Social Work and Mindfulness Practices

Öz

Many studies have shown that mindfulness practices are effective and evidence-based practices. For this reason, various disciplines have been recently showing great interest in such practices, therefore, trying to integrate and use them into their training. However, in social work, particularly in developing countries such as Turkey, these practices are not known enough, and consequently, there is a lack of interest. In this article, first, mindfulness and how it is applied was briefly reviewed, and then the use of mindfulness and its possible contributions to social work are discussed. In general, it has been suggested that mindfulness can contribute to three areas in social work. These areas have been defined as "an effective approach to working with clients," "psychological self-care practice," and "strengthening rapport between the social worker and client." Various studies support the positive contributions of mindfulness to these three areas. Therefore, it is recommended by several researchers and academics to integrate mindfulness practices into the social work curriculum. In Turkey, there have been found almost no study investigated these practices and their benefits in social work. Thus, considering the various benefits and advantages of mindfulness practices, more research and integration studies are recommended.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Mindfulness
• social work
• self-care
• rapport

Sosyal Hizmet ve Bilinçli Farkındalık Uygulamaları

Öz

Bilinçli farkındalık uygulamalarının etkili ve kanıta dayalı olduğu pek çok araştırma tarafından ortaya konulmuştur ve bu nedenle son zamanlarda çeşitli disiplinler bilinçli farkındalık uygulamalarına yoğun ilgi gösterip bu uygulamaları kendi disiplinlerine entegre ederek kullanmaktadır. Ancak sosyal hizmet disiplininde ve özellikle Türkiye gibi gelişmekte olan ülkelerde bu uygulamalar henüz yeterince tanınmamakta ve dolayısıyla ilgi görmemektedir. Bu makalede, önce bilinçli farkındalık ve bilinçli farkındalığın nasıl uygulandığı kısaca gözden geçirilmiş ve daha sonra bilinçli farkındalığın sosyal hizmette kullanım şekli ve sağlayabileceği katkılar tartışılmıştır. Genel olarak bilinçli farkındalığın sosyal hizmet disiplininde üç alan için katkı sağlayabileceği öne sürülmüştür. Bu alanlar, “müracaatçılarla çalışmada etkili bir yaklaşım,” “psikolojik öz-bakım uygulaması” ve “uzman-müracaatçı ilişkisini güçlendirme” olarak tanımlanmıştır. Çeşitli araştırmalar, bilinçli farkındalığın bu üç alana sunduğu olumlu katkıları destekler niteliktedir. Dolayısıyla bilinçli farkındalık uygulamalarının sosyal hizmet müfredatına entegre edilmesi pek çok araştırmacı ve akademisyen tarafından önerilmektedir. Türkiye’de ise sosyal hizmet alanında bu uygulamaları ve muhtemel katkılarını konu alan araştırmalar yok denilebilecek kadar az sayıdadır. Sonuç olarak, bilinçli farkındalık uygulamalarının çeşitli faydaları ve avantajlı yönleri göz önünde bulundurularak, bu konuda daha çok araştırma ve entegrasyon çalışmaları yapılması önerilmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Bilinçli farkındalık
• sosyal hizmet
• öz-bakım
• uzman-müracaatçı ilişkisi

Kaynakça

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