By Brittany Nwuchuku, EdD, LCSW, LISW, OSW-C
AOSW President-Elect

As we gear up for Social Work Month, reflection and gratitude become common language in self-care practices and monthly goals. I often hear about gratitude when listening to podcasts about mindfulness and meditation. However, I do not hear enough about gratitude in professional practice. With the theme for this newsletter issue, it couldn’t be more fitting to reflect on the ways gratitude in personal and professional practice can impact ourselves, our patients and our colleagues. Burnout in the social work profession continues to be increasingly common due to the emotional intensity of the client-social worker relationship and job demands. Research has shown that burnout has negative consequences not only on the social worker themselves but on clients and agencies as well (Morse et. Al, 2012).

There is much to be done as we continue to emerge from the social implications resulting from the pandemic. Our profession has been challenged, personally as well as professionally. However, a distinctive feature about social work is that you cannot eliminate the stress from this profession but you can reduce it to controlled levels. I’m sure many of you are wondering, but how? What practices can be implemented to alleviate these stressors?

Research defines appreciation as the act of acknowledging the goodness in life, or seeing the positive outcomes in events, experiences, or other people (Aparicio, Centeno, & Arantzamendi, 2019). Gratitude takes it a step further. It recognizes how positive outcomes in our lives are often due to sources outside of ourselves, such as from the efforts of others. Gratitude feeds essential needs for human connection; thus, building cultures of gratitude and appreciation can transform our professional and personal lives, leading to deeper connections to each other and the work that we are doing. Research has found that employees and patients thrive in a culture of gratitude, resulting in quality of performance, rapport building, job satisfaction, and decreased burnout (Aparicio, Centeno, & Arantzamendi, 2019).

Given the many circumstances that are occurring in our society for our patients and colleagues, what could sincere, genuine and intentional gratitude mean to us? What might gratitude look like in professional practice? Gratitude doesn’t require a financial burden or take a great deal of time. As someone in higher education, we often do not have much of either to spare. Therefore, I have compiled a list of items that I have experienced and researched. The most important idea to consider is the impact and feeling of the recipient of your gratitude.

• Write a quick email or message to a colleague to let them know you are thinking of them, or to offer recognition toward their work.
• Send a handwritten note with a favorite quote to someone on your mind.
• Write one thank you note a week to a colleague or patient as part of your regular professional practice.
• Make a point to support and be present for a patient or colleague, in-person or virtually.
• Shout out a colleague on social media and tag them, their department, program, or organization when they have done a great job!

Finally, I would like to encourage you to consider one more way to show your gratitude through recognition. Many organizations, AOSW included, facilitate an annual award process to recognize the outstanding efforts of our colleagues. There are many worthy recipients among us, but they just need that one individual to recognize their good work and show their gratitude through nominations. I challenge you to nominate an AOSW member for one of the various award categories to exemplify the professional practice of gratitude. I look forward to hearing more about how you have chosen to incorporate gratitude in your personal and professional practice!

References: 

Morse, G., Salyers, MP., Rollins, AL., Monroe-DeVita, M., & Pfahler, C. (2012). Burnout in mental health services: A review of the problem and its remediation. Administrative Policy & Mental Health, 39(5), 341-352. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-011-0352-1.

Aparicio, M., Centeno, C. & Arantzamendi, M. (2019). The significance of gratitude for palliative care professionals: A mixed method protocol. BMC Palliative Care, 18(28), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-019-0412-y.