How She Helps

When deliberating over who to interview I was stuck. There were so many ways to approach this interview and too many stories to share. But then I was reminded of one of the reasons why I was so drawn to studying in Germany. When I was 8 years old a German exchange student came to live with my family and me, whilst she completed her GCSEs (Exams British students sit at 16). After finishing in the UK, she went on to build a career in social work, helping the underprivileged in Germany who have been caught up in drug addiction. So, I conducted this interview to showcase how her work helps people and the impact of it on her own life and mental health.

Ann is a 29 year old social worker/drug counsellor at Drogenverein Mannheim, where she heads a small team providing drug counselling at the local prison. Unsure that she wanted to be a social worker until she was 18. Originally, she had wanted to do something more economic such as marketing, but her grades weren’t good enough, so she took a year out. During that year she did a social job paid 500 euros a month, which was “work experience, like a gap year without the gap”. She enjoyed learning the “structures and inequalities of society”, and this is when she decided to apply for a social work course at university, including her master’s in social care in Darmstadt. Her studies focused on the theoretical side of social work.

She has always lived in and around Mannheim and enjoys the social life. It is a beautiful city with a lot of history especially its military role in WWII. But for the last four years she has lived closer to work, slightly more on the outskirts of the city, where she is surrounded by more nature, but the city centre is still close by. “Because there’s a lake here and fields where you can go for a walk which I like also the city is a ten-minute drive so there’s still lots of bars and restaurants”.

Her typical week involves a “mixture of leadership tasks and administrative tasks.” The work week is 4 days split, she spends two days a week in the prison, working with people who struggle with drug addiction. The other two days are spent doing administrative work, including communicating with other organisations in the region, such as rehabs and other counsellors and sometimes the families. She finds that families want to check in but a lot are a part of the problem the client is facing.

Addiction is widely misunderstood. Often seen as a lack of self control and purely a matter of personal responsibility, “people think my job is to help people get clean, but I work with whatever my clients need.” For some it may mean sobriety but for others it means reducing their substance use. “But I don’t think being clean is the goal. I think it’s different from client to client.” Some goals may be harm reduction, or learning how to communicate emotions and trauma. As she only works in the men’s part of the prison, she finds that their difficulty communicating stems from toxic masculinity. Also, noticeably less women in the system.

When asked how social work has evolved, she exclaimed it was a hard question! “There are increasing problems which are becoming more complex and demanding.” She says that today’s economy, social interactions and society have become more tense, and the gap social work is supposed to fill is growing. Still limited by financial resources and exacerbated by political strife adding further tension. This tension needs to be addressed, and this is where social work plays its role, not just drug counselling but the field generally. The more tense and complex society becomes, the more work it needs.

She says that her clients reproduce a lot of right-wing propaganda, which doesn’t make sense to her, as these people are at the bottom of society, often overlooked by the right wing. Even though the people she works with should fear right wing politics more than others, they are very susceptible to it. She puts this down to the education system failing them and a lack of media literacy. Young people aren’t taught to “make their own thoughts and question things critically”, so it’s easier to regurgitate AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) slogans than to reflect on what it could mean. She believes it starts in the school system and that her job would be eased if schools had better prepared them.

“I think a lot!” her reaction for how the work affects her. Dealing with a lot of emotional work and hearing sad stories and meeting broken people has developed her appreciation for the smaller things and recognising her own privilege. It is exhausting to be there for people nine hours a day and then come home and act as if it’s not happening. “Having a private life is important in that kind of job.” For a bit of self-care she takes a 30-minute walk after work to leave the negative thoughts outside before going home. Whilst she loves to be sociable some weeks take more time for herself is important and this includes yoga and some TLC from her boyfriend.

There is always a good reason for most people’s circumstances. “This job has taught me to listen rather than make assumptions, there is more to people than their addiction, appearance and mood.” People’s behaviour isn’t excused, but her work has taught her to see the reason for actions before judging a person. What keeps her going is “knowing I have made a difference.” She may not have changed the world, but she has impacted theirs and her clients look forward to their meeting ever third week.

Quotations have been slightly edited for length and clarity