Social Work in Mental Health Practice
Links
Description
In this episode of the Connecting With Care podcast, we chat with Peighton Pulley, an MSW student at Baylor University, about the critical intersection of mental health and social work. She shares her journey into the field, emphasizing the importance of ethical care and the role of empathy in supporting individuals facing mental health challenges. Peighton also discusses the significance of self-care for practitioners and the hands-on training MSW programs provide to prepare future social workers. Tune in for an inspiring conversation that highlights the profound impact social workers can have on their communities.
Transcript
SPEAKERS: Lillie Walker, Peighton Pulley
Lillie Walker
Welcome to the Connecting with Care podcast. I'm Lillie Walker. What does it look like to step into mental health care work with compassion, courage, and a strong sense of grounding? Today, we explore how classroom learning meets real world practice in the field of mental health. Join us as we talk with Peighton Pulley about social work in mental health settings. Hello, listeners! Thanks for tuning in. I'm here with my classmate and friend, Peighton Pulley. We're gonna talk about mental health and how that is kind of incorporated in the social work school. So, Peighton, just to start us off, would you mind introducing yourself? Just tell us your hometown and your undergrad experience and then how you're progressing through the program.
Peighton Pulley
Yes. Hey, everybody. My name's Peighton, like Lillie said. I'm from the Fort Worth area. Specifically, the city I'm from is called Roanoke, if any of you have ever heard of it, in Fort Worth. And I am in the MSW program here in my advanced year on the clinical track. And for my undergrad, I went to Dallas Baptist University in Dallas, and I got an undergrad in psychology, and that was kind of what fueled my passion for mental health. So, I'm really excited to be here and talk about that today because I'm super passionate about it.
Lillie Walker
Yeah, that's great. Well, thank you for being here, Peighton. I have a few quick, fun, get to know you questions.
Peighton Pulley
Yay.
Lillie Walker
If you had to use one word to describe where you're living, what would it be?
Peighton Pulley
Now, is that, like, my house where I'm living, or like, my city that I'm living in?
Lillie Walker
Whatever you want it to be.
Peighton Pulley
Ooh. Okay. Where I'm living right now, I would say it's really peaceful.
Lillie Walker
Peaceful.
Peighton Pulley
And I'm talking about my house specifically. Let's do one for Waco, too. To describe the city of Waco, where I currently live, I would say, unique.
Lillie Walker
Unique. Yeah.
Peighton Pulley
I think Waco is unique.
Lillie Walker
I think that's fair. It's kind of like it's a big city, like, population wise, but actually feels kind of like small town vibes to me.
Peighton Pulley
There are pockets, I think, because you have Baylor, you have kind of, like downtown, you have different areas within Waco itself. So, I would say there's a lot of culture here, a lot of, like, different perspectives. And of course, you have Baylor, so you have a ton of Baylor students with unique experiences. So, I would say unique.
Lillie Walker
Sure. Yeah. That's great. What is your go to drink order at your favorite local coffee, coffee shop or tea house?
Peighton Pulley
Amazing. Okay. My favorite coffee shop here in Waco is BeKind. My favorite drink there is the churro latte, which, all I know is it has cinnamon and I think brown sugar. I kind of like a sweeter latte. And so, I like BeKind. There are people out there who like real, well, BeKind is real coffee, but there are people who like really rich coffee, like Pinewood or something like that. But I like the churro latte.
Lillie Walker
I'm with you. I like a sweet drink. I'm not like an espresso, Americano type of guy.
Peighton Pulley
And BeKind for anybody who's listening to this has amazing, like, rich, good quality coffee. But for me, that latte is a little sweeter and so that's why I like it.
Lillie Walker
Okay, and finally, what does your self-care look like?
Peighton Pulley
Good question. I actually kind of like this question because self-care can look like lots of different things for me. I really love watching tv.
Lillie Walker
Totally.
Peighton Pulley
I love – there are certain shows I really like, so, I mean, right now I'm watching Stranger Things because it's coming out. Secret Lives of Mormon Lives – nobody laugh at me, that show's really funny. It's great when you need something in the background that you don't want to totally pay attention to. So, I love tv. Part of my self-care, I think, is spiritual, which is sometimes unique. So going to church and being in community groups at church, that's part of my self-care and just recharging in my own ways spiritually. And then last thing I'll say is cooking. I love to meal prep. Being in grad school, busy, so I love to meal prep for the week. And so, making a really yummy meal, it's like a game for me. Like, does it reheat well? Does it store well? Do I not get tired of it after eating it like four times? So, I love kind of like putting on music and just like taking an hour to cook a meal and eat it for the week. That sounds kind of funny, but I really enjoy it. Those are three things I feel like I do more, but those are three things that I know.
