The choice of a professional.the in a relationship of help, a not so simple business

Emma Nys, social worker, OTSTCFQ member

When I say that I am a social worker in private practice, I am often asked, surprised: "What does a social worker do in private practice? Why would I go to one?I realize how little known, misunderstood and above all associated with specific environments, such as the protection of youth. But the truth is, it's a profession that has a wide range of practice backgrounds and clientele. The social worker may work in private practice as well as in a community, institutional or street worker, and her fields of practice can be as varied as individual, marital, family, group or group intervention. The social worker also works on a variety of issues, such as poverty, homelessness, violence, aging, abuse, housing, sexuality, immigration and so on. He is a generalist who works on social interactions and their impact on the lives of individuals and communities. What this means is that it takes into account the dynamics between individuals and their environment (family, couple, friends, work, school environment, neighbourhood, government, institutions…)

Another aspect that questions people is what differentiates the profession of social worker from another profession of relationship of help and how to choose the professional.the appropriate when faced with obstacles in one's life. That's why I'm here with a few things to think about to help you find your way around and make an informed choice when you select your mental health professional.

Psychotherapy vs. social intervention

Since 2009, Law 21 has been providing mental health professionals with the identification of actions they may or may not perform, based on their fields of study and skills. Previously, many acts were not regulated by law, so unqualified individuals could improvise psychotherapists without having the skills. Thus, since 2009, professionnel.es who wish to practice psychotherapy must obtain a license from the College of Psychologists of Quebec and to obtain this license, they must meet certain criteria. Some social workers may hold a psychotherapy license, but not all are psychotherapists.

To this end, the OTSTCFQ defines psychotherapy according to three elements: its nature, its purpose, its purpose. It is therefore a "psychological treatment" whose interventions focus on "what organizes and regulates the psychological and mental functioning of the person.If psychotherapy has treatment goals, back in the past to cure the patient of causes that interfere with its functioning, social intervention has other goals, such as coaching, support, education, rehabilitation of people, and especially interventions to act on the present moment.In the specific context of social work, it is the evaluation of the person for the purpose of restoring social functioning.I invite you to consult the document "The Practice of Psychotherapy and related interventions" to learn more about it.

The problem

While this may seem obvious when consulting a professional, let us remember that the first step in a therapeutic approach is the identification of the objective of consultation or the problem that one wishes to solve. Of course, the professional, can help you to clarify this objective, but having an idea of the objective also allows you to find the professional one, the one that best suits your situation, because although most professionals, they have knowledge of several issues and are competent in many areas, most have a specific field of specialization.

For example, if you want to be seen because you are experiencing domestic violence, it will be best for you to identify the professionnel.es who specialize in this clientele, as they will be better equipped to accompany you in your process. Similarly, not all professionals are able to work with children. To determine the areas of competence of a professional,the of the helping relationship, you can consult his or her website, but also check if he or she belongs to an order. Not all professionals are members of one order, certain.es by choice, others because they do not meet the criteria required by the orders in terms of academic training and others, because they work in a field of practice that does not have an order.

Order or no order, that's the question!

It is not easy to answer that question, but I will try to do it as best I can. Professional orders include members based on their occupation and academic training. In Quebec, there are many orders, including that of social workers and marital and family therapists, that of criminologists, that of sexologists… Each order establishes guidelines in the performance of the functions of the profession it represents. The purpose of the orders is to protect citizens by establishing competency benchmarks and a framework of practice for each profession. It supervises professionals, ensures that they continue their training throughout their practice and welcomes complaints from citizens who consider that they have experienced any form of prejudice on the part of a professional.

