Not Communicating With Supervisors: Social Work Practicum Fail #7

Life happens. Most people in the field of social work understand that. If you are having trouble performing your duties at practicum because of problems at home, illness (physical or mental), class schedule changes, or other issues, talk to your supervisor about this. When I ran into this problem with students, it was often just a matter of us having a conversation in which we worked together to come up with a plan to get through present hardships. Once current situations were dealt with, we made a plan (and contingency plans) to make sure the issue either (1) didn't come up in the future at all or (2) was able to be worked around instead of impeding the students' performance.

Examples of things that might interfere with your presence of mind, attendance, timeliness, or mood would be:

• Developing a short-term condition such as catching the flu or breaking a bone
• A loved one recently passing away
• An unexpected change to your (or your child's) school schedule
• The public transportation system in your area running late
• Going through a divorce
• Finding out you have a long-term illness like diabetes, HIV, or cancer
• Getting married
• Your current caseload at the agency is overwhelming
• Finding out you're going to become a parent (again)

Not being open about outside issues getting in the way of your performance at practicum can put you in a negative light as a staff member. When people don't have information, they often fill in the blanks for themselves. While some supervisors may hold a more compassionate view and just assume that something outside of your control is going on, others may hold a more suspicious view and are likely to see you as lazy, incompetent, and unmotivated.