Social counsellor

Briefly explain what you do for a living.

I work as a social counsellor for the Central Uusimaa joint municipal authority for Health and Social Services (Keusote) at the family care unit in Pihlaja. I am a responsible employee of support families and I coordinate the support family activities of Keusote and Kerava. In practice, this means that if a child needs a support family, the application for support needs will be submitted to our unit. After this, I will start looking for a support family suitable for the child. I am also responsible for finding, coaching and supporting support and foster families who host children. My work involves some on-call work. On-call work means that if a social worker needs an urgent placement for a child, I will find a suitable placement among the host families.

How have you ended up in the profession of your choice?

When I was in high school, I didn't know what I would become when I grew up. At the time, and in the region where I grew up, it seemed that people were only familiar with traditional professions, such as a doctor and a teacher. I was not so interested in school attendance and felt that there was no unlimited choice. I knew I was social and I liked children, so I applied for a Bachelor of Social Services degree.

At that time, it was possible to complete the kindergarten teacher's qualification in the degree of Bachelor of Social Services. I was sure that I would become a kindergarten teacher until the traineeship at the day-care centre led me to change my mind. I noticed that I needed more variation in the working day than what the recurring day care centre daily routine could offer. After this, I ended up working in crisis situations, when I became enthusiastic about the social sector. The work rhythm was fast and the days varied, and I felt it was right for me.

Describe your typical working day or week.

A typical working week starts on Monday with various meetings. In the team meeting we will discuss the on-call situations of the previous week and look at the issues to be investigated in the coming week. In the work meetings, administrative issues are discussed, which I have more than in the normal job description of a social counsellor, as I participate in coordination and development work. Administrative work means, for example, the conclusion and administration of contracts and the investigation of fees or expense reimbursement issues. There are a lot of e-mails and phone calls.

There are two to three home visits per week. The topic of the home visit may be a family survey of the future support family or a meeting to start support family activities at the social welfare office. There are also several meetings through remote connections, such as the meetings of the Uusimaa support family network, for which I am responsible. I run various group activities, such as peer groups for support families in the evenings. In addition, I am in contact with the management team, which includes decisions on the funding of our operations. If necessary, I will be at the management team meetings to discuss our activities, and I compile statistics on various matters to support such meetings.

What kind of work environment or working hours do you work in?

I work remotely at home, somewhat at the office, make home visits to families, and participate in customer meetings at different agencies. My work takes place almost all the time in multi-professional cooperation with others, although I sometimes feel alone in my own profession.   There are reportedly about 200-250 coordinators of support family activities in Finland, but I am the only one in Keusote.

As a rule, I have office hours and flexitime, so I can fill in my own calendar relatively freely. However, my work involves a lot of evening work, as meetings with voluntary support families usually take place in the evenings, as well as support families’ coaching. There is also weekend work, but only on Saturdays. Social counsellor‘s work elsewhere is often shift work.

What kind of competence or qualities are required in the profession?

Knowledge of the Social Welfare and Child Protection Act and these interfaces is very important. It is essential to know how different services are organised, as well as how different financial matters, such as budgeting, work.

As much as these, this work requires therapeutic expertise. It is essential to be familiar with psychiatric issues, such as attachment damage or the effects of trauma on a child. For example, I need to know how to coach families in situations where a placed child with ADHD behaves in an undesirable way: how to confront the child, and what are the methods to cope with these situations?

A good social counsellor is socially intelligent. They are an interpreter of others' emotions, they understand different behaviour and know how to reconcile conflicts between people. Conflicts can be very different in this work, such as between the social welfare authority and the customer, between the child and the family, or between two guardians. Empathetic people are needed in the field, but it is also good to be aware that the work can be mentally taxing for the employee.

What is the best thing about your profession?

The fact that I feel I can influence social issues. I can influence how Keusote's support family activities are organised. I feel that I am listened to and appreciated. It feels meaningful when managers ask me for advice on how I think one should act in different situations.

What are the downsides of the profession or what seems challenging?

The downsides of the work include the workload, economic austerity pressures and a feeling of inadequacy, when there are many more children in the queue in need of support families than there are available support families. Then I have to decide who is most urgently in need of help.

Sometimes working with crisis situations and traumatised customers is also reflected in the work community. Sometimes it can feel like the employee also has to bear a heavy burden. This involves ethical conflicts. There may be situations where one's own values ​​are at war with an official decision made at work.

What would you tell a person considering the profession of a social counsellor?

If you are considering the profession, your own life and well-being should be in order. Many people come to the field as a result of a personal crisis, but before you can help others, it is a good idea to help yourself. The profession of a social counsellor is an interpersonal profession where you encounter people with major challenges in their lives. There are mental health and substance abuse problems, violence, traumatised children etc. For example, a traumatised person may be a very difficult customer or it may be difficult for them to be with strangers. These sometimes challenging encounters require that one's own psyche is in order.

It should also be noted that after graduation, one does not necessarily feel that one has sufficient skills. The profession requires continuous education and learning new things, just because there are numerous specialisation options.

The good thing is that there are plenty of opportunities for exerting influence in this work.

How do you see the future of your profession?

This sector will probably also have good employment opportunities in the future. Knowledge of legislation would be very important, as it is not adequately included in the current Bachelor of Social Services degree programme.