BSW Field Journal Section 1

Date:

November 2, 2015

Student Name:

Corin Marshall

Agency Name:

Geisinger Bloomsburg Hospital

Agency Address:

425 East First Street

Suite 201
Bloomsburg, PA 17815

Field Instructors Name:

Dr. Shelley Hosterman

Field Instructors Phone and Email: sjhosterman@geisinger.edu

Field Liaison:

Tammy Carson

BSW Field Journal Section 2

Activity Log
Your first few journals of the semester are to include this Activity Log. This is
completely separate from your Hours Log (above).
The purpose of this assignment is to help you focus on individual events and tasks rather
than issues and situations. Additionally, this chart provides information to you and your
field liaison regarding the kinds of activities you are doing during the day at your
placement.
Record each daily activity and the time spent on that project. Then, provide a rating to
each activity. The activity ratings are based on your perception of their learning value
with a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high). After reviewing the log in your first few journals
your liaison will let you know whether you are to continue keeping a time log or can stop.
Date: 10/21/2015

Total Hours:8.5

Hours Worked: 9:30 am 5:30 pm

Daily Activity

Hours

Rating

Prep for group

Read charts of new group members

Work on research tasks

Prep materials for Friday meeting

ACT Group

1.5

Total Field Hours (do not count lunch)

8.5

BSW Field Journal Section 3

EXAMPLE
Event Analysis
Description/Data
(Objective)
I was involved with a return appointment for the third of four 60-minute treatment
sessions. It was for an 11 year old boy who has ADHD. His mother accompanied him.
This treatment session really had nothing to do with previous sessions about the
contracted behavior plan. There was recent family drama so that was the focus of this
session. Although there has been so much drama (separated parents arguing, siblings
arguing, sister moving out, brother admitted to ED for homicidal/suicidal ideation) the
boy seemed to have improved behavior and independence from his mother. He was
having troubles in school, so the guidance counselor and Cody spoke about a school plan
to help his behaviors. The boy seems to be somewhat low functioning, but there isnt any
test results that were provided to confirm this. Overall, there are many problems to
address with this client. But in the session, we focused on praising the boy for not relying
so much on his mother and also a plan for him to go to school more.
(Subjective)
When the mother was talking, I could sense that she was really upset about all of the
drama that occurred within her family. But she voiced how proud she was for her sons
ability to cope and handle all of the stress. He relies so much on her, and all of a sudden
he had this sense of autonomy. Cody and I worry that the mother doesnt always work on
what we tell her to because shes scared that she thinks her son wont need her anymore.
When he has trouble going to school (tantrums and school refusal) the mother just kind of
lets it go and doesnt make him go to school. Its almost like she wants him home with
her (she works the third shift so she doesnt physically see him that often). The boy
stopped calling and texting his mother so frequently and he developed this newfound
independence. For Cody and me, it was nice that he opened up and told us the story about
his family drama. He barely ever talks in sessions. So it was a nice change that he was
involved in the session.
Assessment/Understanding
In Dr. Evans Individuals and Families class, we learned that there are three Rs of goal
setting. Those are goals that are reasonable, reachable, and realistic. I think that this
applies to the scenario we had with this client. From the very beginning, we set goals for
him that address all three of these Rs. First we wanted him to slowly stop calling and
texting his mom so often, then we started working on getting him to school. We did not
choose goals that were completely unattainable or bizarre, because that would just cause
feelings of disappointment for the client and his mother. It is extremely important that
when you are planning an intervention with a client that the goals be reasonable,

reachable, and realistic. When they do reach their goals it gives them a sense of
empowerment, which is exactly what we want to do for them as social workers.
Contract/Plan
This client will return for the last of the 4 60-minute treatment sessions in 3 weeks. If
there is more work to be done and the client and mother want to continue, they can have
up to 4 more 30-minute sessions. As for now, Cody came up with a school tracking sheet
and gave the client stickers to mark the days we goes to school. This is a more concrete
way for the family to monitor his school attendance and show Cody when they come
back. Cody also believes that this is a way for the mother to realize how bad it looks on
paper to allow her son to miss so many days of school. We hope that the client will
uphold his independence and not fall back to his old ways to rely on his mother.

BSW Field Journal Section 4

Biweekly Learning Summary

COMPETENCY 7: Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment.

Working with clients ultimately begins with understanding them in the context of their
environment. Outside forces, such as the environment, have a huge impact on human
behavior. It is important to take these outside influences into consideration. There is a
practice behavior under this competency that addresses having the ability to critique and
apply knowledge to understand person and environment.
Cody and I saw a patient the other day who really hates school. The school environment
is unbearable for him. But when we asked him what he did outside of school, he told us
he liked to work on his farm. Cody and I initially thought these were two conflicting
statements. How could someone who seemed to be so unmotivated and not hardworking
enjoy physical labor? We assessed this clients situation in relation to his environment.
He clearly does not enjoy his school environment. But he does enjoy other working
environments, such as farming and welding. We applied this knowledge and understood
the influence each environment had on him. Later after the meeting, I asked Cody if it
would be beneficial for him to be in public school (hes in a private Christian school now
that doesnt offer anything he likes), or even a vocational school. Those settings would
probably be more suitable for his needs. If his environment was altered, then maybe his
lazy behavior would change and he would try harder in school.
COMPETENCY 10: Engage, assess, intervene, and evaluate with individuals, families,
groups, organizations, and communities.
I believe that I am able demonstrate the practice behavior student uses empathy and
other interpersonal skills to engage clients. I may not always understand how a client or
their family is feeling from personal experience, but I practice empathy and try imagine
how they could possibly feel. There was a client the other day that confided in me about
how she feels judged by other parents and teachers because her child with ADHD doesnt
always behave well. I expressed that I felt for her badly about her situation. I agreed with
her and talked about how difficult I thought it was, and she seemed to appreciate me
listening to her and understood that I was being genuine.