Listen to thisI was on sabbatical last year, 1999, and it gave me an opportunity to step back and think about many concepts in our work.
I am struck with how compatible my thinking is with other practitioners who struggle with good models to do this work. John Sullivan, Mark Krueger, lots of others, but the issue of what makes sense at the front line still puzzles me. I am worried that the writers and teachers whom I talk to only really make sense to other writers and teachers, not actual practitioners.
New staff, and especially students in field placement, quickly abandon all theoretical concepts in the face of the sensory overload that immobilizes them as they start to work in residential group care. There often is a lot of support from less skilled staff to do this and to start using “common sense" approaches.
I know that the developmental process of needing to create control and safety can get in the way of being theoretical, yet there is a resistance to theory in front-line work at most periods of growth. As a person learns a new problem approach (e.g. sexual abusers) it is easier to teach ideas and techniques, because you aren’t asking staff to accommodate new info into existing experience. I believe the big stumbling block is getting Child and Youth Care workers to move away from having physical control and therefore let go of needing safety for themselves.
I talk to workers and it is very important to use real stories and examples to explain concepts. This also fits with the need to use stories and narrative to understand each person and what is useful. John Sullivan described using stories in his thesis and my wife Marilyn has done such powerful stuff here too. Mark Krueger has known and used this for 15 years. I would like to translate this approach into strategies that work for me “it will be slightly different than everyone else–s.
John and I were talking about not playing the expert with clients, and I really know this to be true. There is a certain confidence in yourself that is important to project, but it can’t be translated by the client as “I have the answer for you". The consistent message to really effective workers that you are different than those other ineffective folks voiced by parents in distress is a key issue and the difference is imbedded in the worker’s respect for the clients” competence to know what they need.
When Child and Youth Care workers experience this attitude of “I know the answer for you" from other professionals, they immediately turn off. The ability to smell an unrealistic approach is imbedded in Child and Youth Care workers. The problem of letting go of control gets into this and I am looking for ways to honor healthy skepticism while encouraging workers to give power away to clients. How can I support Child and Youth Care workers to use the personal experience of not being treated as competent by other professionals to see how they may be doing this with youth and families.
I am also struck by the agreement in the latest literature about using strength-based approaches. I hear this all the time and believe it is a sea change in our thinking. When the front line wisdom reflects this, we will move ahead rapidly. How does this get to the front line?
I hope to do some speaking to staff groups in the next weeks and if I get closer to this answer, I'll feel like I have succeeded.
