Pathways to Empowerment: A Social Work Student’s Reflection on Anti-Oppressive Clinical Social Work Practice

There is increasing attention being provided to the experience of marginalized and oppressed communities in the U.S. The rise of public awareness of societal issues coincides with considerable attention in the social work community on providing direct practice care to clients that fully incorporates the social justice aims of the profession. Using the history of the profession of social work and core anti-oppressive practice and concepts, this reflection touches on incorporating an anti-oppressive framework into modern clinical social work practice. Case narratives on my internship with adolescent females in a high school in Brooklyn assist in depicting the process of concept into practice. These examples will hopefully demonstrate the applicability of interventions such as group work, strengths based work, and mindfulness as tools for anti-oppressive social work practice.