Social Workers: We need play and fun!

As I have written in many of my posts, being a social worker can be hard.  We are witnessing the hardest and most painful experiences within a person’s life or we are looking at painful data or we are trying to navigate complex systems.  When we get exposed to this day after day, it can have an impact and shape us.  Sometimes in very harmful ways such as through developing secondary trauma and other times it can really shape our perspectives on the world and other people. I know that at times in my career, I have felt (in a very global way) some negativity around the nature of people or at least developed a lot of cynicism.  One way to mitigate this can be through self-care and another can be fun and play.

Antidote to pain and suffering:

Self-care can be one way we can protect ourselves from harm through our career and even in our personal lives.  Life can be hard and it is unpredictable and uncertain.  Taking care of ourselves and helping others do the same can create change.  Another way to balance the amount of pain we are exposed to is through fun and play.  Having fun and playing can take so many forms and much like self care is very individual.  Maybe it is for a few minutes in the car where you listen to something funny or a song you sing to and be silly with before going into a home visit.  Other times fun might be something that is scheduled on a regular basis like a class, hobby or other experience such as a vacation or retreat that will unfold over a long period of time. Play or fun does not need to be a specific way; only the way that works for you.

Nervous System Regulation:

The ability to play and have fun is a needed function of our nervous system.  When we play, we engage our nervous system in a few ways.  It helps create safety since play/fun happens when we are safe and connected.  This safe connection can be with others or it can be with ourselves.  So when we feel safe and connected, we can relax. Play gives us an increase in energy.  We need a bit of both; energy and safety to engage in play.  When we use our energy in this way, it not only relaxes us but our nervous system.  It also creates space and openness to be with others and ourselves in a different way.  It also gives our nervous system a bit of a break from being hyper-vigilant, on guard and the intense focus it can take to be in our profession.  Listening and being with people is a lot of work and it engages our nervous system.  Sometimes it is good to give our nervous system a bit of a break; like giving a guard a day pass. 

Reconnection to us:

Finally, play and fun helps us reconnect to ourselves.  Being a social worker is so much about being externally focused on the needs, experiences and reality of the person we are working with or the client we are helping.  This work connects us with others in a very different way.  Yes, we can see the shared and common humanity with the people we are working with but because we bring our professional self to our work, it leaves out us.  Sometimes we can see distinct separation of our professional self from our personal self.  This complicated and nuanced experience can be tricky to discern but it is there nonetheless.  Sometimes this professional self can become overdeveloped.  Play and fun helps us re-connect to our personal self.  

This is where our fun, playful and experimental personality can shine.  It can be like reconnecting with a long lost friend or seeing someone you have not seen in awhile.  Being able to be with ourselves in moments of quiet, fun, play and pain is learning to experience the whole range of human experiences and emotions.  We can use this be with people in pain and struggling with some really big needs and issues. 

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