Recording and Report Writing
By Richard Devine, Social Worker for Bath and North East Somerset Council NOTE: If you are receiving this via e-mail it may be cut short by your e-mail programme and/or the graphics may be distorted. You may wish to click the link and view it in full. I was recently granted the privilege of participating […]
What I learnt attending Alcoholic’s Anonymous
By Richard Devine, Social Worker and Author of Messy Social Work: Learning from Frontline Practice with Children and Families and co-host of the Messy Social Work Podcast NOTE: If you are receiving this via e-mail it may be cut short by your e-mail programme and/or the graphics may be distorted. You may wish to click the link and […]
The Effects of Being in Care, Being Black and The Search for Belonging
By Richard Devine, Social Worker for Bath and North East Somerset Council (26.03.21) NOTE: If you are receiving this via e-mail it may be cut short by your e-mail programme and/or the graphics may be distorted. You may wish to click on the link and view it full. Introduction: I recently read a book recommended […]
Working with Fathers: Challenging our perceptions of men
By Richard Devine, Social Worker and Author of Messy Social Work: Learning from Frontline Practice with Children and Families and co-host of the Messy Social Work Podcast NOTE: If you are receiving this via e-mail it may be cut short by your e-mail programme and/or the graphics may be distorted. You may wish to click the link and […]
We need to talk about resilience
By Rhian Taylor (19.02.21) Preface by Richard Devine. This guest blog is by Rhian Taylor, an experienced social worker with over 20 years experience. She has recently left academia after several years as a lecturer in Kent University to work in a specialist CAHMS team, where no doubt her thoughtful, kind-spirited and passionate commitment to […]
Carl Jung: Modern Man in Search of Soul: 10 lessons (part 2)
By Richard Devine, Social Worker for Bath and North East Somerset (05.02.2021). Modern Man in Search of a Soul (1933) is apparently a great introduction to Carl Jung’s theories of analytical psychology. The book is broken down into eleven essays dealing with topics of dream analysis, Freudian psychology, spirituality, religion, and the unconscious. I don’t […]
Carl Jung: Modern Man in Search of Soul: 10 lessons (part 1)
By Richard Devine, Social Worker for Bath and North East Somerset (22.01.2021). Modern Man in Search of a Soul is apparently a great introduction to Carl Jung’s theories of analytical psychology. The book is broken down into eleven essays dealing with topics of dream analysis, Freudian psychology, spirituality, religion, and the unconscious. I don’t claim […]
End of Year Review 2020
By Richard Devine, Social Worker for Bath and North East Somerset Council (31.12.2020) Introduction: As the year comes to a close, I have decided to write and share an end of year review. For the past few years, I have spent a few hours during the time in-between Christmas and New Years reflecting on what […]
Forrester versus Featherstone: A debate Part 3
By Richard Devine (18.12.2020), Social Worker for Bath and North East Somerset Council. Introduction: On 07th October 2020, we held a debate at Bath and North East Somerset Council between Brid Featherstone and Donald Forrester. This debate was inspired by an article each of them wrote for the COVID2020 online magazine. Very briefly, Forrester advocated […]
Forrester versus Featherstone: A debate Part 2
By Richard Devine (16.12.2020), Social Worker for Bath and North East Somerset Council. Introduction: On 07th October 2020, we held a debate at Bath and North East Somerset Council between Brid Featherstone and Donald Forrester. This debate was inspired by an article each of them wrote for the COVID2020 online magazine. Very briefly, Forrester advocated […]
Forrester Versus Featherstone: A debate Part 1
By Richard Devine (14.12.2020), Social Worker for Bath and North East Somerset Council Introduction: On 07th October 2020, we held a debate at Bath and North East Somerset Council between Brid Featherstone and Donald Forrester. This debate was inspired by an article each of them wrote for the COVID2020 online magazine. Very briefly, Forrester advocated […]
Social Media and Social Work
By Richard Devine (02.10.20), Social Worker for Bath and North East Somerset Preface: This is a review of ‘Social Media and Social Work: Implications and opportunities for practice’ edited by Claudia Megele and Peter Buzzi (2020). Introduction: ‘The fast evolving social and technological landscapes have transformed society and the understanding of ‘social’ and are rapidly […]
10 Lessons from 10 years on the Frontline: 10, Asking for help
By Richard Devine (11.09.20) Lesson 10: Asking for Help It turns out that I don’t have 10 lessons. I only have 9! A couple of days ago I realised that I wasn’t going to have a 10th lesson. I remembered, however, that I could do what I have always done when I am ‘stuck’ or […]
10 Lessons from 10 years on the Frontline: 9, Small Wins
By Richard Devine (10.09.2020), Social Worker for Bath and North East Somerset Council. In this blog, I will share some of the mini-lessons that I have picked up over the years. It is a random list of ideas and thoughts that didn’t fit into any of the other lessons. So here it is: Confidence over […]
10 Lessons from 10 years on the Frontline: 8, Some parents need long term support
By Richard Devine (09.09.2020) Lesson 8: Some parents need long term support Introduction: This is the most recent lesson I have learned. If I would have read this blog during the first few years of being a social worker, I would have dismissed the idea as fanciful, unrealistic, and probably proposed by someone disconnected from […]
10 Lessons from 10 Years on the Frontline: 7, Effective social work depends on effective time management
By Richard Devine (08.09.2020), Social Worker for Bath and North East Somerset Council Lesson 7. Effective social work depends upon effective time management Introduction: Poor impulse control; easily activated fear system motivating avoidance of difficult tasks; and the inability to organize and structure my time according to a set of priorities are all issues that […]
10 Lessons from 10 years on the Frontline: 6, Attachment and Trauma
By Richard Devine (07.09.2020), Social Worker for Bath and North East Somerset Council. Originally I had intended to write a blog with 10 pithy lessons from my experience of being a social worker since I qualified in 2010. What I have done instead is write 10 lengthy (ish) lessons, each amounting to the equivalent of […]
10 Lessons from 10 Years on the Frontline: 5, The complexity of domestic abuse
By Richard Devine (04.09.2020), Social Worker for Bath and North East Somerset Council. Originally I had intended to write a blog with 10 pithy lessons from my experience of being a social worker since I qualified in 2010. What I have done instead is write 10 lengthy (ish) lessons, each amounting to the equivalent of […]
10 Lessons from 10 Years on the Frontline: 4, Parenting courses don’t work (!?)
By Richard Devine (03.09.2020), Social Worker for Bath and North East Somerset Council. Originally I had intended to write a blog with 10 pithy lessons from my experience of being a social worker since I qualified in 2010. What I have done instead is write 10 lengthy (ish) lessons, each amounting to the equivalent of […]
10 Lessons from 10 Years on the Frontline: 2, ‘Yesterday’s Children’ are ‘todays mothers and fathers’
By Richard Devine (01.09.2020), Social Worker for Bath and North East Somerset Council Originally I had intended to write a blog with 10 pithy lessons from my experience of being a social worker since I qualified in 2010. What I have done instead is write 10 lengthy (ish) lessons, each amounting to the equivalent of […]