Lillie Walker
That's great. That's super great. All right, let's get a little bit deeper, talking about your personal journey, and how you've gotten to social work. So, what brought you to Baylor specifically? And then broader, like more broad, what brought you to social work in general?
Peighton Pulley
Yes, I love this question.
00:05:00
Peighton Pulley
So, my journey to social work started a little bit in my undergrad at DBU. I was a psychology major there. At the time, I wanted to be, I knew I wanted to be a professional counselor, but I also knew personally I felt like I was kind of called to do ministry work. So, I was kind of at a point in my undergrad where I was like, how do I bring these things together? So, I started thinking about grad school because I knew I wanted to work in some type of ministerial setting, but I didn't know how I could combine mental health with that. And so, a lot of my, my emphasis is going to be on integrating philosophical and religious perspectives with ethical mental health care. And so, I was thinking, how can I actually do that? Because I want to be ethical and I want to help religious spaces with mental health. And so, kind of got led to social work because I was looking at Baylor specifically, and this seemed like the best fit for me, this program, because I could get a really good quality education in mental health care, and it would allow me to be licensed. But the wonderful thing about social work is that it is kind of more broad than other mental health professions. And so, I knew that I could get this degree and have a lot of room for what job I might be able to do with the mental health education. And since I wanted to bridge those two worlds, Baylor is also great because we have a lot of ability to explore religion in our 10th Competency. And there's a program that we have here called the C3I, which I was really interested in, which kind of, studies what does it look like to combine churches and mental health work? So, those things kind of sparked my interest and ended up leading me to Baylor. And now I'm here where I get to literally learn how to provide ethical, mental health care in religious spaces. Yeah. So that's kind of what led me here.
Lillie Walker
That's great. And for our listeners, I was wondering if you could just kind of get into, what do you mean by ethical mental health care when it comes to the intersection with religion? Just like, to clarify that a little bit.
Peighton Pulley
Yes, of course. There's probably lots of things I should clarify, honestly. So, when I say ethical mental health care, I mean, how do we bring, professional regulated, a professional regulated person into religious spaces? Sometimes in religious spaces, such as churches or maybe organizations that are kind of, offering a religious kind of foundation, we might be experiencing mental health care. So, if you're in a church and you have a church body, there's probably going to be lots of people who are experiencing mental health struggles, whether that's grief or a mental health diagnosis, maybe you have anxiety or depression or any other diagnosis, or you're just experiencing suffering or really a multitude of things - you're going to see those things in a church body. And sometimes churches are not aware of how to deal with those things in a helpful way. We know that churches can be a place of belonging and comfort and community for people, but they can also be a place where sometimes people are not met with the type of care that they deserve when they're walking through a mental health struggle. And so, for me, when I say ethical care, I wanted to have a true education of mental health, and I wanted to have regulation. And so social workers are generally licensed. And so that means that I can't really just have the freedom to do things in ways that may not be the most helpful for people. So, I'm actually bound to treat people through the social work licensure and through my education. I'm bound to treat people in a way that is, truly what they need and that's not harmful, hopefully, but that meets them where they're at and offers care that is what that person needs. And like I said, that's helpful, not accidentally harmful, which I think we sometimes see unintentionally, but sometimes that happens. And so, yeah.
Lillie Walker
Kind of big topic, but no, I think that was a great answer, and I think our listeners will really appreciate hearing that. And, and it seems like you have a lot of experience and a lot of knowledge, so. Yeah, that's great. Okay. how have you grown professionally and personally during your time here at the Garland School and at Baylor?
