Student Spotlight: Striking the Macro & Clinical Balance
Get to know MSW student Jessica P. (SSW ’28)
Jessica Paredes, a macro track student entering her second year of the MSW program, details how her clinical practice experience in Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) brought her to pursue social work. Paredes details her discovery of macro social work through her first policy class, and how she was able to link it to her previous work within ABA funding. Now enrolled in the macro track at BUSSW, Paredes aims to combine her years of experience in clinical practice and her new macro toolset to become a comprehensive social worker. After graduation, Paredes hopes to use her diverse skills to serve the populations she is most passionate about.
Could you describe your background to me? What are your interests outside of work and school?
These days with my studies, I don’t have as much time for fun stuff. Thankfully, I am married to a very supportive husband who lightens a lot of my load so that I can have the mental bandwidth for my studies. I also have five young and beautiful Huskies that take up any of my free time. In terms of my background, I’m a first-generation Latina, born in Chicago. My parents are bicultural; my mom is from Puerto Rico, and my dad is from Peru. So, I grew up in a very Hispanic household and I’m bilingual, which has always been a huge part of my identity and I’m thankful that my parents always ensured I maintained that connection to my language and culture, as it has definitely shaped who I am today.
For fun, the main thing across my life that I’ve done as a side hobby is gaming. I’ve been gaming since the original Nintendo, not to date myself. I still game to this day. I have a Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, etc. I like role playing games, multiplayer games, things like that. Anything that gets my mind off stress and the day-to-day routines.
Why social work? What drew you to the field, and how did you become interested in it?
That’s actually a funny story. This is my second master’s program. I feel like this has been a full circle experience for me, because when I initially went to undergrad, I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life career-wise. I just knew I wanted to work with children, and I had started going down the psychology path with the intention of doing something related to children and youth development. I stumbled across the field of Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), and I ended up going that route. Originally, I went to grad school for ABA, and that’s what my current master’s degree is in.
I have been working in the field of ABA for a little over 15 years now, and that work brought me to the funding side in the last few years. I was working here in Massachusetts as a funding source that managed the Medicaid funds for children and youth ABA services. And in that role, I was one of the few, and sometimes only, Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) in a larger team of mental health workers and behavioral health professionals, including social workers or Licensed Mental Health Counselors (LMHCs).
Eventually, I started developing a curiosity in bigger issues because a lot of the meetings that I had to attend regarded bigger insights into the issues that a lot of the children and families here in the Commonwealth have to face. It just gradually started building my interest in expanding the scope of what I do beyond treating kids with autism spectrum disorder. Even though I was working, my job with insurance was remote. I was working on establishing a ABA private practice on the side. Once I got that established, most of the referrals that I [received] were on basically everything except autism. In Massachusetts, from a funding perspective, I wouldn’t be able to treat anybody with anything else other than ASD. That was the catalyst for me to say, “You know what? Maybe it is time for me to go back to school.”
In consulting with my colleagues, to choose between social work or a degree in mental health, such as a clinical psychology degree or something of that nature, I ended up choosing social work. I felt like it was a more well-rounded program in terms of not just increasing my knowledge and skills based on clinical work. It also gave me the opportunity to expand on a lot of the macro and policy subjects that I was already getting exposed to because I was working on the funding side of ABA.
When I initially signed up, I was going to do the clinical track. One of the reasons I didn’t go into social work earlier in my career was because I had a much different view on social work; it meant something different. I saw social workers as bad guys, so to speak, that were typically just involved in taking kids away from their families, given the environment that I grew up in. I never even knew or saw social work as a potential clinical field. It seems like it’s something that has evolved over time.
I did have the intention of sticking to the clinical track, but in either program here, you take a little bit of both clinical and macro to ensure students have exposure to everything. My focus began to shift when I took my first policy course, and I will admit, I was afraid of policy. I don’t consider myself a political person. I don’t get too involved in those types of topics. It wasn’t until I took that first policy course that I realized that I’ve been doing policy and macro work for so many years while I was working in funding. It didn’t dawn on me until then that I already was kind of immersed in it. It made me feel a bit more [confident that] I can do this. And then it also helped that the first class helped me realize the different directions that I could go in. That first policy class really helped me realize that A). – it is not as intimidating as I thought it was, and B). – macro would open more learning opportunities for me.
Currently, I work as a crisis clinician at a community behavioral health center (CBHC), utilizing my BCBA license. I feel like I get a lot of additional clinical training and exposure there and that is a big reason I decided to switch to macro to diversify what I could do. I knew it would be a bigger learning curve, but that’s what I wanted. I have been doing clinical work for 15 years, and I’m continuing to have the opportunity to do clinical work as a crisis clinician. Because of that, I knew I wanted to expand my skills and knowledge in macro social work.
What’s your most outstanding memory or experience in your academic career at BUSSW so far?
I will say that I was definitely nervous and apprehensive about returning to my education because it has been so many years since I’ve been in school, and doing this virtually in the online program was something that I wasn’t used to. My last grad program was in-person. But it’s been pleasantly surprising, I don’t want to say easy, but it has been seamless in terms of adjusting to the style of learning. I feel like the platform has been very intuitive and easy to navigate, and all the professors have been great and prepared in terms of providing us with robust syllabi that breaks down everything within the course. It helps to be able to plan accordingly, especially being an online student and a professional learner. Having those expectations prepped ahead of time and outlined is helpful; what the readings are and when they’re due, what the upcoming discussion questions are, even having all my assignments given to me at the beginning of the semester is so helpful. It assists [me in planning].
All [of] the staff have been so supportive. Every step of the way. My professors have been super flexible when things come up at the last minute, that impede deadlines or things like that. They’ve been awesome about flexibility.
