CMHL and the World Social Work Day working group, which comprises of Social Work Leaders and academics pulled together an amazing array of speakers who challenged and inspired us in our ‘aspirational undertaking’ as social workers.
Jacara Egan brought focus to our day with the Wayapa Wurrkk earth connection practice, which is based on ancient Indigenous wisdom that focuses on taking care of the Earth as the starting point for creating Earth Mind Body Spirit well-being.
Dr Natasha Long then spoke about Social Work professional identity development as a process of “finding fit” with self, agency and profession. Dr Natasha spoke about how developing professional identity resilience can help sustain us as SW’s during challenging times, especially by focusing on key protective factors that individuals and the collective profession can play to strengthen SW identity. Wearing our Social Work Hat can be a metaphor that fosters an understanding of social work identity.
Finally, Professor Linda Briskman shared some insights about her personal journey and how she became a Social Work activist. Professor Linda Briskman discussed the many barriers and risks as well as the opportunities related to this work and how working collectively helped overcome the barriers. She reminded Social Workers about the essence of social work, as being relational, human rights focussed, political and disruptive. Transformative change can occur when Social Workers practice their avowed objectives.
