Once you have enjoyed real power, the power of the Gospel, mere control is a counterfeit and a nuisance. The challenge is how to use power for good and power with real love for the good of the least ones whom the Lord commends to us. There is some similarity between being professional and real power and professionalism and control. The ersatz of being professional is professionalism. Professionalism is the blood sucker of the helping services.
Professionalism is like an octopus that strangles good services from whatever angle they are viewed.
The ugly head of professionalism emerges with its emphasis on appearances. If you have a nice building, you will more than likely get better funding. Dr. Portia Bell Hume, Director of the Center for Training in Community Psychiatry in California, insisted that her training school take place in some rented rooms behind a small dry goods store near the University of California at Berkeley to give emphasis to the fact that the services provided are much more important than the building. Professionalism means total burnout. Professional Professional means looking first at the needs of people and not first at the needs of the agency or the needs of the social worker.