Apr 13, 20235 min read
Muslim Stages of Change (Stage 3: Ambivalence)
(This is the third of a series of 6 posts) Encouraging 'Muhasabah' With Awareness, the second stage of change, the worker then engages...
Nov 20, 20225 min read
Muslim Stages of Change (Stage 2: Awareness)
(this is the second of a series of 6 posts) We began the series with a discussion on the first stage of the Muslim stages of change,...
Nov 10, 20226 min read
The Muslim Stages of Change (Stage 1 - Inertia)
Social workers are likely familiar with Prochaska & DiClemente's Transtheoretical Model of Change ( also referred to as the Stages of...
Oct 31, 20226 min read
The Effect of Divorce on Children: A Need for a Balanced Parenting Role
This article was published in Issue #38 of RISALAH, a quarterly journal by PERGAS. I contributed the article in the Malay language. I...
Oct 9, 20224 min read
The Grief of Leaving an Organisation
Two years ago, I wrote about how social workers grapple with the thought of leaving their organisations. I have given a few tips for...
Sep 25, 20223 min read
Social Work Practice with Malay-Muslim Families in Singapore
A significant part of my social work career is spent working with Malay-Muslim families in Singapore. As a member of the Malay-Muslim...
Feb 4, 20224 min read
Burnout Among Social Workers
I contributed the following article, in Malay, for Berita Mediacorp on 3 February 2022. I have translated and edited it for this blog....
Nov 7, 20214 min read
Listening to Clients' Stories with Empathy
Each one of us has stories to tell. Our lives are rich with lessons of love and loss; of hopes and fears; of regrets over things we...
Oct 25, 20215 min read
The Generalist Social Work Practice: Planning Your Intervention
"Plan of action: Follow-up" How many of you have read this in case notes of clients that you have taken over, or when auditing your...
Oct 11, 20214 min read
Pay Attention to Mental Health
The following article was my contribution to BERITA Mediacorp (Singapore) to commemorate World Mental Health Day 2021. It was written in...
May 16, 20214 min read
The Generalist Social Work Practice: Making an Assessment
This is the second of seven installments on the generalist social work practice 7-planned change steps. Making an assessment is not easy,...
Apr 24, 20214 min read
The Generalist Social Work Practice: Engaging the Client
This blog post marks the start of a series of reflections on the 7 Planned Change Steps in the Generalist Intervention Model...
Mar 30, 20214 min read
Incorporating Self-Care into Our Daily Work
The importance of self-care is undeniable, especially for social workers. Self-care is looking after our health and mental well-being so...
Mar 7, 20214 min read
Nurturing the 'Person' of the Social Worker
In counselling and therapy, the use of the 'self' is often seen as a tool that helps build an effective therapeutic alliance. Dr Harry...
Feb 14, 20213 min read
Teaching Social Work to Mature Students
The new semester for my social work class started in the final week of January. I am now into the fourth week of my second year teaching...
Jan 3, 20213 min read
Returning to Normalcy
It has been a while since my last blog update in August. I wrote about how social workers deal with death. And, as if to remind us why...
Aug 8, 20204 min read
Social Workers Dealing with Death
This was a difficult post to write. Within a span of two weeks, two of my social work students had each lost a parent to cancer. A...
Jul 15, 20205 min read
Is It Time to Move On?
One of the common questions which I received during my mentoring sessions is 'How do I know if it is time for me to move on?' Supervisees...
Jul 3, 20204 min read
Supervising Social Workers in Community Work
Back in January, a manager of a community service agency asked me if there was a better way to supervise social workers doing community...
Jun 23, 20204 min read
A Holding Space for Supportive Supervision
Social workers need a safe space that allows them to express their struggles without fears of professional repercussions.