Southern New Hampshire University Field Experience Discussion

By Day 4

Respond to the blog posts of three colleagues in one or more of the following ways:

• Expand on your colleague’s posting.
• Validate an idea in your colleague’s post with your own experience.

Colleague 1: Sherene

Description of Field Experience

For this field experience, I will be working at an agency called Arnette House Inc. The Arnette House is a facility that provides Emergency Shelter services for youth ages 10 – 17 who are runaways, lockouts, abandoned, homeless, truant, or experiencing parent/child conflict. The main goals keep families together by addressing the issues earlier on before children become out of control. Another goal is to help strengthen the family unit before the child ends up in delinquency or foster care. Lastly, another goal is to prevent the child from ending up in the Juvenile Justice System by practicing early interventions.

Engagement

The youth is provided a structured living environment while receiving individual and family counseling. Some of the techniques that would be utilized for engagement with the children would consist of positive behavior modification techniques, which will involve behavioral counseling. Life skills groups help promote responsibility and independence. There will also be substance abuse prevention interventions. The youth are encouraged to participate in activities such as arts, crafts, music, and outdoor activities which assists in promoting positive youth development and engagement. Family unification is extremely important in most cases, and regular case management helps in supporting this goal.

Colleague 2: Shaliah

A description of your field education experience, including your agency, the types of social services offered, and the population groups or clientele your agency serves.

My field experience is at an inpatient drug and alcohol facility, Pyramid Healthcare, located in Langhorne, PA. This facility offers rehabilitation services, including therapy, both group and individual, case management services, detoxification services, outpatient and inpatient treatment services, and some other treatment services. Pyramid services the drug and alcohol population that varies in age, the age range is very diverse from adolescent to late adulthood.

An explanation of how engagement occurs in your field education experience.

Upon admission, individuals are seen by nursing for covid testing and by the behavioral health technicians for a body search, as well as search their belongings. This is the initial engagement when someone is admitted to Pyramid. After they have a negative covid test and body search, the individuals then engage with the intake department, which includes the assessment counselor and assessment counselor assistants. During that time with the counselors they are engaging with the individual, building rapport to be able to continue with the assessment of the level of care needed or recommended. Engagement happens throughout the program as they engage in therapy, both group and individual, treatment planning with therapists, and ongoing engagement with the medical team for medication and health monitoring.

Reference

Pyramid Healthcare, Inc. (2022) Treatment Services. Retrieved from Inpatient Rehab in Langhorne, PA | Pyramid Healthcare (pyramid-healthcare.com)

Colleague 3: Michael

Description of Field Education Experience

The agency I am completing my field placement at is Brook Lane Out-Patient Services, a division of Brook Lane Health Services. The parent agency provides inpatient mental health serv ices, medication management services, and runs a special education school, Laurel Hall. The parent agency also performs Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). My placement agency conducts out-patient mental health services in the form of addictions counseling, mental health therapy, and group therapy. My placement agency serves all individuals and accepts state, federal, and private insurances. The agency has a child program, THRIVE, that is autism-friendly, and a dedicated addictions program, IN STEP. In July, there were 3565 appointemts offered to clients, with 2888 appointments being kept (Hensley, 2022).

How Engagement Occurs in My Field Education Experience

During my second semester of practicum, I will be using the skills I learned in my first semester and receive more in-depth training and expereinces at my practicum site (Birkenmaier & Berg-Weger, 2018). Engagement with my field instructor during this time consists of weekly supervision and reviewing how I am progressing towards the goals of my Learning Agreement. I am also expected to attend mothly staff meeting and case reviews, which brings me in contact with other clinicians. Engagement with these clinicians takes the form of covering or taking over clients for them as some of the clinicians transition back into the public schools. Brook Lane received a grant to provide therapy services to students during the school day. I discuss the clients with the clinicians and we collaborate on a plan for the client going forward.

Engagement in my Field Education also occurs between me and my clients. I have four clients currently, and will be getting four more from other clinicians. My engagement with my clients revolves around building rapport, creating a treatment plan, and using interventions to assist the clients in reaching their treatment goals. The quality of the engagement between the therapist and their client is a proven indicator of positive outcomes from therapy, no matter what therapeutic theory orientation is used (Birkenmaier & Berg-Weger, 2018).

References

Birkenmaier, J., & Berg-Weger, M. (2018). The practicum companion for social work: Integrating class and fieldwork (4th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.

Hensley, K. (2022). North village staff meeting agenda. PDF. Retrieved on 08/30/2022.