Recovery & addictions support work. Realistically, am I employable?

[T12344]

Hi all,

Little back ground. I am 27 years old and have two young children. I left school at 15 with 1 general and 2 foundation standard grades (Scotland). From age 15-18 I done a hairdressing apprenticeship, it was a very toxic salon and I left as soon as I qualified. I struggled to find work as a newly qualified hair dresser with no floor experience so I picked up a job in a local chip shop while I looked for work. This was only meant to be temporary to keep my going but I found myself still there 2 years later aged 20. I then had my first daughter and when she was 1 I went to college to do access to health and well-being. I then had my second daughter and returned to college to do a level 5 social services course and then level 6 course, these courses allowed me to progress onto the HNC social services (level 7). For the last 2 years I have also done relief work as a support worker for adults learning disabilities and complex needs. I am just about to finish my HNC and have been offered a place at university to study social work and another offer to study learning disability nursing. If I am being honest after spending 4 years studying at college the thought of spending a further 3/4 years and university is daunting. I am not academic and although I have done well in all the college courses I have struggled with the late nights doing assessments and course work.

I love doing support work for adults with LD & disabilities however I don’t see myself doing this long term. In my work there is no room for progression and I have started to find it boring and repetitive. I like a challenge and helping people and have recently been exploring recovery support worker jobs for people suffering from addiction I.e drugs, alcohol and gambling… I am also interested in working with homeless people. My issue is I m often don’t meet the essential criteria’s for these jobs as I don’t have experience in these fields. My parents are both addicted to drugs and I was brought up in care so I do have lived experience of the effects that addiction has on families. I am wondering if anyone on this works in these fields and can offer me advice on how to gain a job here. Tia

Wouldn't the social work degree and becoming a qualified social worker enable you to work in both of those areas?

Lived experience can be useful, but it can also be disadvantageous to the vulnerable people you would be working with if it's not backed up by good work experience, relevant skills and reflection/supervision.

You only have experience of how your family has been affected and what worked/didn't work for your family. It's a really complex area and whilst some people may be helped by the things that applied to your family, lots more won't be. You need a broad skillset and the professional insight to help different people in different ways - and to recognise when you are projecting due to your personal background.

Otherwise the risk is that when things that worked for your family don't work with a service user, that person gets blamed for not finding the interventions useful. When the reality is that you didn't have the experience and skills to help them.

I really think you need to establish the right professional skillset first. For your own sake and for the sake of the people you want to work with.

It sounds like you’d be a brilliant asset to either of those professions. Would you still need to combine uni with work? Here’s a link about what help is available, some individual unis have extra policies to support those who have been in care previously https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/student-advice/applying-to-uni/applying-to-university-as-a-care-leaver

It would yes, but to become a recovery support worker a degree isn’t necessary. I’m looking to work for a while and return to university after a couple of years off classroom and would love to learn from practice while making an income.

H

This is very helpful! Thank you.

This is a useful insight, thank you! I don’t think my lived experience of parental substance misuse makes me an expert on how to deliver care. It more sparked my interest in wanting to work with this client group and learn how to help different people in different ways. My parents have used drugs for 30 years and have had short periods of recovery before relapsing again. I understand there isn’t a one size fits all for how people are supported to recover.

Sorry if that came across a bit blunt. I tried to write it in a general way originally and it wasn't very clear, so I re-wrote it specifically relating some of the potential risks to your post.

I should have been clearer that I wasn't assuming you considered yourself an expert, just that it is an issue in the sector when people have lived experience.

I do respect your intentions and motivations.

Would the social work degree include placements? Would it feel less daunting to do part time over 6 years doing support work alongside? That might make it easier to transition into other roles along the way.

Or would recovery support worker for mental health teams be a feasible side step from your current role as a stepping stone? That would expand your experience and skills. Depending on the mental health service, it could also allow you to potentially start to gain experience working with the cohort of people you ultimately want to work with.

Community mental health teams, assertive outreach teams, crisis/home treatment teams, etc.