Written by Hailey D’Amato
I am currently studying Bachelor of Social Work online at Charles Sturt, which requires two 500 hour work placements.
I chose to study social work as I was drawn to the helping profession due to a turbulent childhood and while working as an assistant manager of a before and after school care.
My passion for understanding the drivers of behaviour came from managing challenging behaviours in my workplace and consequently, seeing the children thrive in their environment was the catalyst of my social work dream.
I chose to study social work to understand the impact of trauma and how this translates to thoughts, feelings, behaviour and in later life. I have just completed work placement at Headspace, a mental health service for young people aged 12-25 years old.
From this experience, I gained invaluable knowledge around different therapeutic techniques and how they are applied in practice with a variety of ages and cultural backgrounds.
I was able to greatly extend on my mental health knowledge and attend courses such as DV (domestic violence), family therapy and DBT and understand these focused psychological strategies.
From this experience, I was also able to acknowledge and understand the roles of differing professions and how social work is applied in the field.
I wanted to complete work placement full-time, 5 days a week, in order to get a real ‘feel’ for the profession and what it would be like as a social worker in that position.
Consequently, my time for paid work was limited. I received the Professional Placement Grant, which was able to help me cover the cost of rent, bills and petrol for travel to and from placement.
I recommend students to apply for the grant as “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”. My first application for this grant was unsuccessful, however I applied again and was accepted.
It has helped tremendously to cover expenses during work placement. For more information on Charles Sturt scholarships, click here.
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