Building the Bridge

Developing a Framework for Professional Debriefing in Early Social Work Practice

Overview of the Project

The Building the Bridge Project is exploring how new and emerging social workers
can be better supported as they move from social work education into the realities of practice.

This project focuses on the role of communities of practice, peer support, and effective debriefing in helping social workers reflect on their work, learn alongside one another, and navigate the emotional and relational demands of the profession.

As part of the project, we are bringing together social work students and recent graduates to participate in facilitated Communities of Practice. These virtual small groups will provide opportunities to connect with peers, debrief and reflect on experiences from placement and early practice, and explore what makes peer consultation and debriefing helpful, safe, and sustainable.

We also recognize that experiences of professional support are shaped by culture, identity, power, and experiences of inclusion and exclusion within social work spaces. The project will include consultation with Black, Indigenous and racialized social workers and students to help ensure that the resources developed reflect culturally responsive, anti-oppressive, and racially safer approaches to peer support and facilitation.

What we learn through these conversations and Communities of Practice will contribute to the development of a practical resource for emerging social workers, including guidance for creating supportive peer communities and having reflective, process-oriented conversations about the impact of the work.

Get Involved

We are currently inviting:

Social work students and recent graduates interested in participating in a Community of Practice for peer support and debriefing.
Black, Indigenous and racialized social workers, students, and recent graduates interested in sharing their perspectives through consultation
Emerging social workers interested in helping us understand what meaningful peer support should look like as people enter the profession

Interested in participating?

What is a Community of Practice?

Social work is not something we learn to do alone. Some of our most important learning happens through conversations with others who understand the work.

Etienne Wenger, the researcher who coined the term, describes Communities of Practice (CoPs) as groups of people who share a concern or passion for something they do and learn how to do it better through regular interaction (Wenger-Trayner, 2020).

But Creating a Community Isn't Enough

Social work can expose us to difficult stories, complex situations, ethical tensions, uncertainty, and strong emotional responses.
Naturally, we need places to talk about how the work affects us.

But how we have those conversations matters.

Without shared practices for reflection and debriefing, peer spaces can unintentionally become overwhelming or unsafe.
Conversations can shift toward venting, trauma dumping, problem-solving without consent, or sharing more detail than others are prepared to receive.
Over time, this can undermine the very sense of connection and support a CoP is meant to create.

Learning to Debrief Well

Part of building a strong CoP is learning how to talk about difficult work in ways that support both the person sharing and the people listening.

The EMMF Building the Bridge Project is therefore about more than just bringing students and new social workers together.
We are exploring how to create trauma-informed, psychologically safer, culturally responsive, and inclusive spaces where emerging
social workers can reflect, connect, learn, and support one another.

Through facilitated CoP and Debriefing groups, we hope to offer practical guidance where participants can develop the knowledge and skills to build Communities of Practice, debrief effectively, and foster psychologically safer peer support wherever their careers take them.

Supported by

This pilot project is supported by the Evelyn Maud McCorkell Foundation, School of Social Work, Carleton University.

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