Amanda Wilson

HSRV 170
Professionalism Assignment
April 26, 2022

While completing the. HSSSPS questionnaire I felt that my strengths were in knowledge

and critical thinking, work ethic and responsibility, and professional attributes. The reason I felt

that one of my strengths were knowledge and critical thinking is because I am committed to

learning, I like problem solving, and I feel that I can have good reasoning skills and judgement.

With me going back to school at 24 and having a long-term goal to receive my master’s degree

before I turn 30 that shows I am committed to learning and bettering myself and I have set a

reasonable goal.

A few of the main thins with work ethic and responsibility that I can relate to are paying

attention to detail, being punctual, dependable, and flexible. I feel that in this field of work you

need to be flexible more than anything. I know that at my upcoming internship site the one

main thing that they said to me was that I may not have the same schedule every week and that

it will change daily. Because they are working with foster children and their families you never

know what could come up and you need to be able to work with that.

My last strength is professional attributes, and I believe this because I have respect for

clients, coworkers, facilities, and I have a good attitude. I try to be a positive person as much as

possible because I know that a lot of people may not be around much positivity at home. I want

them to feel comforted in my presence and know that I am a safe person to be around. I also

feel that I am very self-aware of myself and the things that I do. If I do something wrong, I will
realize right away. This ties back into me having a good attitude because when my attitude is off,

I will realize and try to fix it quickly.

My weaknesses according to the survey are in relationship and interpersonal

competence, and internalized values and ethical behavior. The reason I chose one of my

weaknesses to be relationships an interpersonal competence is because I struggle with being

assertive, conflict management and resolution skills, and self-care. I have always known I need

to be more assertive with speaking up for myself and my needs. I also think self-care ties in with

that because if I do not practice self-care, I may struggle more with being assertive and realizing

my worth and what I should and should not put up with.

My last weakness with the survey was in internalized values and ethical behavior. I felt

the areas I struggle the most with in that section were empathy, cultural sensitivity, and ethical

decision making. This section reminds me a lot of the beginning of this semester when we were

talking a lot about ethical issues versus legal issues. I know most of the time I felt I would lean

more towards legal versus ethical. If a client came to me and told me that their friend was

selling drugs and they told me who the friend was I would feel compelled to tell the authorities.

I would likely not go through with it, but it is something I would struggle with especially if the

client asked me not to tell anyone.

The next two semesters the things I want to work on the most are becoming more

assertive and speaking up for myself and my needs as well as self-care. I also want to work on

learning more about other cultures so I can become more culturally aware and sensitive and

competent in that area. Finally, I also want to spend the remainder of my time in the program
working on empathy. I have always been scared that I seem empathetic, and I would not be a

good counselor or helper because of it.

Being in this program for one year now I believe that I have grown a lot in my own life

and in my beliefs. One main thing I have come to realize is that the same diagnosis may not

affect everyone the same way. I have learned this because my classmates are open about their

life and things they deal with. I know that some people have the same diagnosis, and it will

affect them all in different ways and different severities.

Something else I have learned a lot about is addictions and that despite what my

Facebook friends think, it is not a choice, but a disease. I have met many people at my work

who have been addicted to something and are in treatment and none of them set out to be

addicted to anything. One person took pain medicine because he has nerve issues in his back

and has never been the same. I think in this area especially it is important to not have biases

about addictions and to be open minded to helping people.

While learning about different therapeutic styles I have learned that I am not someone

who sticks to one style that I will likely pick parts of several different styles and make it my own.

I also think that I have learned a lot about developing a therapeutic relationship a lot from skills

practice. You need to be an active listener and remember things that they say because it could

likely be affecting them in other ways they may not realize. In developing a therapeutic

relationship, it is important to make them feel comfortable that they can tell you anything but

also make them aware that if they would say something that needed to be reported that I am

mandated to report it.

 I have never believed that I knew much about cultural competency but one thing I have

learned is that it is vital to developing rapport. If I am working with a client who is completely

different than I am I need to be able and willing to learn more so that I understand where they

are coming from with certain aspects of their beliefs. I think this will come up the most if I have

a client who is very religious and makes most choices based on that.

I like to work in teams and groups but something I realized is that I tend to gravitate to

the center and try and be the leader. I learned this during the first semester while doing a

project with Caylin and Lily and I stepped up and decided what everyone would do during the

presentation and who was going to prepare what parts of the PowerPoint and activity. I do not

know if I like this about myself yet. I think it is a positive thing because I am not afraid to take

control of situations, but I also do not want to come off as bossy and controlling. I think this can

also relate to my work ethic in the sense that I am focused and determined and know what I

want and how to get there.

I do think that I could work on my communication skills. I struggle the most with oral

communication and speaking up for myself. I think I can work on my oral communication in

many ways besides that and just being more confident when speaking to others and new

people. I do not want to think that people are judging me based on the way I talk and I want to

increase my confidence in that aspect.

Finally with my interpersonal skills I think they are good once I get to know someone. I

put up a wall and do not like to let people know what is happening in my head. I want to be able

to be more willing to talk to people about my feelings and not just surface level things. Working
on this will also help with client needs and knowing how to help them do the same since I have

already helped myself do the same.

