Top reviews from United Kingdom
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A read for every social worker
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 June 2018
Verified Purchase
Best book ever enjoyed and read it from cover to cover
One person found this helpful
Helpful
Report abuse
Darren G
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Text Book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 November 2015
This is one of those books that you will keep on your desk and look back at time and time again. It is written in a very accessible style and is easily picked up. Dr Ingram locates emotions within social work practice and guides the reader through a number of case study's and learning activities to explore this concept in-depth. This has been a very helpful text book during my final placement.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
Report abuse
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 November 2015
This is an amazing book. It is a must read for all involved in the social work profession. The author locates emotions within social work practice and guides the reader to explore this concept in-depth. This book has been an invaluable resource to me whilst I have been on my final placement. I will certainly dip in and out of this book for years to come.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
Report abuse
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars great resource
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 September 2015
Richard's book provides a depth consideration of emotion and the nature of what this means for social work. For students, practitioners and educators the book has excellent learning activities interspersed which could be used for individual reflection or by educators for group activities. I also liked the connection of emotions to the organisational context of social work and the relationships within supervision. A few diagrams help provide a framework for applying the ideas in practice and case examples bring the ideas to life. Looking forward to dipping back in and out of this for different ideas.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
Report abuse
Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent social work text book on emotional literacy
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 September 2015
Dr Ingram's book is a helpful contribution to the literature on the 'emotional labour' of social work practice. Social work is an emotionally demanding profession because it requires us to meaningfully engage with adults and children in crises and distress. This book is perfect for students and newly qualified workers as it comprehensively explores the spaces where emotions are felt and expressed in day to day social work and how organsiational and supervisory arrangements impact on our capacity to reflect on and learn from emotions in practice. The author is particularly good at exploring the relevance of emotional literacy to rarely discussed but important areas of social work practice: note taking for instance or the support that colleagues provide in the work place. Case examples and learning points are helpfully threaded through the text. Ultimately there's something here for any practitoner who wants to refine their skills in self-reflection and use this as a springboard to more effective working relationships with servuce users and other professionals.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
Report abuse
Alex Summer
5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive and thoughtful exploration of the role of emotion in social work.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 October 2015
The book has a logical structure, starting with what are emotions and looking at the area of emotion from a range of perspectives, so the reader is not conditioned to accept one definition and instead encouraged to thoroughly engage with what may be meant by the concept of emotion. This book is not just a theoretical exploration, though, and strong practice links come over, making it a useful resource for students and practitioners at any stage of their career. Ingram’s conceptual framework for understanding emotions provides a foundation for exploring and understanding the role of emotion in social work and he goes on to link this framework to social work practice.
Self-awareness is key to ensuring emotions contribute positively, not negatively, to practice and I like how in chapter 2 the reader is encouraged to reflect on significant events in their ‘lifeline’ and think about their own experience of emotions and the potential impact of this on their practice as a social worker. Case studies at various points throughout the book encourage and enable the reader to think about the role of emotion in professional practice and to explore their own feelings.
Ingram explores how emotion and reason do not have to be at odds, and debates surrounding the role of emotion in social work practice are considered – what may be meant by emotion is easier to conceptualise having read chapter 1, which goes back to my point about the book having a logical structure.
Chapter 3 provides a comprehensive exploration of the role and process of reflection, models and methods, as well as the significant topic of emotional intelligence – key aspects for professional practice and continuous professional development.
In part 2 the book moves on to how, now more is understood about emotion in social work, this may be applied to and considered more deeply in terms of social work practice -
Firstly this is looked at in terms of building relationships with service users and carers – how an appropriate level of emotion may be invested in this, taking a relationship-based approach, and exploring some of the skills in relationship building, linking these to the role emotion may be playing here. Ingram emphasises the importance of messages from research into service user and carer perspectives, and the meaningful involvement of service users and carers in social work education - a view I equally hold as a lecturer in this field.
Sometimes at interview applicants state one of their skills as ‘empathy’ and I ask them, what do you think that means? Ingram explores the key role of empathy in relationship building and how that can be achieved, how we may put the concept into words, and he considers key influences on empathic relationships.
Ingram also highlights the importance of writing in social work and considers how much emotions should have a place in this, plus an important inclusion of a section on reflective writing - a skill we encourage students to practise and practise. The book goes on to explore the importance of supervision and support and how supervision may be used effectively as a place for the supervisor and supervisee to explore the emotional context of practice and characteristics of an effective supervisory relationship are considered. We teach social work students about the importance of supervision and this is a key part of supporting their development on placement. There is also a useful exploration of the impact of organisational culture and the role of emotion in organisations.
Throughout, the book helpfully picks out earlier themes and reiterates key points from earlier chapters, without being repetitive. In the final chapter before his concluding thoughts, drawing key themes together Ingram puts forward a model locating emotion at the heart of being a social work professional.
I found Understanding Emotions in Social Work thought-provoking and compelling, a book that shows great appreciation of the complexities of social work practice and explores the role of emotion in social work sensitively, and with care.
Alex Summer
Senior Lecturer in Social Work, MA Social Work Programme Leader
University of Sunderland
Read less
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
Report abuse