Peighton Pulley
Love. I've grown, I think, in so many ways being in this program. I'm really grateful for the ways that it has made me think and the ways I've been able to question things and just kind of dig deeper into my own values and why do I really think the way that I think. I think a good grad school program
00:10:00
Peighton Pulley
should make you think. And so, in a lot of ways, that has kind of led to my personal and my professional growth. I think what's cool about a humanities profession, which social work – is we're dealing with people, is that you do have to think about people. And that can be a really complex thing compared to other fields where you might be learning more, kind of just like by the book type of things. But people are not always by the book. Every single person is unique. And you have to kind of think about those things in grad school. So, I think as I have sat with people, sat with classmates, with professors and been underneath teaching and learning and reading and writing and all the things, I think I've really grown and just the way I see the world and the way I see people – I think I just see people in a much more empathetic and understanding light. And I think for myself, I've really learned how to give myself grace. Being in grad school is hard. I think I've really learned how to not, hold myself to such perfectionistic standards and just give myself grace as we're balancing so many different things. So, I'm really proud of the way that I have kind of been able to think through things and just grow to be more assured of my values, more sort of who I am as a person as I'm entering into the professional world, so I feel really proud about those things for myself. And then professionally, I think I've just grown more in my competence to be an ethical, clinical professional and how to engage the world around me in a way that is understanding and kind and caring, and how to sit with hard things and really meet people where they're at – which I think is what we're doing in the field of social work. So, lots of ways, but I think this program has really influenced me in a lot of ways. And I think so many of those ways were really good and growing ways.
Lillie Walker
Yeah, I think the point that you touched on of like, being able to experience different perspectives, I think social work is such a great avenue for that because it's inherently political. It's inherently dealing with systems that are challenging. It's inherently dealing with the people that are in difficult and challenging situations. And so, a lot of our value systems and maybe what we've grown up knowing, maybe what we've been educated on, influences that so much. And so, as we're kind of getting content from our courses, walking into internship settings where we're actually seeing the people that are experiencing the things, and we're also bringing our own personal perspectives, all of that kind of clashes. And so how can we be humble people that are experiencing, learning and experiencing, trying to be curious about what's going on, to kind of mesh that all together and figure out how to give ethical care?
Peighton Pulley
Yes, I wholeheartedly agree. You definitely experience that in grad school at social work. So, totally.
Lillie Walker
Alrighty. How has your time here shaped the way you see yourself and your career as a future social worker?
Peighton Pulley
Love. Well, I love what you said about how there's really just a - there's a really, a lot going on in our work. You could be meeting with an individual person; you could be meeting with an organization. Social workers can do so many things, which is awesome, but our work is very, very complex because I could be sitting across from you, you could be a person I'm working with. And kind of like you mentioned, there is so much more going on than just somebody coming to me and talking with me. There's systems at play, there's families, there's values. I'm bringing my own self into the work. So, but I actually think that's what makes this field so beautiful and something that my time here and my work here, that has really been what has grown me and kind of shaped the way I see the world. I just think it's a just a sacred ability to be able to sit with a person. Sometimes that person is experiencing the hardest thing of their life, or maybe they've been going through hard things for a really long time. That can be different for lots of different people, what that actually is. But I think it is such an honor to be given the permission to be with somebody and get to walk alongside them. And we kind of believe in the social work world that we are not changing or fixing anybody. And I say we kind of believe that, we really believe that we are, we're not changing anybody. We're not fixing whatever is going on in their life. We are just walking alongside them and supporting them and offering safe presence to be not okay and to be broken and to still be met with compassion and grace and kindness. I think that is kind of the gift of the work that I am so grateful I've been able to have, and just to be able to see people, for their strengths and
00:15:00
Peighton Pulley
to see what they do so well and to be able to call that out of them has just been an honor for me. So, I think being able to do that, especially coming from – I'm on the clinical track. And so, a lot of my work is interpersonal. So that's kind of why I speak to the idea of, like, sitting with someone, being with them. I think being able to just take in so many different people's stories and be allowed to witness with them through that, that has really exposed, really changed the way that I view the world and has really shaped my professional identity, I think.
Lillie Walker
Yeah. And it like, almost makes me emotional to think about. I think all of us in, in the program that have sat with a client that's really experiencing some like severe distress and what's going on and, and you have the opportunity and the, the education to be able to sit with them and like provide that safe space. Like I can't understate how like powerful that really is. And it's like, wow, it's such a gift, to be able to have the opportunity to get educated and be able to sit with that person and do those things. So yeah, I think this is really great. We're really talking about great stuff here.
Peighton Pulley
Yeah, it speaks to our humanity, of our ability just to be humans with one another. And I think that that's a really cool moment that we get to have as social workers, depending on what we do. But some of us really frequently, and honestly, I think most of us as social workers, no matter what you're doing, even if you're doing more of a community-based work, we're still dealing with people. And so just being able to see somebody's humanness and walk alongside them, I think it relieves pressure, number one, because it's like I'm not here to make everything magically go away. I think we just get to walk alongside and be a part of. And that is like so cool. That gets to be my job. I'm very grateful.
