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Some of the most important questions you will ever ponder regarding your career goals will be, “Is this job special? Is this a field which will bring me happiness as well as income? Will I feel rewarded doing this work?” Since hindsight is 20/20 and foresight often non-existent; we surveyed 2 of our Profiled Experts and asked, “What is special about your career as a social worker? What is it about your work that is meaningful?” Here are their replies:
If a young person inquired about the benefits of a career in social work, what would you say to them?
I have had a very rich, rewarding, and diverse practice. I started out working with delinquent adolescents, then emotionally disturbed children. I then worked with drug and alcohol abusing felons before entering drug and alcohol prevention for children and families. In graduate and doctoral school, I worked with homeless, gay youth, then adolescents infected with HIV. Finally, the final part of my practice career was in ER social work. I loved the challenges that came with practicing in an emergency room.
Your contributions in the field of social work are immeasurable. Is there anything else you would like to accomplish?
Todd Creager
In authoring the book,The Long Hot Marriage; Todd Creager took his nearly 30 years of experience as a therapist and clinical social worker, combined it with his hard-earned academic knowledge, and essentially married them to his 25 years of experience as a husband. Creager is the founder of the Todd Creager Center for Successful Relationships (TCCFSR) in Huntington Beach, California where he enables his clients to live happy and successful lives.
A graduate of the USC School of Social Work; Creager has two licenses; one to practiceMarriage and Family Therapyand the otherClinical Social Work. Much of his expertise in intimacy is the result of the completion of an intensive internship on Human Sexuality through the UCLA School of Medicine and Extension Program in Human Sexuality.
Todd, after almost 3 decades, what makes your practice rewarding?
I assist people to break out of ruts that do not work for them. I see their delight when they realize a new and better way of perceiving their situation. I particularly love seeing when they have successfully changed a pattern and are themselves amazed at how much better their life is.
If you had a magic wand and could change your field, what would you do?
I would love there to be multidisciplinary groups to help people with their sexual problems. The group could be comprised of a sex therapist, gynecologist, urologist, endocrinologist, nutritionist, acupuncturist and other allied health professionals. We would collaborate on client cases and frequently refer to each other to give clients the best possible holistic care.
In Conclusion
As you can deduce from our experts, thefield of social workis not only personally rewarding, it is also a field which is ripe for the exploration of unaddressed frontiers. Your unique life history, experiences and areas of expertise will be the foundation upon which you can build a meaningful career in social work; a career which will reflect your personal gifts and goals. Once the foundation is set, you will be able to glean from your efforts satisfaction, fulfillment and the knowledge that your job has been beneficial not only to yourself, but also to your family and society as a whole.
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