Sarah Pflanz
Advanced Social Worker Child and Youth Mental Health Services, Children's Health Queensland
Career Profiles
Tell us about your career to date in the mental health sector.
I have worked almost my entire career in child and youth mental health as a social worker in Vancouver (Canada) and in Brisbane. My first role as a social worker was within the urban Aboriginal community in an innovative role that worked to improve practice in our mental health clinics and outreach to help young people and families find services that felt right for their needs. We worked to expand access for Aboriginal young people to traditional healing and cultural connection alongside conventional mental health care.
I then worked as a research assistant with two professors exploring topics related to the teaching of social work, citizenship and the environment. After completing my advanced master’s degree in social work, I migrated to Australia and found my first role with Child and Youth Mental Health Service (CYMHS) at the old Royal Children’s Hospital.
I took a risk and a 6-week contract as a senior social worker in Consultation Liaison working with children and young people with both medical and mental health needs. CYMHS has offered me many interesting career opportunities over these years including service improvement projects, student clinical education, domestic violence education, and most importantly supporting our social workers as a clinical supervisor for new graduates and experienced practitioners.
What made you choose a career in mental health?
I completed a remote placement as a social worker in a mental health team in a Canadian Arctic community. I learned a lot about the constraints and flexibility needed working in a small community, connected to nature, but with limited formal supports. I gained an early experience of expanding the definition of mental health intervention beyond addressing individual psychopathology to consider resources within community that support individuals, enhances their connection to community and to their own recovery.
What do you find most rewarding about your current role?
I enjoy being connected across the organisation and supporting social workers from student placement stage to leaders within CYMHS. In collaboration with the social workers I supervise, we consider integrating social work expertise in families, groups and systemic theory within the mental health context to provide interventions that are holistic and grounded in the experience of the families we work with.
Sarah Pflanz
What do you find most challenging about your current role?
The socio-political (housing/cost of living/social isolation) factors that continue to impact young people and family well-being are increasingly felt across our communities and by our social workers. This is a challenging time to be a social worker.
Tell us about a day in the life of you at work. What does a typical day look like?
Every day is different! I am currently placing student social workers with teams and supervisors across CYMHS, thinking about learning goals, interests and matches that are likely to create rich learning opportunities for students and social workers. I love giving students the good news when we find the right placement for them. I also typically see 2-3 social workers for clinical supervision each day, meeting online and in person.
We reflect on their work, the clinical needs of young people, their responses to the work and the options to enhance recovery with systemic approaches. I’m also spending time thinking about new graduate social workers in mental health and how we support their development through supervision, training and peer reflective practice groups.
What are three misconceptions you think that people have about working in the mental health sector?
- That social workers aren’t valued in our mental health teams – complex problems, need integrated solutions.
- That the work is too hard – it is challenging but rewarding too.
What advice would you give to people who are interested in working in mental health?
Social workers will remain an important part of mental health care because the problems our families and young people face are complex and need the holistic social work lens that considers people in their relationships and social context.
Subscribe to the HTQ eNewsletter
Health research news, events and funding opportunities delivered monthly to your inbox.
Subscribe today