Seselelame: Reflective team approach to practice

Abstract

Abstract: This paper focuses on an awareness of self through the integration of Seselelame Reflective Team Approach to Practice (SRTAP), a model I develop that was adapted from Anderson’s systemic reflective team approach. An understanding of how SRTAP enhances the quality of practice of social workers is explored. Approaching this task from a practice-based standpoint I draw from my experience and practice. I explore how the concept of SRTAP was embedded in a local social work context; I explain and illustrate the value of bringing forth an awareness of self through the use of feeling in the body to practice, inviting an appreciation of the value of practical wisdom through SRTAP.The narratives of practitioners offer examples of the effectiveness of the SRTAP on casework (that is, tasks involving plans or ideas, solving problems or making decisions). I discuss conditions, rationale and guidance needed to achieve and sustain the benefits of SRTAP.Taking feedback from practitioners, my experience and observation I suggest that SRTAP creates a blend between intuitive and analytical ways of being in practice, contributing practice competence through an exploration of self as a resource when dealing with complex relational dynamics. When I use the word ‘self’ in this paper, I refer to felt responses in terms of feelings in the body.