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1 Sep / 16Expert insight
“It’s really given me confidence”: A participant’s reflections on the Summer Institute
This Monday Think Ahead participants will join community mental health teams across the country to begin their on-the-job training as social workers. Here, Jenni Wingrove, a participant who will start training in Luton, shares her reflections on how she’s feeling ahead of starting the role, and the best bits of the six-week Summer Institute. Why […]
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19 Aug / 16Expert insight
Ensuring social work perspectives are valued: week five at the Summer Institute
It’s the penultimate week at the Summer Institute, and communication has played a big part in this week’s learning. Communication skills are hugely important for social workers in many elements of their job. Of course, being able to build relationships with service users is crucial – as Frances Turner, an experienced mental health social worker […]
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17 Aug / 16In the media
“When I shadowed social workers, I saw how they fight for people”
A Think Ahead participant has shared their reflections on a day they spent shadowing a mental health social worker before they joined the programme. In an anonymous piece published on Guardian Social Care, the participant follows a social worker on visits to two service users. Although some of the interactions witnessed were challenging, the participant reflects: “Often […]
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12 Aug / 16Expert insight
Eco-maps and safety assessments: inside week four at Think Ahead’s Summer Institute
This week at the Summer Institute risk assessments – or rather ‘safety assessments’ – took centre stage. Participants spent a day exploring how to assess the level of protection from harm that a person with mental health problems might require, through a mixture of teaching sessions and group work. These sessions included looking at some […]
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5 Aug / 16Expert insight
Developing leadership skills at the Summer Institute
We’re half way through our 2016 Summer Institute, and this week our participants have been learning about leadership. Leadership is an important part of the Think Ahead curriculum, because mental health social workers need the ability to make difficult judgement calls and influence others. During this week’s teaching, participants took the Myers Briggs Personality Indicator […]
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29 Jul / 16Expert insight
“Human rights are often deep at the heart of important social work decisions”
Our 96 participants have now completed the second week of their Summer Institute. This week they learnt about some of the legal and ethical aspects of social work, including a strong focus on human rights and liberty. These issues have a real impact on social work practice day-to-day, because social workers have to make tough […]
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15 Feb / 16In the media
Think Ahead participant’s diary featured in the Guardian
A Think Ahead participant, who is due to start the programme this summer, has shared a week-long diary with the Guardian detailing their volunteering with young carers. The piece, which is part of the Guardian’s series of “secret diaries” from people working in health, shares the author’s work as a mentor to young people who […]
