How i know i've 'made it' in social services.......

There was a time when i considered how I'd know when I'd made it in the world of social work?

I came up with a few things- one was if i managed to convince a client to go to Starbucks with me, and i could then reclaim it on expenses, and this might be the closest I'd ever get to a BONUS. We regularly take our teenagers to McDonald's, or such like, in order to find a neutral environment to talk with them, somewhere they feel comfortable and able to verbalise what they are thinking freely without fear of being cut down midstream. This works really well, and i do enjoy a Big Mac, but what i really love is a Starbucks. This is a massive challenge as the culture change from McDonald's to Starbucks is gigantic. Almost 100% of my clients could not 'afford' Starbucks, do not live near one and kids don't drink coffee. So imagine my delight when i have managed to find one older, teenager who does like coffee and chose to meet me at Starbucks for our first session!! score. We have continued in this thread ever since and i love it. I go to work in Starbucks. If I'm feeling indulgent I'll also have a muffin (apple and cinnamon!)

Another previous massive achievement in my books was getting a card from a client. It simply said 'Thanks' but it means a lot to me, and has been posted above my desk for the years since. That's right, over the 4.5 years i have worked here, I've received 1 card. One. So the reason i think this one is so epic is that its so hard to get people in crisis, who don't agree with what you are saying, and generally don't want to work with you, to understand that in fact, yes, you are a human too. I don't want them to get this too much, to know about me so much that they worry or see me as limited and faulted, but enough to realise that perhaps i think about them and have other emotions that i don't display to them.

So now I've made it. Today a client (parent type) came to see me in the office. Not only did she bring me a present, but also a card. I'm much more emotional now i am pregnant, so i nearly cried. She got the baby a baby grow, vest and hat. She not only knows i am human, but knows my baby will be too. I am so so very grateful to this lady, I'd love to break all protocol and reach out to her in so many ways. But this would not be helpful to her, so i wont. She doesn't need to know I'm worried and vulnerable too.

But I'm smug. I've made it. If only this was a way that they measured good workers, rather than how often you fill in forms and if they are done by a certain time frame. By the quality of relationships you manage to create with clients, even those that you have to give bad news and disagree with.