Siobhan Maclean

I have been a social worker for 33 years and I love our profession. If you cut me in half it would say social worker all the way through. Social work is not just what I do, but who I am.

I have worked in a variety of social work settings in both the statutory and voluntary sectors and have also been a foster carer.

I have been a practice educator for many years and really enjoy working with students.

In 2013 I had a major stroke. This impacted on my work and my understanding of social work in many ways, as experiencing services often does. Since that time, I have not been a direct case holder, although I still support other social workers in discussing their work directly. I also still work as an offsite practice educator.

I was privileged to hold the position of Honorary Secretary of the International Federation of Social Workers (European Region) for a number of years. I learnt a great deal from this role, gaining an international perspective on our profession and continue to further develop the international links which I have.

I have written a number of books for students and for social workers and I undertake a great deal of training. Largely my writing and my training falls into the areas of social work theory and critical reflection which is where my passions lie. In more recent years I have also been working on supporting supervisors to be more creative and reflective in supervision.

I believe strongly in the importance of creativity in social work. Now more than ever, social workers need to be creative. They need to be supported in creative workplaces by creative managers and they need to have creative models to support their practice.