The advising staff were wonderful when I [transitioned] from clinical to macro, and they were great in facilitating a macro internship placement that I had my heart set on. I feel like they went above and beyond to make that happen for me. I’m very appreciative for that process, and they’ve just been so supportive. It was a bit of a lengthy process, but I appreciated the fact that they took their time. I had multiple meetings with different advisors, because they wanted to make sure that I was making the right decision for my future. They were very patient with me; I wanted to switch from clinical to macro, even though it would require quite an extensive replanning of my curriculum at BU. They took their time to make sure to explain everything to me, and I appreciated the fact that they wanted to make sure I made a well-informed decision in my education.
What makes social work worthwhile to you?
I think I love the fact that there’s so much flexibility within the field.
I consider myself a pretty eclectic person. I’m one of those people that I don’t think I’ll ever have one job or one role that fully satisfies me. I feel like social work caters to that because there’s so many different things you can do and ways you can help people; different avenues you can pursue to help communities, and I like that.
I like the fact that if I meet my goals and become an LICSW someday, with my background and training that I’m getting at BU right now, I can do macro-level work to impact bigger picture policies, as well as do direct work helping people directly with their individualized mental health needs. Particularly because I do have a passion for leveraging what I consider a gift and a privilege to be bilingual, and I do want to be able to give back to Spanish-speaking communities. I like the fact that being on this track allows me to do that both at an individual level, as well as a greater macro level.
What work from your academic career are you proudest of?
Honestly, not to sound too cheesy, but just the fact that I’m doing this program, being over 40 and starting a graduate program all over again, I was very scared. I wasn’t sure if I was even going to make it to the point that I’m at today, where I’m at the halfway mark. And even though it felt like such a faraway thing when I first started, here I am halfway through now, and it all feels a little bit more attainable. And just realizing how much more of a bigger population I can have an impact on is something that makes me proud and happy.
In terms of specific achievements, I feel like I’m doing some pretty awesome stuff at my internship placement. I was able to be placed at MassHealth in the office of Accountable Care for Behavioral Health (ACBH) which works on policy development for youth services, including ABA. So, I’m kind of on the other side of things from where I used to be. And I’m involved in some projects right now that are going to have a direct policy impact on ABA services in the very near future. I’ve had opportunities to do some presentations already within the scope of my internship placement, and all of that, I feel very proud of, because it’s not just something I can do, thanks to the education I’m receiving here now – but it’s also an accumulation of all the experience that I’ve derived over the last 15 plus years.
What are your favorite courses, professors, and events at BUSSW?
My favorite course is between the research course and differential diagnosis in children and youth. I am still very clinical at heart; the research and clinical oriented classes have been my favorite. But also, because the research piece is different from the one I’ve done before. It was very interesting to see how research is applied in the world of social work, because I feel like that’s something that could be considered an adaptation of both clinical and macro. And then, of course, differential diagnosis, because that’s a lot of new subject matter that is new and fresh for me.
Your background is in the clinical space, but your current focus in your studies is macro. Do you expect to gravitate [towards] one vs. the other when you [return] into the field?
No, I expect to continue to do both, but I don’t know how yet. I do love the work that I’m currently doing as a crisis clinician. Honestly, I don’t see myself leaving this type of work anytime soon, even if it’s just per diem. I feel like at the very least, this will keep me grounded and connected to clinical work, even if I do switch to doing macro work full time.
In terms of my dream job or what I would ideally like to do, I do feel that I probably want to do macro work full time, but then still have some type of part-time connection to ground level clinical work, whether it’s through this type of work that I do now, or through reengaging in my private practice. I wholeheartedly believe that anything I do well within macro and policy work is because of my first-hand experience and knowledge of the clinical space. From what I’ve seen, and what I’m learning in practice right now, is that some of the best macro people are those that also come in with a clinical background. Because we’ve been there, we’ve been on the ground floor, and we see what’s happening. We can tell the difference between theory and actual practice, and what things look like on the ground, and I never want to lose sight of that. So that’s why I think to some degree, I’ll always do a little bit of both.
What is your dream job in the field of social work?
Honestly, I’m loving what I’m doing in my internship. If I were to have an opportunity to continue that type of work, I would love to do it. I also wouldn’t mind doing something that gives me the flexibility of doing macro policy work, as well as some direct clinical work. For example, if I were to have an administrative or executive position at a nonprofit -type agency that serves the populations that I feel passionate about. Where I can do macro policy work to impact bigger systems, but then still have the flexibility to provide individual services or oversee how those individual services are delivered, I do know that a big issue in social work is quality and access. I would like to make sure that whatever agency I’m working for, I can help inform the best quality of care and access for marginalized communities.
I think there is one thing that has definitely changed for me through this experience. I used to be very focused on helping children and youth, which I do still have a passion for, but I am a lot more open to working with adults. I think the common ground would be working with Spanish speaking communities, across children or adults.
What is your advice for other MSW students?
I would say, don’t be afraid. Leave the fears behind and just enjoy the program for what it is. Everything that I was scared about, I’ve realized there’s no reason to worry about it. Personally, maybe because it had been so many years, I had a lot of anxiety about meeting deadlines, the amount of reading that had to be done, and the amount of work that was going to be assigned. Honestly, everything has worked out. Even when unforeseen life circumstances have come up, the staff have been very responsive and very flexible in terms of making accommodations. Any initial anxieties or worries I had about the program when I was going in are gone now.
I would also suggest you utilize all of the resources available to you, because they are there to be taken advantage of. If you tap into them, even with this being a virtual program, you still have the opportunity to feel like you’re part of something bigger. But obviously, that only happens if you utilize the services. I like to attend the macro mixers. Optional things like that, sometimes it’s hard to make time for, but if you can make the time for it, it really helps with making those connections with peers and advisors, and it really helps just kind of build on that sense of community.