My last placement practice

Recently I finished my last placement practice. I was based in Edinburgh with Access to Industry which is a charity agency working for vulnerable people. I spent there 2 weeks and I have to admit that this was my best placement I have had so far. There are many advantages of this placement but the main one is that I finaly got a chance to speak to the clients and also a chance to interact with them often. I had a chance to help the clients learn new skills. Also, I tried to support them when I felt I could do that. I found this work to be very challenging. It was because the group of clients was a specific one, also they were very demanding and expected real support from the staff. In overall, I found that it was hard to work with them on advisory or guidance field as there was a number of different personal issues those clients had(crime convictions, housing problems, benefits issues, drug/alcohol addiction). It was to early for some of them to think about going back to the employment. Nevertheless, this placement opened my mind for different things. I learnt how to undestand people's needs, hopes, fears, happiness or disappointments. I also learnt that a respect is above all the most important in a helping role. It indeed helps us to build positive relationship with clients. It is worth to remember it when we, as helpers, want to gain client's trust.