Over the past 16 weeks, I have learned more about
professional writing as it relates to social work than I have in the previous
23 plus years of my life combined. I cannot
say that it was the most glamorous 16 weeks of my life or that I even enjoyed it,
per se. But, I have to say that there
were some take aways that I think will stick with me for quite a while. Some of those things were basic writing style
things. Others were more social work
focused type things.
Some of the basic writing style elements that I took away
from learning about professional writing were: using hyphens and semicolons, as
well as writing with a purpose. Before I
learned how to use hyphens, I used a pseudo ellipsis in its place. The ellipsis-like thing was designed to draw
attention the previous word or statement while also putting space between the
conjoined phrases. I did not understand
the art of the hyphen and probably had never really used one in a way that was
accurate or effective. Semicolons were
always a mystery to me. With both of
these forms of punctuation, I would tend to use commas inappropriately as an
alternative to using hyphens or semicolons.
I was mostly ignorant, but also, I loved my commas.
I most likely would have claimed to know how to write with a
purpose before now. I have written some
incredibly long and detailed papers in the past. However, length does not ever necessarily
mean that the paper has purpose or much in the way of quality about it. The papers I wrote would meet all necessary
requirements, but would not be focused or necessarily meet any goals. I have never been a concise person. I love written word and have for a long
time. I like for things to sound good—sometimes
at the expense of the reader’s understanding.
That never bothered me. Social
work writing has a different feel to it.
It is in its own dimension, in a way.
Clarity and concise communication are paramount to effective note taking
and memo writing in social work. Neither
of these things are anything I am good at.
I have already admitted to the way that I see and describe things in
writing. I would rather what I write or
say to have an edge to it, or that it would force the reader to re-read it in
order to catch the under tones. I know;
I am not the easiest guy to track via written word.
I have a lot to learn about writing with brevity. It has never been my forte. I have always been one to speak my mind;
which, unfortunately for people like my sister, the devil is in the
details. Exhaustive with recount and
meticulous by nature, I leave no stone unturned when it comes to describing a
scenario. I have a hard time getting my
notes done on time due to this, though.
I “burn” through each of the “important” details, which seems like all
of them, and before I know it, I have run out of inspiration to keep
writing. Or, I have run out of time in
which to write the notes and I am off the clock. It is a vicious cycle.
My boss tells me to write only the parts that matter. Unfortunately for my personality, I am
meticulous and obsess over things being correct and exact. I imagine that some detail, left out, would
result in the picture being painted incompletely. However, this could bode well for me because I
know that when it comes to recalling the day, the session, or the interaction,
my short term memory does not do me any favors and I have to rely on my written
account to re-Picasso my ability to remember.
This causes me to conclude that the best policy for documentation is
detail in addition to being concise.
This is where I will attempt to land on the airstrip of professional
documentation.
The more specific elements of professional writing that I learned
about this semester have to do with assessments and treatment plans. Both of these things I have interacted with
on some level, but this is the first time I have seen them up close and
personal and have been given a format of how they are filled out, what is
expected to be found in them, and how to perform the necessary interview or
assessment with which to fill out the form.
I found that in addition to having a lot still to learn before I am
ready to be the one doing the assessing, I have a better appreciation for the
therapists who do these well. I feel
like so many things slip through the cracks already with the clients with whom I
work, that adding an assessment, evaluation form, and other details to the case
file would only succeed in making me lose track of everything. I also realized how important it is going to
be to stay on top of things and to learn a lot from Assessment and Diagnosis; a
class I am taking this summer. But, back
to the still have a lot to learn thing.
I have felt that way in a couple of my classes this semester. I know there will always be some amount of
anxiety and trepidation surrounding a transition and especially when it is your
first real, major job out of school, like mine will be once I graduate. But, I can’t help but think about what I still
have yet to prove to myself, teachers, and hiring corporations and agencies. When will this question be answered? What will it take before I am satisfactorily “prepared”? I heard a statistic in one of my classes that
it takes five to seven years of doing a job before you are absolutely
comfortable with it, or something like that.
I would like to think I will make it that long, but only time will tell.
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