PCCS is proud to be fostering the development of future social workers through its intern placement programs.
Recently, Sydney University’s final year Bachelor of Social Work student Liam spent 12 weeks with us. While his heart is set on helping others, his back-up jobs could be ice-cream reviewer, comic book author or sommelier.
“With any luck though, in 12 months you’ll find me working at the intersection of mental health and youth work,” says the 23-year-old whose wife Laura is also a social worker.
“Being on placement at PCCS was an excellent social work experience. My highlight was being able to work with a client to assist them in applying for the NDIS, Centrelink and Housing, all from start to finish. Seeing this whole process from start to finish has given me an insight into how these systems work, an experience I think will set me up what for whatever I might do next.”
Liam hit the ground running at PCCS and settled in under the guidance of GP Social Work Connect team leader, Yee Yan.
“Without a doubt my biggest mentor at PCCS was Yee Yan. Yee Yan has been my supervisor and has been my main trainer here on placement. She’s shown me how to navigate many of the complicated systems and processes involved in doing social work. If I was to write a list of all the things I’ve learnt from Yee Yan, it would take me a very, very long time.
“My main goal for this placement was to get experience training in the form side of case work e.g. conducting assessments, creating action plans, advocating on behalf of clients to and through complex systems. My previous placement, volunteering and work experience has given me great training in building rapport with clients and apply theory to practice. PCCS was the perfect placement for me, as I could continue to build these skills, while at the same time establishing casework skills.”
