Learning to Teach through Self-Awareness and Acceptance
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This article is an account of my first teaching experience as a PhD student. It is the story of my personal journey toward self-discovery in which I learned to integrate my clinical social work skills into my teaching. This article details a variety of emotions and struggles experienced both by my students and myself. This narrative describes how I came to be a more conscientious instructor, how I learned to link lessons from the clinical world to my teaching, and how my learning process included significant advances of self-discovery and personal growth. Through this experience, I came to understand that pedagogy and clinical techniques can dovetail, demonstrating the need to individualize interventions, build community with stakeholders, and foster trusting relationships.