In the first two weeks of Preparatory Skills of Social Work we have discussed various topics such as ethics, multiculturalism, attending behavior, and empathy. Some of these topics were already things that I knew, but for the most part I was learning new ideas. This journal will discuss what I have learned so far, what I am good at, and what I need to work on. One of the major topics of discussion in class and in the textbook was ethics. Ethics are crucial in the social work field, as the counselor is working with individuals on very personal and delicate subjects. Some of the ethics that we discussed were consent, confidentiality, competence, and respect for the dignity of the person. I already had a basic understanding of these topics, but I feel that through class discussion I have learned a bit more, especially regarding …show more content…
It is so important to be qualified enough to help a client. If one does not know how to help a client, it would not be wise for them to be helping. This brings me to the next topic that was discussed in the textbook in length, multiculturalism. I have learned a lot about self-awareness and how important it is to be self-aware in a helping profession. By being aware of my own privilege and how I am diverse from others, as well as how others are diverse from me, I can help each individual in a unique way while remembering that they may not have had the same privilege that I have had throughout life. I also hope to learn more about other cultures so that I can help others in a respectful and competent way. In class, we focused a lot on attending behaviour which includes devices such as body language, eye contact, and verbal tracking. These are very important cues to use in an interview to hopefully get clients to open up and