Professional Competence
Volume 1, Number 9, Fall 2000
Betty, MSW, had a strong sense of com-munity spirit. She volunteered for a local disaster relief com-mittee. When a major flood devastated the coastal area of her state, Betty was asked to provide some pro bono counseling services. Although Betty was trained to counsel adults, some of her work in the disaster relief effort involved children.
Concerned about her competence and driven by the pressing need for assistance created by the disaster, Betty made an effort to learn about child psychology by visiting professional web sites and reading some of the current literature on traumatized child-ren. However, when she proudly mentioned her efforts to gain competence from her supervisor, Betty was surprised to get a warning that she might be practicing outside of her competence and could be subject to an ethics complaint.
The NASW Code of Ethics addresses professional competence in both the Ethical Principles and Ethical Stand-ards sections. The Ethical Principles are aspirational goals, whereas some of the Ethical Standards are enforce-able guidelines for profession-al practice. The Ethical Principles describe the value of competence as "Social workers practice within areas of competence and develop and enhance their professional expertise." Wasn't Betty doing just that -- developing her competence and expanding her counseling skills so that she could address the needs of children?
Standard 1.04 elaborates on the above principle by stating that "social workers should represent themselves as competent only within the boundaries of their education, training, license, certification, consultation received, supervised ex-perience, or other relevant professional experience". When providing services in "substantive areas" or using "intervention techniques or approaches" that are new to them, social workers should engage in "appropriate study, training, consultation, and supervision from people who are competent in those interventions and techniques."
Since generally recognized standards for counseling children do exist, it is incumbent upon Betty to take "reasonable steps (including appropriate education, research, training, consultation, and supervision)" to ensure professional competence. Was she able to meet the NASW Standards for the Practice of Social Work with Adolescents, for example? Her supervisor was questioning whether Betty had done enough to become competent. Regardless of the intent, if a social worker practices beyond her competence, the clients' welfare may be endangered.
Gaining competence requires some forethought.
-
Have a plan on how to expand your professional competence. Learning should never stop, but it should be pursued in a methodical manner. Research and use the available education, training, consultation, and supervision opportunities to expand your competence.
-
Have a plan on what to do if you find a client challenging the limits of your competence. Maintain a list of resources and colleagues who could help you.
-
Keep up with the state of the profession. Join the national association and your state chapter and read their professional publications.
-
Adhere to the state licensing laws in your state prior to provision of services.
Margaret A. Bogie, MHSA, Insurance Consultant, is a contributing writer and Mirean Coleman, LICSW, Senior Staff Associate at NASW, is a contributing editor to this series for the NASW Insurance Trust. The names and case examples used in Practice Pointers articles are completely fictitious, and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Questions about this article should be directed to NASW via blawrenc@naswdc.org.
