Macro Practice in a Micro World: The Story of Youth Futures

Authors

  • Barrett Albert Troy Bonella Weber State University

Keywords:

macro practice, reflections, program building, Reflections, teaching, teamwork

Abstract

The dichotomy of micro and macro practice is one that many social work students struggle with, especially when so many social workers just want to become therapists. My own experience in moving between the two worlds involved skepticism towards macro practice while training to be a therapist, then moving on to the world of academia where macro practice seemed to gain more value, then working in macro practice for a few years, and then trying to convince other students of the value of macro practice once returning to academia. One semester, a talented student taught me that macro practice was still alive and well in social work, and that macro was not just a part of the social work identity, but a fundamental part of what social workers do every day. She did this by creating a homeless youth shelter with the help of her cohort during one fateful fall semester.

Author Biography

Barrett Albert Troy Bonella, Weber State University

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Department of Social Work and Gerontology

Assistant Professor

Downloads

Published

2018-04-24

How to Cite

Bonella, B. A. T. (2018). Macro Practice in a Micro World: The Story of Youth Futures. Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping, 24(1), 12–20. Retrieved from https://reflectionsnarrativesofprofessionalhelping.org/index.php/Reflections/article/view/1492