Bottle of coke

E M M A   G O V A N

I came into social work over 12 years ago and finally qualified in 2014. My family and I had social workers in our life, raising a son with Aspergers Syndrome was challenging. My experience of social workers at the time was not always positive. I felt judged as a parent and not listened to. This lived experience drove me to enter the profession, where I value working alongside individuals and families, experts in their own lives. I am currently practising within the Scottish Borders Learning Disability Team. I am proud to call myself a social worker, passionate about my profession and determined to never lose the reasons WHY I became a social worker in the first place – To build trusting relationships, promote equality and fight for social justice.

I chose Bottle of coke because …

… I consider a Bottle of coke works as a metaphor for social work. Why? Coke when unopened, sitting on the shelf looks appealing and serene – calm and still. Clear bottle, dark liquid and red label. A good social worker is this under pressure. Screw off the lid and the bubbles appear, give the bottle a shake and it can explode! This can happen in practice when a worker can become overwhelmed. The liquid moves around and as liquid does – fills every corner of the space it occupies – social work can be like this where we look in all the corners/angles for every possibility and perspective.