5:53 PM
Social Work Helps
28 days ago, they contacted me with an offer that was better than I had even begun to hope for. After some consideration, I decided to take it, and have spent the last 28 days preparing to say goodbye to my patients. I said my final patient and colleagues goodbyes today and yesterday, will move tomorrow, and will start my new job on Monday.
I am looking forward to becoming a grief and bereavement counselor for a agency. I worked in hospice for most of graduate school, but will be transitioning from medical social work to bereavement care. I'm somewhat nervous about the transition. I will be going from a small, hospital-based for-profit agency in a rural area to a large, independent, non-profit agency in an urban area. In the coming weeks, I hope to write several posts comparing the diverse experiences of these two paths. For now, I probably need to focus on learning as much as I can and working hard to prove myself at my new job. Wish me luck!
What are some things you do to adjust to a new agency or a new position?
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2 remarks:
First off, congrats on your new position and obtaining your MSW!!!
Those are such awesome accomplishments.
Secondly, in terms of adjusting to the new agency and position, remember that it can take a good 6 months (if not longer!!) to begin to adjust to a major change like that.
Sit back and observe a bit before jumping into anything major..........learn the agency culture and politics.
We have a new person at my agency who started a couple months ago and has not done these things........it is creating a lot of issues with the other staff and people in their same role, especially because they go over certain people's heads and think that because they have specific credentials, they should not have to do all the same things as the others in their role (I don't know if this is their intention, but this is how it comes off to others).
Anyways, I am kind of venting and going off on a tangent here.
Best of luck with your new transition!!!!
My first job out of college was working with adolescents at a residential treatment center. I did that for three years. When I left there, I got a job doing outpatient therapy for military service members and their dependents. I had a lot of doubts about my ability to do "real" therapy. My main focus with most of the kids I'd worked with was to keep them from beating the crap out of each other.
I've been doing outpatient therapy with the military for about for years now. Looking back, I really didn't know very much about outpatient therapy when I started. The good thing about this, though, was how much I learned! I spent a lot of time reading about and then trying out new things. I began to find a "style" that I was comfortable with.
So I guess my advice is this: learn as much as you can! Good luck!
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