Revised: 12/21

Human Service Student Professionalism Scale (HSS P.S.)

(Campus and Field Placement)

Name: __Amanda Wilson__________________ Date Completed: _4/21/22____________

1 2 3 4 N/A
Below Slightly Below Exceeds
Meets Expectations* Not Assessed
Expectations Expectations Expectations

Professional Attributes
Respect for clients 1 2 3 4 N/A
Respect for co-workers, team members, supervisor(s), staff & other students 1 2 3 4 N/A
Respect for facilities, rules, policies and procedures, chain of command 1 2 3 4 N/A
Respect for oneself 1 2 3 4 N/A
Attitude (enthusiastic, energetic, positive, proactive, interested, motivated, 1 2 3 4 N/A
open-minded)
Appearance (dress, hygiene) 1 2 3 4 N/A
Presentation of self to others (appropriate/acceptable manner) 1 2 3 4 N/A
Initiative (self-directed, proactive, goal-driven, seeks opportunities to learn, grow, & 1 2 3 4 N/A
interact)
Self-awareness (recognition of strengths/limitations, impact on others, 1 2 3 4 N/A
self-reflection)
Self-confidence 1 2 3 4 N/A
Emotional appropriateness (self-control, management of disappointment/anger) 1 2 3 4 N/A
Verbal communication (effective, appropriate language, humor) 1 2 3 4 N/A
Non-verbal communication (appropriate affect, demeanor, body language) 1 2 3 4 N/A
Written communication & paperwork (clear, concise, complete, appropriate, free of 1 2 3 4 N/A
errors)
Work Ethic & Responsibility
Preparedness, attention to detail, follows directions 1 2 3 4 N/A
Punctuality, timeliness, absenteeism 1 2 3 4 N/A
Accountability (acknowledges mistakes, errors and corrects when possible) 1 2 3 4 N/A
Responsibility (completion of assigned & unassigned tasks, no need for reminders) 1 2 3 4 N/A
Campus/Class/Fieldwork behaviors (cellphones use, texting, computer use, side 1 2 3 4 N/A
conversations, etc.)
Dependability/Reliability 1 2 3 4 N/A
Organization (time and resources) 1 2 3 4 N/A
Flexibility/Adaptability/Creativity (adjusts to changes in schedules, plans, priorities) 1 2 3 4 N/A
Prioritization of tasks/Balances obligations, commitments 1 2 3 4 N/A
Relationships & Interpersonal Competence
Professional boundaries/Appropriate therapeutic and work relationships 1 2 3 4 N/A
Rapport (abilities to establish relationships) 1 2 3 4 N/A
Listening and Communication Skills 1 2 3 4 N/A
Cooperation/Collaboration (group, team skills) 1 2 3 4 N/A
Sensitivity/Patience/Consideration 1 2 3 4 N/A
Tact (appropriate expression of thoughts & feelings) 1 2 3 4 N/A
Receptivity to constructive feedback & guidance 1 2 3 4 N/A
Response to constructive feedback (modification of performance) 1 2 3 4 N/A
1 2 3 4 N
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Relationships & Interpersonal Competence (continued)

Communication with fieldwork supervisor/instructor/colleagues 1 2 3 4 N/A
Ability to give constructive feedback to others 1 2 3 4 N/A
Assertiveness skills 1 2 3 4 N/A
Conflict management and resolution skills 1 2 3 4 N/A
Self-care (attention to personal balance and well-being) 1 2 3 4 N/A
Leadership roles and responsibilities 1 2 3 4 N/A
Nonviolent communication skills 1 2 3 4 N/A
Knowledge & Critical Thinking
Commitment to learning (invested, willing to try) 1 2 3 4 N/A
Competence/Confident of HS knowledge & skills 1 2 3 4 N/A
Knowledge of current evidence, research 1 2 3 4 N/A
Problem solving (objective & comprehensive assessment, thinks before acts, 1 2 3 4 N/A
engages all parties)
Reasoning/Judgment (interpretation grounded in analysis, synthesis) 1 2 3 4 N/A
Clinical Reasoning (ability to think & adapt plans, approaches ‘in the moment’) 1 2 3 4 N/A
Internalized Values & Ethical Behavior
Altruism (concern for & commitment to others, caring) 1 2 3 4 N/A
Honesty & Integrity (truthful, trustworthy) 1 2 3 4 N/A
Empathy (sensitivity and responsiveness to others) 1 2 3 4 N/A
Respect for dignity, worth of others 1 2 3 4 N/A
Cultural sensitivity & respect for diversity 1 2 3 4 N/A
Respect for others’ privacy/Confidentiality 1 2 3 4 N/A
Commitment to quality/Excellence 1 2 3 4 N/A
Advocacy, empowerment, acts as agent of change 1 2 3 4 N/A
Professional identity (ability to describe & present oneself as an HS 1 2 3 4 N/A
practitioner)
Ethical Decision making 1 2 3 4 N/A
Based on the above assessment, please complete the following:
Strengths Targeted Areas for Improvement
1. Knowledge and critical thinking 1. Relationship & interpersonal competence

2. Work ethic & responsibility 2. Internalized values & ethical behavior

3. Professional attributes 3.

___________________________________ _______________________________
Instructor Review Signature/Date Student Signature/Date

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