Military life and Social Work

I am a social worker. It is my passion, my career, and what I believed is my life's calling. I earned my Bachelor's of Social Work at a small, private college in Pennsylvania (I actually graduated college while J was still deployed). I proudly earned my Master's degree in Social Work from East Carolina University!

Being a military spouse, everyone suggested that I get into military social work, especially because there is a large need for it.  As passionate as I am about the military and service members, I always said that military social work was not for me.  I always felt that it would be too difficult for me-- that I would become too invested in my clients-- I would feel too much for my clients, I would relate it too much to my own life and to my husband's service.  I thought that I would be too biased and would not be able to separate my own life and experiences from my clients'.  Because of all of these reasons, I stayed away from military social work.

Now, 2 months into our transition to "civilian life", I am feeling that desire to do military social work.  I feel this passion to work with military families, rather than the military service member. Military families have unique experiences, and I would love to be able to work with them while they experience them.  Maybe it's because I miss the military lifestyle (who would have thought?) and I want to be connected again. Or maybe it's a pure desire to help people who are in situations that I have once been in.  Right now, I'm working in mental health, and I'm enjoying it. I know that at this present moment, it is not my time to work in military social work.  But it is definitely something I plan on pursuing.  I'll keep you updated!