Talking about work

So I know I'm not really supposed to talk about work. (You can't, after all, review confidentiality policies with clients a million times over without absorbing a bit of the seriousness of it.)

And I get that. It would take some serious dense-ness to reveal client info like names, etc.

But I wonder, too, if even talking in vague terms breaks the code of ethics I am professionally obligated to abide by. It makes me wonder, in extreme instances, about coping.

My coping mechanism is this: I talk to Tim. Sometimes I don't even need him to listen. I just need his physical presence beside me as I open my mouth and release all the (couched in vague, unspecific terms, of course!) pent-up stress of the day. (Because keeping it inside will kill me, and that would make me pretty ineffective at my job, right?) Then sometimes I need him to coach me. This typically occurs when something happens at work--whether it be with a client, co-worker, or supervisor--that I am unsure how to deal with. At my previous job, it was usually coaching about how to stand up for myself, because I am generally shit at doing that.

I always feel so much better, so much more confident after those talks. How could that be wrong, or unethical, when it helps me be a better person/better social worker?

But my gut will usually tell me if I've crossed a line, and I think I may have with an earlier post, venting my annoyance about a caller. I was wondering it a bit when I wrote it, but ignored that and hit "publish" anyway. It was confirmated later, though, when I suspected a classmate of mine, one whom I respect to a bothersomely worshipful degree, had found my blog. Immediately I panicked. "I don't want her to read that post!" I thought, and then the following thought was, "then I shouldn't have posted it."

So I guess I should be more circumspect.

Now all I'll say is, hypothetically, there may exist a genetically timid person who is scared of confrontation, who may have broken up an argument last night, and while not resolving the bad feelings between the arguers completely, at least may feel proud that she assertively addressed things so issues are out in the open now, instead of pretending like she did not hear the yelling.