My Journey from being a Social Worker, to a service user, to an expert by experience

Abstract

Abstract This reflective piece is an autoethnographic account of transitioning from being a social worker to being an expert by experience on a social work course. I undertook an undergraduate degree in social work eight years ago and was an enthusiastic newly qualified social worker. Sadly, shortly after graduating I became very unwell, and I became disabled. I was no longer well enough to work as a social worker. I was devastated and it had a significant impact on my mental health as I went through a process which felt akin to grieving for my old life. I will reflect upon theories and models, which have helped me to understand this process and transition including theories of loss and a model of recovery. Involving people with lived experience of social work services (otherwise known as experts by experience) has been a mandatory requirement in social work education since 2003. I contacted my previous university and enquired how I could become an expert by experience. This was a pivotal moment both in acceptance of my disability and in connection with my ‘previous’ life. What struck me about becoming a service user was that it wasn’t the theories or the interventions that I came away from an appointment remembering, it was the felt experience, did I feel heard? Did I feel cared for? Did I feel empathy? Those elements were the most important, the foundation of the relationship is what made the intervention successful. So, now I promote a relationship-based approach being at the core of good social work practice. Becoming a service user deepened my understanding of what social work really should be.