ten tips

Running head: ANALYZING GRISE-OWENS’ 10 ROAD-TESTED TRIP-TIPS1

Analyzing Grise-Owens’ 10 Road-Tested Trip-Tips

Joseph Cerniglia

University of South Carolina

ANALYZING GRISE-OWENS’ 10 ROAD-TESTED TRIP-TIPS2

Analyzing Grise-Owens’ 10 Road-Tested Trip-Tips

In order to stay healthy during social work undergraduate education, Grise-Owens has

provided several tips in an article titled “Traveling Toward a Social Work Degree: 10 Road-

Tested Trip-Tips.” It is important to take these tips and ask questions to determine how they can

be used to improve one’s self-care and ensure a holistic healthy path to graduation and beyond. I

will analyze each of these 10 tips in a personal way that applies directly to my social work

education.

“Trip-Tip 1 – You are the driver” (Grise-Owens, 2011).

The most pertinent questions raised by this tip are “How do I define success?” and “What

is the path I wish to take to achieve that success?” Cournoyer (2014) answers this question for

me in “The Social Work Skills Workbook” declaring “To serve competently…social workers

today need to be knowledgeable, thoughtful, ethical, accountable, and proficient” (p. 3). First,

my definition of success is being (or becoming) someone who serves competently and I agree

with Cournoyer’s assessment of what competency is. Secondly, the pathway to achieving

competency involves taking the Social Work curriculum seriously and unreservedly, especially

in those scenarios where it pushes the limits of my personal comfort zone. It is additionally

important to recognize where my definition of success is unrealistic. For example, I often

confuse the term competent with the term perfect. I expect perfection and, in doing so, set myself

up for disappointment. One takeaway of this article is the importance of being satisfied with

outcomes that are less than ideal but within the range of acceptability.

“Trip-Tip 2 – Do not travel alone” (Grise-Owens, 2011).


The central question behind this tip is “Who are the people that make up your support

system?” and for me they are my partner and my father. They are the people that I can turn to for

any reason at any time. Beyond that I have my friends as well as my colleagues in the program.

The important issue for me is to be sure to reach out to my support networks when I need them. I

have a tendency to try to solve issues myself and not “bother” people when rationally I’m certain

they are more than willing to help me in times of need. Recognizing their willingness to help

when needed is integral to my self-care plan.

“Trip-Tip 3 – Don’t take on too many passengers or baggage” (Grise-Owens, 2011).

This tip is especially hard for social workers to agree with because our profession is built

around empathy. As Cournoyer (2014) defines it, “empathy may be described as the process of

joining in the feelings of another, of feeling how and what another person experiences, o feeling

with someone, or of ‘suffering with’ another” (p. 20). Finding the balance between empathizing

with someone and commiserating is crucial but very difficult. Any profession that inspires the

kind of passion and vigor that social work does probably suffers similarly. The issue is, however,

that too much baggage leads to burnout. Having dealt with burnout before, I find that

extracurricular hobbies are a healthy and beneficial way of dealing with it. I enjoy running

because it is an activity that offers a respite from stress and anxiety and allows me to work

through any difficult problems I’m having. It also has positive health benefits. Running,

therefore, is another key piece of my self-care plan.

“Trip-Tip 4 – Developing a self-care plan…is crucial” (Grise-Owens, 2011).

My self-care plan includes three sections: physical care, social care, and psychological

care. Activities that focus on physical care on my plan include eating a healthy diet, and


exercising three times a week for 30 minutes. Psychological care will be completed by reading,

relaxing, watching television, and travelling. And finally, social care will include working with

my partner to maintain a healthy relationship, at least once a week dining with friends and at

least once a month attending a public social function.

“Trip-Tip 5 – Be prepared for ‘car trouble’” (Grise-Owens, 2011).

The difficulty with “car trouble” is that it’s often difficult to tell what kind of problem

will arise at what point in the journey. As social workers, we’re often focused on connecting

people to services so I think the best remedy for these problems is to seek out assistance from our

colleagues. Social workers are the mechanics in this scenario and they come in the form of

lateral colleagues, supervisory colleagues, and teacher colleagues. An important aspect of self-

care is knowing whom one can reach out to for problems both minor and major. If one can find

that kind of ally then it’s easy to follow a plan of: “When in doubt, just ask.”

“Trip-Tip 6 – Ask for directions” (Grise-Owens, 2011).

