I&R

Just this week on Wednesday, I began taking I&R (information and referral) calls and walk-ins at work. I&R, as the name suggests, is one of the core services of a family service centre which aims to provide people with relevant and helpful information and services concerning their needs. People either approach the centre on a voluntary basis or are referred to the centre by an external source. When they call in or walk-in, I will take note of their personal particulars, draw out their main concerns, assess how they have been coping, and find out how they wish the centre can help them. In the process, I take on a therapeutic role too by the use of empathy and listening skills as the caller/walk-in shares about their concerns.

Doing I&R is not easy, as I soon found out... I had 1 call and 1 walk-in one after the other on Wednesday. My Sup and 1 other colleague supervised me on-the-job respectively. For the call, it was still pretty manageable, though I made certain mistakes. But when my Sup processed the contents of the call with me right after, I found his feedback very enlightening... at least now I know things which I shouldn't have said/done and things which I shouldn't repeat doing in future. Then came the walk-in, and that experience was kind of draining haha... the person spoke in Mandarin so I was struggling quite a bit to form my word into sentences. It lasted about one and a half hours and by the time it ended, my vision was a bit blur and I was rather zonked.

But still it has been a good experience. Will be doing I&R daily for a period of time, might be weeks or even a month or more. Really need to rely on the Holy Spirit to speak the right word and do the right thing at the right time :)