One of the most difficult experience for clients is the process of asking for help, which may bring up feelings of anxiety or helplessness.  Therefore, it is important for social workers to be able to empathize with their clients around this process.  One way to do this is to consider times when we ourselves have had to ask for help and bring that consciousness to interactions with people who use social work services.  In 7-8 pages, write an essay that corresponds to the following outline.

Introduction (half a page)
•    What is the topic of the essay?
•    How is this topic connected to social work?
•    How does your paper address this topic?

A Time I Needed to Ask for Help (half a page)
•    Identify and briefly describe a time in your life when you had to ask for help. What feelings came up for you? (e.g., anxiety, sadness, ambivalence, etc.)

The Role and Positionality of the Person (half a page to three quarters)

•    Without naming the person you asked to help you, please identify if the person was a family member, a friend, a counselor, or another role not listed here.  Identify who had the power in the exchange between you and the person you asked for help.  If you held power, how did you use your power? What was your positionality?  What was the other person’s positionality?

Anticipation and Reaction (half a page to three quarters)
•    What were the reactions of the person when you asked for help? As you prepared yourself to make the request for help, what reactions were you expecting?  Which reactions caused you to feel most apprehensive?

Three Lessons (a page to a page and a half)
•    Identify three lessons you have learned from this period of your life. Are any of the lessons related to issues of power, privilege, and oppression? How might these lessons impact your beliefs about asking for help?

What I Would Do Differently (one page)
•    If you had been in a similar position to help, explain what you would have done differently from this person and why.

What I Would Do the Same (one page)
•    If you had been in a similar position to help, explain what you would have done?