The Person in the Professional Professor Bernard Moss Professor of Social Work Education and Spirituality Director, Centre for Spirituality and Health Staffordshire University

a bit about me Previous experience at Littlemore Hospital, and the therapeutic community movement Previous experience in people work – faith community leader and University chaplain; Samaritans; Relate; Family mediator. Now involved in teaching social work students, esp communication skills

What has this taught me? I’m not the clever clogs that some people expect me to be people are the experts in their particular conditions ‘helping’ needs to be a shared encounter people can be resilient ultimately all I have to offer is myself within a professional context

What we are not Human car mechanics A different species – eg men, women and social workers/mental health workers etc Not immune from the mess and stress of living… from getting it wrong in our personal lives and from feeling guilty ….from experiencing emotional pain and existential angst

What we are An awesome mix of joy and pain and sheer ordinariness People who do extra-ordinary things and sometimes not a lot People with a vision, drive, ambition, and the experience of being overwhelmed, out of control, losing a sense of meaning and purpose People who have a range of world views including religious perspectives

Why is this important ? Oracle at Delphi – know yourself Concept of professional poise (see Roger’s accompanying paper – very helpful here) In people work, so much of the self – our opinions, our values, our prejudices, seep into our practice

Why is this important Mental health example Professional attitudes towards religion. ( see the work of Anthony Powell, now being taken forward by Sarah Eagger and the Spirituality Special Interest Group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists – featured on the Croydon MIND DVD) * Is religious faith part of the problem or part of the answer?

This involves our world views The current interest in spirituality takes us to the heart of what it means to be human whether or not we have a religious faith Meaning, purpose, how we view others and how we view ourselves ; how we see society; how we understand wholeness and healing and what it means to be alive in community;

It also involves How we understand our own frailty, failure and pain and how this affects our professional practice Wounded healer concept by Nouwen – how can we ensure that our pain does not get in the way but rather opens us up to other people’s pain

Reflective Practice Helps us avoid the two extremes being ‘spaces through which something else passes ‘ Tillich’ (thanks Roger for this!) Being so involved we become part of the problem

Reflective practice Importance of using service users and carers in the education and training of professionals Our skills lab programme in social work education at Staffordshire University

This is but the end of the beginning I hope there has been nothing new so far But I also hope it helps to look in the mirror to see ourselves as we really are – to be reminded daily of our creases and wrinkles and our own need of healing

and the start of the journey ahead but also to see our own beauty and uniqueness which is a gift we have received and a gift we can share with others and to be a means of healing for others

THANK YOU It has been a privilege to share this day with you May we all travel better for having been here