Elizabeth was my field supervisor when I was a social work intern at Tanjong Pagar Family Service Centre from May to August 2015. Although I was completely new to the social work setting, Elizabeth was kind and patient in helping me understand how the services at the centre supported the needs of the clients within the Bukit Merah vicinity. As a supervisor, she exceeded in helping me understand my tasks at hand and guided me to think beyond the presenting problems of the clients. Elizabeth encouraged me to look beyond individual clients and observe the patterns of macro impacts on clients with similar issues.
From the start of my placement, Elizabeth had taken the effort to push me to expand my knowledge of systemic structures and current relevant issues surrounding social work in Singapore. She constantly updated my reading list with interesting literature and videos that would help boost my understanding of things I was never taught in school.
Elizabeth was a dedicated social worker who often went the extra mile for her clients. She wrote letters of encouragement, read them out to her clients and even included their stories in a book that she designed. She also included one of her clients in a major project that she was working on, Pocket Kering. Pocket Kering was a project which included the voices of her clients talking about financial constraints. I saw that the inclusion of her clients as part of the projects helped affirm them and made them more confident in expressing themselves.
Being a Narrative Therapy practitioner, Elizabeth also incorporated Narrative techniques in some of the sessions and included me in the process as both a participant and an outsider witness. This exposure allowed me to observe the effects of narrative therapy and subsequently encouraged me to conduct my sessions with clients creatively.
In terms of conducting sessions, Elizabeth trusted my process and allowed me to lead sessions while constantly being there to back me up when I needed support. She also made sure that I observed and critiqued the way sessions were run so that I could point out strengths and areas for improvement. She often affirmed and encouraged me before sessions which helped me feel more relaxed and enjoy the process. Elizabeth’s timely feedback as a supervisor was truly helpful in helping me hone my skills as a social worker.
As a supervisor, Elizabeth took the effort to understand my interests and used those to help me understand different perspectives. For example, we had supervision sessions using art and she invited me to watch plays which broadened my views on social work. This was remarkable as I was able to immerse in the mediums which I personally enjoyed, making these sessions a lot more fruitful. This, to me, was one of the traits which distinguished her from other supervisors as she was open to fresh ideas and was willing to incorporate them as part of supervision.
Elizabeth was not just a supervisor; she was a friend and a confidante with whom I could easily share my struggles with. She knew very well when to switch between being a professional supervisor who had to guide me in my understanding of social work and a friend with whom I could feel comfortable with. She is a great listener and always presented objective suggestions which helped me reframe my problems and gain fresh perspectives.
On a personal note, I would owe my piqued interest in social work to Elizabeth as she exhibited the ways in which she used her position as a social worker to give a voice to the marginalised and always respected the decisions of her clients. This attitude, together with the conscientious effort she takes to work with each of her clients makes her one of the more remarkable social workers I have worked with. Elizabeth has truly been an inspiration and will definitely add value with her knowledge of narrative therapy in any project that she embarks on.
David Puvan
Dec 2016
