Public Spark

Even within the field of social work, there are those that are excellent at what they do and those that aren’t. While it may be that they are having a bad day, there can also be signs of a bad social worker. Here are some things to think about when you encounter a bad social worker:

• Understand that it may not be a good fit

  The therapeutic relationship between a social worker and a client may not always work in harmony. While social workers are trained to establish rapport with clients of different personalities and backgrounds, the client may not feel comfortable with a certain social worker. An effective therapeutic relationship is based on trust and any number of factors can contribute to not being able to establish a good rapport.

• Perspective of what is bad

  For one person the social worker can be excellent, while another person may perceive that same social worker as being horrible. This relates to whether one feels compatible with the social worker or not. Some questions to think about are:

  • What is it that is making you feel that he/she is a bad social worker?

  • Is the social worker confronting you on issues that you are not ready to face?

  • Is the social worker too straightforward and not empathetic enough?

  • Do you feel that they are incompetent?

  • Do they remind you of someone you hate?

  • Are they completely out of line?

• Decide to take action

  Especially if you feel that the social worker is out of line, it is recommended to talk with the head administrator or manager of the social work department. Also, at any time, a client has the choice to choose another social worker.