The Field Placement Survival Guide

Book excerpt: Field placement is one of the most exciting and exhilarating parts of a formal social work education. It is also one of the most challenging. It allows you, the student, to put into practice the concepts, theories, and skills learned in the classroom. It puts you in the position of practicing with live clients. It gives you room to explore and grow as a budding professional. More than anything else, it requires you to look inside yourself to examine yourself, your abilities, your reactions, and your suitability as a social worker. It can be invigorating, and it can be extremely difficult. Field placement regardless of the setting or time involves universal issues for all social work students. Those issues are reflected in THE FIELD PLACEMENT SURVIVAL GUIDE. This collection of articles from THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine addresses the multitude of issues that social work students in field placement face, including choosing a placement, getting prepared, using supervision effectively, working with clients, copies with challenges, and moving on to a successful social work career. This collection is a goldmine of practical information that will help social work students take advantage of all the field placement experience has to offer. Each chapter (many written by seasoned experts in field education; others by students) presents a different aspect of the practicum and offers students insight into the importance of both the challenges and the joys of this unique learning experience. This second edition includes 9 new chapters. This book is part of the BEST OF THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER(R) book series.