Rethink Resources

you have about growing up and some resolved ones too. Or at least the ones you thought you had resolved.

I heard this many years ago from a friend of mine. She had been in recovery for many years and worked in adult programs. But then she had a chance to work with a teen girl residential drug treatment program and suddenly found herself thinking about all kinds of past experiences and feelings she thought she had forgotten or worked out.

I’ve had similar experiences. Doing youth work has led me to reflect on my experiences growing up and then some.

Recently at the conference for foster care youth and their adult allies I found myself completely surprised at my own reaction to youth openness about their complicated relationships with their biological families that are characterized by mixed emotions, needing to set boundaries, and more. Although I’ve not had personal experience with foster care, I’m not in contact with my biological family at all. So I took in the information in this different way. It was less a theoretical conversation or all about the youth - it was also about me.

And this is positive in that youth workers need to be open and constantly reflecting and learning. If you’re really listening, you will be changed by this work. And that’s ok.

I do strongly believe that anyone who decides to do youth work needs to work on themselves a lot before becoming a youth worker. I don’t support the idea that you can “work out your issues” by working with youth or that you will feel better about your past experiences by working with youth.

We need to start out with a strong base of emotional health and self-care skills to help us through rough spots. You’ll end up reflecting on those same experiences growing up in another way as you work with youth.