Social Work and the Helping Professions
"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the shoes of others."
- Mahatma Gandhi
In the social work and helping professions there are people who nurture the growth of, or address the problems of a person's physical, psychological, intellectual, emotional or spiritual well-being, including through medicine, nursing, psychotherapy, psychological counseling, social work, education, life coaching and ministry. For instance, social workers help people overcome problems and make their lives better. They might work with people who are homeless, sick, or having family problems. Or they might help students who are having trouble at school, either with learning or with their social skills. However, such roles should not be limited to these professionals as Leo Tolstoy once said, "The vocation of everyman and woman is to serve other people.”
People who choose careers in social work and the helping professions are strongly interested in people, and in being directly in service to them as individuals, families or groups. There careers bring them in contact with the most vulnerable populations where they seek to contribute to improving their lives overall. In this gallery, among others, we highlight the work of hospice leader Bernice Catherine Harper who contributed to improving conditions for AIDS patients in hospices in Africa. Also featured here is Ann Morgan Vickery for her work in counseling clients regarding the impact of federal laws- mainly Medicare and Medicaid, and for her involvement in the enactment of the Medicare Hospice Benefit in 1982.
