Difference of Social Workers from the Pioneers

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Nowadays, social workers are way different from the social worker pioneers during the late 19th century towards the early 20th century. The first social workers function during wired telephone attached on walls, typewriters to create notes, books and journals are only accessible through its hard copy and providing services physically in the offices or homes of the clients. The current social worker of this high-tech generation utilizes more advanced technology in providing services. How social worker functions in this digital age is well discussed in Frederic Reamer's article Social Work in a Digital Age: Ethical and Risk Management Challenges. Technology has greatly influenced almost all aspects of an individual's life today, including their careers. Social workers are not an exception and embraced technology with all its benefits and services. In addition to this, risks and dangers are also notable with technology in this line of work.
Services provided by today's social workers vary from traditional methods to technological methods. These services have become more efficient with advanced technology, such as the Internet and smartphones. Several tools have been utilized by social work services which are involved heavily with digital and electronic options. As a result, counseling through online services along with cybertherapy, has become possible. Communications with the client have also become more comfortable with email, text messages, and social media networks (Reamer, 2013.
A critical contribution of the Internet to today's social work services is making possible of online counseling, video counseling, self-guided online interventions, and electronic social networks. With online counseling, clinical social workers can be easily reached out by people who require help. Live online chat is for counseling services that can now be offered by clinical social workers. People suffering from addiction, depression, eating disorders, anxiety, and other mental health challenges can search these services through the use of online search engines. Synchronous communication is ensured in this kind of service in which the anonymity of the client is also be maintained. In addition to this, a multidisciplinary approach is also possible by involving several health care professionals during the online consultation. In line with this is the use of video counseling. Clients who are comfortable using video can also engage in counseling using webcams, utilizing video chat services such as Skype. In this way, social workers can efficiently provide counseling services by understanding the...