TY - JOUR
T1 - Social workers helping each other during the COVID-19 pandemic: Online mutual support groups
AU - Cabiati, Elena
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Social workers not only help service users, they also help each other, and they know the group as
a space through which opportunities to give and receive help multiply. In Italy, the initiative ‘Social
Workers Helping Each Other’ was launched to help practitioners stay resilient and mutually
supportive during the COVID-19 pandemic. In these unprecedented and turbulent times, social
workers have been called on to face new challenges and new concerns for service users and for
themselves. The initiative consisted of online mutual support groups for social workers conducted
through a virtual platform. Participants were 45 social workers divided into three groups on the
basis of the social workers’ area of intervention. The author facilitated the groups, encouraging
the development of reciprocal support dynamics typical of self-help and mutual aid groups. Group
sessions were very rich in content, and the discussion focused on several topics following the
participants’ needs. The content analysis revealed that the mutual support conversations among
social workers focused on three main categories: practical and organizational; methodological and
ethical; and personal and emotional. The groups offered supervision and mutual support based
on experiential learning processes. The article presents the rationale, methods and outcomes of
the experience. This initiative could inspire the development of online mutual support groups for
social workers.
AB - Social workers not only help service users, they also help each other, and they know the group as
a space through which opportunities to give and receive help multiply. In Italy, the initiative ‘Social
Workers Helping Each Other’ was launched to help practitioners stay resilient and mutually
supportive during the COVID-19 pandemic. In these unprecedented and turbulent times, social
workers have been called on to face new challenges and new concerns for service users and for
themselves. The initiative consisted of online mutual support groups for social workers conducted
through a virtual platform. Participants were 45 social workers divided into three groups on the
basis of the social workers’ area of intervention. The author facilitated the groups, encouraging
the development of reciprocal support dynamics typical of self-help and mutual aid groups. Group
sessions were very rich in content, and the discussion focused on several topics following the
participants’ needs. The content analysis revealed that the mutual support conversations among
social workers focused on three main categories: practical and organizational; methodological and
ethical; and personal and emotional. The groups offered supervision and mutual support based
on experiential learning processes. The article presents the rationale, methods and outcomes of
the experience. This initiative could inspire the development of online mutual support groups for
social workers.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Online mutual support groups
KW - COVID-19
KW - Online mutual support groups
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10807/171317
U2 - 10.1177/0020872820975447
DO - 10.1177/0020872820975447
M3 - Article
SN - 1461-7234
SP - 1
EP - 13
JO - International Social Work
JF - International Social Work
ER -