Blurbs
We act as a mirror to others by the way we treat the them. Especially for people who hold power, what is left unsaid, our actions, could pass messages about how we value the humanity, dignity and worth of a friend, child, junior, student, peer or neighbor. Our mirrors can be tarnished: does it require some TLC or some critical reflection polishing? Who gave you trust and believed in you? Who made you feel safe and confident to pursue your goals and takes steps to give practical help and time?
Sri had a few children living in a group home (some were recently removed). 1 was in foster care and 2 young ones were living with her.
Patience and positive regard was appreciated by her. We noticed that after meeting, she would have much energy and her children were attending childcare/school regularly and she would seek employment. However, as the next review was up, the attendance and employment would wane. I volunteered to facilitate weekly family access sessions at the children’s home, and keenly took photos and observed the interactions. My supervisee assisted me with some of these sessions too, and we gathered what the children appreciated about their mother.
When the review was coming up and the child protection officer was gathering information for it, it was clear that the case conference with all the various parties including Sri would focus on the missed sessions. I visited Sri’s house and researched about the reasons for the missed sessions and other initiatives she had taken in the last few weeks. I also called up the childcare for their observations which they generously gave to me. I gathered all this, as well as the photos and the observations of my supervisee and i into video presentation. This showcased Sri’s skills in guiding her children, caring for their emotional, developmental and safety needs, the very real practical and legitimate challenges she had as a single mother. Even in the session that she did not turn up, the observations of her children’s skills and qualities, were linked to her skills as a mother to raise these children.
When the case conference started, my co-worker had to go back to the office to get a laptop. The session started with the child protection officer speaking about her disapproval at the poor attendance at the access sessions. When the laptop and Sri finally arrived, we watched the video together and there was a great shift in the attitude of team. They were obviously touched by this side of Sri’s story. They started to affirm her and we started discussing about the next steps of the plan. They also requested for the videos to be sent to them so that they can share it with the children. I made a hard copy for both the children and Sabrina to keep.
This “ceremony” helped to build Sri’s reputation not only with the other professionals in the team but herself. Instead of a mother who constantly failed to perform her parenting duties, we re-authored together to see a mother who faced real challenges and did her best for her children.
*Recently Sri was having a difficult time and i designed and printed "Precious family scrapbook" (refer to 23 Feb 2017's blog entry) with some outsider witness responses and stories gathered in other re-authoring sessions.
Date: 8 May 2012
To whom it may concern,
I have been supervised by Elizabeth Quek since joining the THK Family Service Centre @ Tanjong Pagar in June 2011.
As a new social work graduate, I was rather daunted by the responsibilities of a social worker in a Family Service Centre setting. However I was fortunate to have a supervisor like Elizabeth who was empathetic and created a very positive and encouraging atmosphere for me. This enables me to trust her and have honest discussion regarding my work whenever we meet for supervision. Elizabeth is also very open in sharing reading materials and ideas she gained from talks. And her enthusiasm is certainly infectious!
One trait I observe of Elizabeth is her belief in empowering clients and focusing on their strengths and this belief of hers sometimes challenges my perception of clients. For example, I was initially sceptical about Elizabeth’s idea of getting clients to volunteer for us in events as I assumed that volunteerism is the least of client’s priorities. However Elizabeth believes that most clients would like to give back in some way to the FSC and volunteerism presents a good opportunity. Hence I made my call to my clients, bracing myself for rejection, To my surprise they say yes and after getting their feedback for volunteering, it is always almost the same – they are happy to do it and even asked that I contact them if I need help in future!
I see Elizabeth as a good role model professionally and aspire to be like her as she is ever-ready to make changes to her practice for the benefits of her clients.
Best regards,
Elizabeth Thambidurai
Social Worker
30th September 2016
To Whom It May Concern,
Reference Letter
It is with great pleasure to provide this reference letter for Miss Elizabeth Quek, who was my supervisor while I was having my first Social Work practicum, as part of my university’s Social Work requirements, at Thye Hua Kwan Family Service Centre (Tanjong Pagar) from 1st May 2014 to 31st July 2014.
During this period, I have truly benefited from Miss Elizabeth’s supervision. She has the necessary managerial skills and main qualities of a good supervisor. She has great communication skills, which allows me to communicate with her at ease regards to my work. She is also approachable when I come to her for questions and feedback. This makes her an efficient supervisor as it brings in the trust and openness between her employees and herself.
Additionally, Miss Elizabeth is more than willing to share her wisdom, knowledge and experiences with the interns. She is to be commended for her professionalism, specifically the concern for her students and quality of instruction. She plans well and works diligently at being organized. Miss Elizabeth has creative methods when she teaches the students. I was taught on various visual tools such as, the strengths cards and feelings cards, which were not taught in school. These have helped me on my social work journey and I applied what I have learnt into my second social work practicum, which the clients have benefitted from the sessions. Miss Elizabeth also values the interns, as she understands the interns’ worth and treats them accordingly. The interns were touched and appreciative when she encouraged us with sweet treats and words of care and concern, because it is the small gestures which makes a big difference.
As Miss Elizabeth is trained in Narrative Therapy, I was blessed to learn more about it from her. It was an insightful and eye-opening experience for me after I watched a demonstration of “externalization in narrative therapy” in one of her sessions and eventually used it in my session with my clients. Miss Elizabeth is also an empathic social work practitioner, as seen from her sessions with clients. This is particularly important, because having the empathy for clients is one of the fundamental elements in social work practice. Miss Elizabeth has her clients at heart and it can be seen from the case conferences where she advocated for them. My time with Miss Elizabeth has created a positive impact on my life journey and as a person.
Miss Elizabeth’s 10 years of experiences in the social service sector has proved that she has a good understanding of social workers’ roles, values and knowledge, as seen from her high standard of quality in her sessions and supervision. Miss Elizabeth is valuable to any employer and a great asset to the social service sector. Should you require any further information about Miss Elizabeth’s skills and talent, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Tan Fengying