Lillie Walker
Yeah, I think like just to talk about the flip side of that is like it can be a lot on, on the social worker and, and I don't want to understate like it is a gift to be able to do that, but it also can take an emotional toll. And so, kind of like what we talked about earlier, that self-care piece, is really important especially whenever we're kind of, yeah, just like talking about when the experience of a social worker.
Peighton Pulley
Yeah, absolutely.
Lillie Walker
Okay. As much as I would love to continue talking about, in the weeds of what it means to be a social worker, I'd like to get a little bit more practical and talk about what it actually looks like for you to be in the MSW program. So, can you tell me about your practicum site and your role there?
Peighton Pulley
Yes. So last year, I'm doing the two-year MSW program here. So last year, I was at an organization here in Waco that we did rental assistance, utility assistance, and a lot of tangible need-meeting through like food hygiene packs, resource referrals, case management. So that's what I did last year. This year I'm at a church here in Waco, which kind of speaks to my focus on, like I said, integrating religious and mental health care together. So that's my site this year, doing church work, on a clinical track. So, meeting with people in the church, providing counseling, home visits, working through mental health concerns and things like that. So, that's kind of my background. Was that the question? Yeah.
Lillie Walker
Just describe your site.
Peighton Pulley
Yes.
Lillie Walker
Your role.
Peighton Pulley
Yes. So yeah, that would be what I would say.
Lillie Walker
Great. How have you seen classroom learning through our coursework connect with what you're doing in practice?
Peighton Pulley
Good question. Well, our degree is very, very practical. A lot of what we're learning we are legitimately applying in our internships. And that, I think, is the goal – to actually apply what we're learning and tangibly do it at the exact same time. A lot of our learning is based off that, which I'm grateful. So, we, the first year in the program, for me at least, because not everybody will follow the same path. But being in the two-year MSW program, we learn a generalist perspective and so we're learning kind of interpersonal micro work all the way up to the community level systems perspective. We're learning groups, families, how to do all those things. And I definitely think I got to apply that at both of my sites from that generalist year. And then this year, my clinical year, we're learning clinical based skills which kind of means we're learning assessment, we're learning therapeutic intervention theories, modalities for therapeutic work, things like that. And so, I definitely think what we're learning in our classes we're legitimately applying at our site. I'm trying to think if maybe I have an example. But I definitely think that is a benefit of this program is that the degree is really practical and so maybe if I can think of an example that might help. But
00:20:00
Lillie Walker
Yeah, yeah, I mean I, I can think of like multiple times that I like reflect back on my work with clients and then we'll have class like the next week and I'm like, man, I wish I had learned that skill right then. So, then I could have brought that because I think that could have been really powerful for clients. But that does – and I will say in our coursework, we do a lot of role play like with our classmates of like pretending to actually give this. And then I think that sets us up very well. To be able to walk into our internships and actually do the thing, because you can learn about it, you can like, understand it, but actually practically putting it into play. We, we do a lot of that practice in our courses. And then I think that sets us up pretty well to be able to walk into our internships and provide that.
Peighton Pulley
Yes, that's what I was trying to say. That's perfect.
Lillie Walker
All right. What guides your passion for mental health? You talked a little bit about kind, of the, the religious, aspect of it, but specifically mental health – what part of that really speaks to you?
Peighton Pulley
Yes, well, I feel I'm so passionate about mental health because I think at some point in your life everybody is going to experience, or have, have some type of experience where their mental health is struggling. Everyone, I think, will experience that in some way that's going to look really different for every single person and what that actually is. But I think, you know, life is not perfect. And so, we're all going to walk through times where we are struggling and our mental health is suffering. And I'm passionate about it because I think every single person who is experiencing something hard, internally, in themselves, externally, whatever it is, I think that they deserve to be met with, quality care and to be – actually, yeah, to be seen despite those things. And I think social workers are in a place where we can offer that type of care because not everybody is educated or trained in how to meet people where they're at in a way that's helpful. And so, and, you know, I think for a lot of us, our passion for mental health comes from our own experiences with it as well. You know, I've had my own experiences where my mental health has been, you know, bad and negative. And in my family, you know, I have people who have experienced things that are hard. And so, it impacts you. And so, I think I'm really passionate because that is real life and that is the reality of living, is that we're all going to walk through things that are hard, and so, or experience things that are hard within us. And so, I'm passionate because I think, like I said, we deserve to be cared for in those times and seen, despite how we're feeling and despite what is going on around us, we deserve to be cared for. And so that is definitely one side of it for me is that my own experiences and just my belief that that is just the reality of living. But how do we, how do we deal with that in a way that is most helpful, most caring? That's something I would like to be a part of. And so that kind of is part of it for me for sure.
