The phrase ‘The personal is political’ is one with its roots in the women’s liberation movement; it was a common refrain during my time as a social work student. In simple terms, it is meant to underscore the fact that what is happening in someone’s personal lives speaks to a larger political or systematic issues. It resonated with me, and the first time I heard it and understood it as a foundation of social work, I knew I had chosen the right profession.
I’ve always been drawn to the ‘helping professions’ and interested healthcare, so I initially moved to Toronto to study kinesiology at York University, with hopes of getting into physiotherapy. But my career path changed after my own personal experience. During my first year in Toronto I saw homelessness up close for the first time that winter, nestled in alleyways and under the flashy lights, shopping bags and store windows of Yonge St. I was shocked at the juxtaposition, and struggled to make sense of it. This was the beginning of a turning point for me.
Around this same time, some of my family members got really sick, and my mom and I found ourselves trying to navigate health and mental health systems. Despite our positions of privilege in many ways, we still came up against significant barriers. I witnessed how systems designed to help and heal can, despite good intentions, view people’s lives through a very narrow lens, risking interventions that may be more harmful than healing, and more disconnecting than connecting. I realized that these risks and barriers increase significantly for people who are marginalized and facing multiple forms of oppression.
As a response to this concern, I found myself switching focus from the health sciences to social sciences, and then chose to continue on to social work. I wanted to work with broad conceptions of health and illness that looked beyond the individual and saw social work as a profession that would help me make the connection, between theoretical and experiential knowledge and direct practice. A practical, front-line response to often complex, multi-level and intersecting issues..
In a broad sense: social workers help ensure interventions respond to the inherent political realities of people’s lives, through advocacy, sensitivity to power imbalances, and concern with access, accessibility and service design (to name a few things). At a more personal level, we help people connect or re-connect to themselves, their families and their communities. Since being at CAMH I feel proud and energized by the work of my social work colleagues, who facilitate these connections on a daily basis.
In the Nicotine Dependence Clinic social workers are committed to improving accessibility and will connect and bridge clients to other programs and services inside and outside of CAMH so they can access health, mental health, housing and income supports.
Social workers in the Drug Treatment Court program incorporate group discussions that reflect a holistic perspective of health, including discussions about power structures, gender norms, spirituality, incorporating nature and art into their facilitation. They also regularly organize community outings to the AGO, ROM and sports events to help further connect clients with communities outside of CAMH.
In the Emergency Department, social workers help people connect or reconnect with family members and community supports. They are actively engaged in identifying systemic barriers to care through research that will hopefully result in more effective care.
These are just a few examples, but they highlight how catalysts to connection, and a responsiveness to the political realities that shape individual experiences of health and illness can be so varied. And while in healthcare settings it is often the social workers role to work from a broader vantage point, it is not a trait exclusive to social workers. Many other healthcare providers and professionals bring this sensitivity into their work. But I do think social workers are particularly well-attuned to these dynamics, and responding to them.
I am very proud to do the work that I do. I feel very privileged to be able to share in clients’ life journeys, and to work on teams with social workers and other professionals who are always working to inspire hope, connection and healing.