If the order ensures the protection of citizens, it does not necessarily mean that professionals, those who do not belong to an order are incompétent.es in their field of practice. Indeed, many intervenant.es in the community do not belong to any order, but they have expertise in certain sectors. However, it must be said that professionals, those who are not part of an order have a less supervised practice, and as a result, are limited in the acts they can take. On the other hand, the fact that a professional, is part of an order does not mean that you are immune from unethical gestures or inappropriate interventions. At the very least, you have the means to report inappropriate behaviour or actions by professionals who are part of the orders. You can find the procedure to file a complaint on the websites of the various professional orders. As far as social intervenant.es in the community are concerned, you are not without recourse either. If you have experienced harm from a community worker, you can file a complaint with the Ombudsman.

Finally, Bill 21 does not protect you from unqualified individuals who provide assistance relationship services in private practice because the support relationship is not governed by law. And even some professionals, having been members of an order could be struck off their order and choose a profession that is not governed by this law. So it's important to be careful, do your research and ask the questions before making an appointment with a mental health professional. All in all, incidents of this kind remain limited.

Law 21 still regulates a good number of professions and determines who can utter a particular act. For example, only psychologists can conduct assessments of psychological disorders. Social workers are the ones who carry out psychosocial assessments, which no other profession is able to do. To find out what is reserved for each profession, you can visit the website of the College of Psychologists of Quebec. This can help you to see it clearly.

Finally, no matter which professional you choose, I suggest you learn as much as possible about the therapist, his or her approaches, his practices, his experiences… and if you're still not sure, you can always have a first meeting with the professional to determine if he or she is the best person to help you.

Type of professional, the and approaches

No matter who you choose to consult and what approaches they will use to support you, research shows that the most important factors in the success of your process are, first and foremost, your personal resources, the efforts you put into achieving your goals (40%) and secondly, the therapeutic alliance (30%). The therapeutic alliance is the therapist's ability to connect with you, to create a climate of trust for you. Very often, this is an aspect that makes a real difference in the effectiveness of solving your problems. The type of professional and his approaches account for only 15% in solving problems. However, one approach may be more appropriate for you than another, because of your personality or interests.

Each professional, works it with one or more therapeutic approaches, for which he or she has been trained. These approaches can be very varied. Whether she is a sexologist, a psychologist or a social worker, she can use the main currents of therapy, whether humanistic, psychodynamic, cognitive or systemic.To this can be added various approaches to intervention, such as short solution-oriented therapy, impact therapy, narrative approach, feminist approach…

Finally, each profession determines its currents of thought, its approaches and its intervention techniques. For example, the same problem could be treated by a sexologist, psychologist or social worker, but their analysis of the problem, how they do it and what they do will differ depending on their professional body. I invite you to consult this paper from the University of Sherbrooke to learn more about the different professions that are working to improve your mental health.

Why choose a social worker to help you?

At the end of the day, why choose a social worker over a psychologist, a sexologist… Well, the reason lies in the way you see the world, your needs, your goals. The social worker analyzes problems from the perspective of social interaction between an individual and his environment. Thus, for the latter, the problems of individuals are not only the result of individuals themselves, but rather that of the impacts that arise from the different interactions between the individual and his family, his professional environment, society, institutions… It works to promote a balance between a person's needs and the response to their needs through their environment. It aims to stimulate individuals' power to act on their lives and relationships and to defend their social rights. The social worker works with individuals as well as communities, because there is an interrelationship between each element, each instance of a society.

The social worker's interventions "are concrete, creative, unprejudiced and based on social justice.(OTSTCFQ, 2019) It conducts an assessment of the social functioning of the individual to determine the causes of the problems experienced and thus to find strategies for action aimed at personal as well as social transformation. It is through the improvement of the social functioning of individuals that society is then enriched. It develops "solutions based on" people's strengths "and those of their environment (to improve their well-being).It also addresses "the reality of people in a global way that takes into account the person and his or her environment."(OTSTCFQ, 2019)

In short, the strength of social workers is to take into account the whole of your life to effectively address the problems you face, because every sphere of your life influences who you are and how you deal with problems. So I hope that this article will have allowed you to see a little more clearly about this profession that I particularly like.

Don't hesitate and contact a social worker now to help.