Reflecting

Throughout my internship with YAP, I’ve been given the chance to do some one on one work with a few young people in Dublin around anger management. This area of counseling is something I’ve fallen into over the past few years of working with young people, and I have found I really enjoy it. I was a bit nervous when given the opportunity to do some one to one work with youth here because I didn’t know how receptive the young people would be to work with me. My experience in working with young people has taught me that being a new face is always a difficult barrier to get over. A lot of teens involved with programs such as YAP have had so many people in and out of their lives that a new face can often be ignored or resisted. Not only am I a new face to these young people, but I’m a social worker (in training) and not from the country.

I’ve also been able to attend some groups focused on youth participation, and have had some great conversations with young people around how they feel they’re being heard in a few aspects of their lives. Young people never cease to surprise me with how insightful they can be in coming up with solutions for their own problems. I think a lot of times, especially in social services, their voices are overlooked when it’s their opinion that usually matters the most. That’s what I appreciate the most about YAP is that the agency and the people that work for it really live the mission, and give young people an opportunity to be heard.