Lillie Walker
Yeah. And kind of what I'm hearing in that, to tie it back to your kind of religious calling is the idea of service, and serving people can be like very tangible of like volunteering at somewhere. But it can also be like, I'm learning this skill so that I can serve people that I see that are in distress. And I think, I'm m not going to speak for you, but I imagine that in your religious, like calling and your practice, you do feel that service aspect.
Peighton Pulley
Yeah, I think. Well, I do, I love, the work I get to do right now in my church, the church I'm interning at, of just being able to kind of meet people where they're at while also still providing a skill base that I've learned that is a little bit advanced. But I think, all humans should live in community. And so, whatever that looks like for you, that may not be in a church space. For some of us it may be. I think how we can cultivate spaces where we walk alongside one another, care for one another and support each other is just super important. And so, I love the idea that I get to be a part of kind of forging that, especially in an area where we're kind of learning how do those two things go together. How do churches and mental health care go together? That can be applicable in lots of different places too, not even just churches, but, specifically for me, that's kind of where my goals are set. But I think, I love the idea of getting to be somebody who helps care for other people really well. And so, yeah, that's definitely a
00:25:00
Peighton Pulley
part of my passion for it.
Lillie Walker
Sure. okay. What is one thing you wish more people understood about the field of social work as it relates to mental health?
Peighton Pulley
Okay, so what I wish people understood about social work specifically related to mental health is that social workers are part of the mental health helping profession. So, we're licensed to provide mental health care. Specifically, clinical social workers are licensed to provide that, that care. What I think you should understand about social work and this topic is that we do see mental health from a broader perspective. So, we see maybe someone's mental health struggles not necessarily as a result of them interpersonally, but we're also seeing lots of other factors that other helping professions may not have as broad of an understanding of. So, we get to see somebody as a result of the systems that they're in, the communities, they're a part of the culture that they feel tied to, their family, their history, their experiences. We're just looking at the person in a really holistic way, and that plays a role in how we treat their mental health and how we understand their mental health concern, and I think that that is really cool. But it's something that you should understand if you're thinking about the field of social work, of we are seeing things from a really big perspective, including the interpersonal perspective as well, but also a broader perspective that other fields just may not view people in that way. And so, I think you should understand that if you're thinking about being a social worker. I think it's absolutely a strength, and it's so important to understand people holistically. But I think that that's something you should definitely know coming into this field is that that's really at the core of our learning and the core of the profession is that we're kind of seeing people from a very, wide view. But it's really helpful in the way that we treat and the way we assess and the way that we provide care. So, I think that'd be something that would be important to note for sure.
Lillie Walker
Yeah. That's great, Peighton. Thank you so much for sharing, your perspective and your great insights. Just to kind of wrap us up here, if you had to give advice to someone, that's considering Baylor, considering the Garland School, or just entering the field, field of social work as a whole, what would you say that is?
Peighton Pulley
I love that. I would say if you're considering coming to Baylor or considering being a social worker, I would just say consider that you have the passion for it and that you feel that that is something that you're made to do. Because it's definitely not easy. Kind of like you mentioned in the beginning, it's not easy, bearing the weight of somebody's life and somebody's struggles, and even just bearing the weight of – from a broader perspective of the state of the world and the state of our country and things like that. And so, I would say consider that you're passionate about people and that you care and that you feel like this is what you should do because it's not easy. But if you really do feel that way, then you can do it. And so, I would just say really consider those things. But I think, we need more social workers and come join us at Baylor, by all means. So, I would say just consider that this is what you feel like you should do. But if you do, then please come. Yeah.
Lillie Walker
Well, thank you Peighton and listeners, as you heard, please come join the social work school.
Peighton Pulley
Come join us.
Lillie Walker
Yeah, but thank you Peighton for being here. Thank you for your time. thank you listeners, for tuning in. I hope this was able to just to give you some more thoughts and a little bit more chatter about what social work is and how that works with mental health care and how that works with religion as well. Thank you Peighton. Thank you listeners. Sic ‘Em Bears! Peighton reminds us that mental health practice is both deeply challenging and profoundly meaningful. Join us next time as we continue exploring the diverse roles social workers play.
00:29:05