
cbrown.naswmo@socialworkers.org
Click here for more information on Social Work Month.