Sometimes there is wisdom in separation from the problem; that is to say, it’s easier to

solve other peoples’ problems then our own. Even when one is seemingly on the correct path, it’s

important to check with an unvested party and say “Am I really on the right route?” For a long

time, I thought I was on the right path in the business world and I kept receiving promotions and

accolades which confirmed my suspicion but then one day I woke up and realized I’d been going

the wrong direction for 10 years. That lesson taught me the importance of asking my father’s

advice and seeking his knowledge of me and his wisdom. Asking for directions requires humility

which Cournoyer (2014) notes: “involves considerable open-mindedness and a readiness to

transcend our human tendency toward confirmation bias” (p. 77).


“Trip-Tip 7 – Keep your ‘ize’ on the ‘Prize’” (Grise-Owens, 2011).

The overlap of these trip-tips is highlighted especially by trip-tip 7. In trip-tip 1 I asked

what was my definition of success which involved my pathway to achieving that success. The

question here is “How will I know I’m on that path?” related directly to trip-tip 6; my

willingness to ask for directions. So I’ll know I’m on the path to success first by asking for

directions. However, the tip goes deeper to suggest there are times when superfluous

externalities interfere and it’s important to “prioritize, organize, and partialize” (Grise-Owens,

2011). Additionally, social workers take on a commitment to lifelong learning: “If we do not

continue to learn throughout our social work careers, clients could suffer because of our

ignorance” (Cournoyer, 2014, p. 95). This doesn’t, however, always allow for markers to make

the journey seem less long or less arduous. The remedy is to establish markers or goalposts for

measuring the distance travelled and the distance yet to travel.

“Trip-Tip 8 – Follow the road rules” (Grise-Owens, 2011).

This tip is especially hard for me to accept. One important piece of my self-care is to

accept rules as protections from self-harm and external harm. For example, one gives the client

the right to informed consent because it protects the client from being forced into a decision not

desired or not right and at the same time it protects the social worker from being responsible for

the decision having been made. As a contextual relativist, however, it’s hard for me to follow

rules that ignore the very important and very relevant context. Of all the tips, this one will

require the most work to truly incorporate into my self-care plan.

“Trip-Tip 9 – Enjoy the journey” (Grise-Owens, 2011).


Noting tips 1, and 7 which focused so intently on the end result it’s important also to

enjoy the path that leads to the end result. In April of 2013, I visited Amsterdam, Netherlands for

a week. On the 9 hour plane flight, my father and I had some deep and meaningful conversations

about lots of topics. Had I been too focused on the destination (Amsterdam) I may not have

enjoyed the journey. The reality is that the journey is always necessary to reach the destination.

To put this tip in context, think of a client that is alcoholic. It may take years for this client to

eliminate dependency on alcohol. It is important, as a social worker, to accept that recovery is a

journey and although the end result is key, the journey is necessary to have it. The self-care plan

discussed in tip 4, then, is the answer to enduring the journey.

“Trip-Tip 10 – Travel On” (Grise-Owens, 2011).

As mentioned in tip 7, social workers are lifelong learners, but I like to say lifelong

travelers. Cournoyer (2014) continues on this topic pointing out lifelong learning not only has

“many personal benefits” but “social workers are ethically obligated to improve their knowledge

and skills throughout their careers” (p. 95). I plan to continue on to achieve a Master’s in Social

Work which demands of me a high GPA to enter the MSW program with advanced standing. I

may include a Ph.D. in my plan, but I have not decided yet. The important thing is to focus hard

on the BSW program as a launching point for further studies.

Conclusion

My self-care plan has developed to include a definition of success, a pathway to that

success, my need to stop and ask for help and recognize the willingness of others to help, a

commitment to physical, social, and psychological care activities, and the desire to enjoy the

pathway without losing sight of the end goal. Grise-Owens’ 10 tips are all helpful and one of the


tools I’ll use to guide my self-care throughout college and my career. Furthermore, the relevant

questions that arose when analyzing Grise-Owens’ 10 tips allow me to apply these tips in a

functional and direct way to my self-care plan in such a way that it is more holistic, realistic, and

actionable.


References

Cournoyer, B. (2014). The social work skills workbook. (7th ed.). Belmont, CA:

Brooks/Cole.

Grise-Owens, E. (2011). Traveling toward a social work degree: 10 road-tested trip-tips.

Retrieved from:

http://www.socialworker.com/home/Feature_Articles/Professional_Development_

%26_Advancement/Traveling_Toward_a_Social_Work_Degree%3A_10_Road-

Tested_Trip-Tips/

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