I thought I was in control, that I could trust the medical professionals I was seeing, that the anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications were appropriate. Despite my completing pre-med classes at ____ University, my knowledge and understanding, I knew that something was horribly wrong, that I was losing control. For the past few years, I tried to fix it, and yet ended up in hospital, and lost my job. My family initially reached out, but walked away, confused, and disillusioned, leaving me emotionally derelict. I hit bottom, and there were no answers there. The only hope for my survival was me. Rising above prescription medicine addiction, I have seen my life’s path even more clearly.
Growing up an immigrant, coming from Guyana to the streets of the Bronx, I am personally aware of the assorted difficulties facing inner-city youth: poverty, childcare inadequacies, racism, discrimination, and English as a second language. I have always lived among underserved populations, and my compassion for them has grown with my own experiences. These firsthand experiences combined with my extensive professional experience will be invaluable for helping others. I excel at honesty in handling clients, making them feel at ease, and helping them to realize that someone cares, and this is central to the success of the social worker.
While I have enjoyed and excelled in my work as a senior administrative professional, for many years now, I have felt unfulfilled, since I have much more to offer. I have seen time and again clients that are facing assorted issues solely because of unaddressed psychological and emotional difficulties. Through my own experiences of survival and recovery, I have much to impart. Whereas I was handling every aspect of administration, in several capacities, my heart had always wanted to be on the other side of the equation, working with the client through their most trying times, and not just facilitating an efficient office. Working in various professional positions, I have had the chance to work in a multidisciplinary team environment; experiences that I know will aid me in my future in Social Work.
XXXX School of Social Policy and Practice’s commitment to academic excellence is evident in having over a century of conceptual continuity; making for an educational experience that is unsurpassed. I find the School’s Liberal Arts approach to education refreshing, making it stand out amongst the background noise of other state schools that do not produce such well-rounded alumni. And last but by no means least, the MSW program’s Field Placement portion is much like a doctor completing their residency, working under the supervision of their attending. This level of professionalism, trust, and the system of checks and balances bolsters my confidence immensely in a curriculum that beyond doubt produces effective Social Workers fy immersing them in real-world experiences.
For the future, it is my express desire to work in a capacity that will allow my individual experiences to have never been in vain. This would bring me the greatest personal and professional satisfaction. Ideally, I would like to focus my energies on being a supervisor for an organization that provides counseling for substance abusers.
Although I do not currently work in a social service agency, my personal experiences struggling with prescription medicine addiction combined with an excellent foundation in medical science from one of America’s leading medical schools, Temple U, have prepared me for the challenge and opportunity to pursue a personally and professionally satisfying career in Social Work.
Moreover, my aims are to lead in a supervisory capacity, for an organization that provides counseling for substance abusers, thus my decade of experience leading teams of administrative professionals, managing money for a hospital, advertising/marketing and academic registration will aid me invaluably in my life’s newest – truest – direction. Over the years, I have been involved in my community, volunteering at a nursing home, interning at a local elementary school, and personally developing my proficiency in Spanish, and now I look forward to being a force for positive change in the lives of others.
My work and volunteer experiences afforded me the opportunity to work with people of all ages and circumstances, increasing my appreciation and understanding of differing social groups, creeds, and cultures, traveling extensively throughout Europe, Central America, and the Caribbean. With every step in these amazing places, I have seen beyond their looking glasses, their dizzying array of histories and seen the people. There is no greater way to reach out to a community than to have been an active member, to be able to speak in their arterial language, developing cultural competence by having walked for miles in their shoes.
Prescription drug addiction is a critically important social issue that I have direct and personal experience with. On the surface, the issue seems oxymoronic, begging the question, how can a person become addicted to pharmaceuticals if a physician prescribes it? However, every day, cancer survivors, to name just one large group, need to be weaned off morphine, its synthetics, and other painkillers. While many patients are introduced to prescription drugs legitimately, there are very few checks and balances to assisting patients postoperatively, after treatment regimens have ended, or a person’s insurance is lost for one reason or another. In this golden age of information and global marketplace, prescription drugs are a few mouse clicks away, with many patients seeking out illegitimate ways of obtaining them. The ability for medical professionals to check up on patients and their progress after they have satisfactorily completed their regimens is simply unfeasible. Should these patients be punished in the same way as abusers of other drugs? And how many people are aware of, or can afford voluntary treatment programs?
Addiction remains intrinsically identical, whether the drugs were obtained legitimately, prescribed, or purchased on the street or the electronic highway, and whether the drugs were cocaine, heroin, legally obtained painkillers, or anti-anxiety meds. Many people, my family included, do not see things in shades of gray; addiction is addiction. Others give a greater emotional and psychological leeway to those victims of manufactured medication addiction, even if the drugs were obtained through illegitimate channels, calling the abuse of prescription drugs “non-medical use”, a very clinical term that confuses and sterilizes the reality.
It is up to the social worker in conjunction with parents, teachers, and prominent community members to identify at-risk populations, not just teens, but also immigrants struggling to become acculturated, and other silent minorities. Many people say after the fact that they wished there were something they could have done. The old saying “it takes a village” holds true in this situation. My reading of history tells me that this is an age-old story. Post-American Civil War, for example, many soldiers found themselves addicted to morphine, leading to the drug becoming one of America’s first controlled substances. It is our responsibility to educate everyone about the potential risks, the warning signs, what the drugs’ slang names are, and their effects and side effects. Where we cannot prevent what damage has been done, the social worker can do a great deal to reduce the impact of this all-too-real pattern of destruction.
Having been there before, I would be the ideal sounding board, a soft place to fall, for the people I counsel. When I see a client in a hole they cannot get out of, I will get in the hole with them. I will be able to tell them not to worry, I have been here before, and I know the way out.
MSW Social Work Policy Practice Controlling Drug Abuse
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