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Jul. 26th, 2013 10:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
terrypurple73I'm outside Chicago right now at the Marytown Retreat Center, a very Catholic sort of place, which is both nice and a little much. I'm at the National Catholic Social Workers' Association's conference, and it seems okay. Wendy and I drove out here- left early Wednesday morning, stayed with Jess in Iowa that night, then drove to Chicago yesterday to play a bit before getting here to the Center. Chicago was fun- got to be touristy for a bit, playing at the Bean and seeing the lake, exploring gardens and fountains and expensive parking structures. It's true- I do love exploring cities- there's a liveliness there that hits me, and it makes me so glad. The nature out here is nice, though, too. There are little garden pathways set up with statues to pray at, which even if I don't use them for that specific purpose, dang, the fireflies are still awesome!
I went to the morning workshop (mostly the workshops are just one at a time- no picking between choices) on ethical decision making in social work- really interesting to talk about theories behind how we make our decisions, and how often we feel like the decisions in front of us are unique to only our clients and our practice. How often do I think that? And while it's true in many ways that each issue a client faces is unique to their life, it's also often true that other professionals have wisdom to share about very similar cases. Our logic and our emotions and our legal duties and our conscience all combine, and there are rarely easy answers.
I did make a choice after it was over, though. I chose not to attend the next workshop- Catholic Perspective on Homosexuality for Today's Catholic Social Work Practice. I think that my emotions and conscience would throw a wrench into the talk, and logically, let's assume I wouldn't be able to keep my mouth shut. I'm not required to be there, so I'm going to entertain myself with the somewhere-nearby wi-fi I found, and also read my new Oscar Romero book. That's a fine choice, I think.
Next up- mass, lunch, and The Impact of the HHS Mandate on the Social Work Profession. That looks more like a know-your-enemies kind of talk, so I can handle that. Wendy presents tomorrow, with the least-Catholic-sounding title of the weekend- Improving Housing Stability- Creating Relationships, Not Case Files.
I went to the morning workshop (mostly the workshops are just one at a time- no picking between choices) on ethical decision making in social work- really interesting to talk about theories behind how we make our decisions, and how often we feel like the decisions in front of us are unique to only our clients and our practice. How often do I think that? And while it's true in many ways that each issue a client faces is unique to their life, it's also often true that other professionals have wisdom to share about very similar cases. Our logic and our emotions and our legal duties and our conscience all combine, and there are rarely easy answers.
I did make a choice after it was over, though. I chose not to attend the next workshop- Catholic Perspective on Homosexuality for Today's Catholic Social Work Practice. I think that my emotions and conscience would throw a wrench into the talk, and logically, let's assume I wouldn't be able to keep my mouth shut. I'm not required to be there, so I'm going to entertain myself with the somewhere-nearby wi-fi I found, and also read my new Oscar Romero book. That's a fine choice, I think.
Next up- mass, lunch, and The Impact of the HHS Mandate on the Social Work Profession. That looks more like a know-your-enemies kind of talk, so I can handle that. Wendy presents tomorrow, with the least-Catholic-sounding title of the weekend- Improving Housing Stability- Creating Relationships, Not Case Files.
