A farewell from Naj

Gratitude research demonstrates the efficacy of the practice of gratitude and appreciation to improve one’s sense of well-being and reduce one’s risk of burnout. Certainly, for me, my gratitude for my years of work at the NSCSW, has been profound and life-altering. Arriving in unceded Mi’kma’ki during the pandemic to serve as the Professional Practice and Advocacy Consultant, I never imagined how transformational this experience would be.  

As I prepare to leave the College to embark upon my next professional adventure, I want to pause in between chapters to reflect upon my time here and to give thanks for each of you and for all that we accomplished together. I have missed direct practice, which was what first drew me to social work. This past year, as I have undergone my own gender transition, I have new insights and new perspectives that I look forward to sharing with others, as part of my lifelong quest to bring healing to this world. But it is a bittersweet decision, because as much as I feel called to return to doing counselling full-time, it means closing this chapter that has meant so much to me.  

Just over a year ago I briefly shared some of the ways that this job has helped to change me in a blog post. I often say that I work with the best humans on the planet. Truthfully, never have I been surrounded by so many brilliant and compassionate humans who get it. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with social workers who share my values and understand the importance of decolonizing ourselves and our practice, and of thinking critically about how to advocate for intersectional justice and healing, as part of our efforts to bring healing to the psychosocial, spiritual and structural determinants of health and create a safe(R) future for us all. 

It is when we are in-between that we can see most clearly from multiple perspectives. In this situation, it gives me an opportunity to pause and reflect on how far we have come together, and to look hopefully toward the future. I am so grateful for each of you — in particular, for those of you that have served on committees or on council, or who have reached out with ideas, feedback, concerns or suggestions. I have learned so much, and unlearned even more, as part of my own decolonizing journey. I am especially grateful to my colleagues who are part of the NSCSW team, and most importantly, to Alec Stratford, our wise and fearless leader, who has modeled a unique leadership style that is simultaneously courageous, authentic, compassionate and brilliantly wise. I am a better social worker, and indeed, a better person thanks to my time working at the NSCSW. 

I am grateful to be able to think about all the things we did collaboratively, to advance our strategic vision, and excited about the ways that we worked together to articulate a new strategic plan that can help us continue to grow and evolve in our quest to create the necessary conditions for safe(R) social work practices. There are many factors that influence these, but the work of several committees, at the direction of our leadership and council were essential to our being able to achieve our goals and objectives. I often say that we are as good as the people who show up to our committee meetings or volunteer of their time to try to help us support our members and achieve our ambitious strategic plan. I am grateful to all the incredibly wise, courageous, empathetic, creative and dedicated social workers who have shared of their time and talents with us, and for all the ways that you all have inspired me to believe that change is possible. 

As part of my time at the College, I am blessed to have supported the professional development committee, the professional standards and ethics committee, the Connection committee, the social justice committee, and the decolonizing and indigenizing committee. We have done too many things together to list them all, but our annual report highlights many of our recent accomplishments.

As we have completed the evaluation of our original strategic plan, and embarked on a new one with a new president and a new council, I am so excited and proud for our collective future. In a world that is so terrifying, there is healing hope in being able to have faith in one’s colleagues and in the work that we have done and will continue to do. It feels like this transitional moment (as we conclude one journey and prepare to begin our next) is the right time for me to take a step back so that someone new can join us an add their dreams and hopes and talents to our collective efforts. I look forward to continuing to work alongside you all in a volunteer capacity.   

It is a bittersweet moment to pause in reflection, gratitude and hope. I want to thank all of you for our time together, and hope that several of you will stop by our next communities of practice gathering on August 7 so that we can continue to create a sense of community amongst ourselves. I am also incredibly excited about our future: our new strategic plan, our new president, our incoming council members and my successor, who is wonderful and I know will do incredible things to help us continue to evolve in our efforts to transform the field of social work here in this corner of unceded Mi’kma’ki.  

— Naj Siritsky, RSW

NSCSW Professional Practice and Advocacy Consultant