Who was I in my youth?
I am Annemie Declercq, and I live in Hooglede near Roeselare in West Flanders, Belgium with my husband, our foster daughter and my youngest daughter. During my youth, social engagement was an absolute must. I enjoyed working with socially neglected children, helped in the 4th world movement, was a group leader at the Chiro in Oostnieuwkerke, did migrant work in Brussels and went to a construction camp.
As a 20-year-old, I started my career at the VDAB in Roeselare on 1/2/1988. There I came into direct contact with the most vulnerable in society on a daily basis.
I first started as an administrative assistant in a training center. Through my consultant experience certificate that I obtained through Vokans, I was given the opportunity to work as a consultant in the construction training center in 2007.
Since September 2014, I have been working in my current position as a work-welfare consultant at the VDAB of Roeselare. I now have the responsibility to guide and support both people in poverty and vulnerable young people.
Who am I, Annemie Declercq as a special educationalist?
10 years ago, at the age of 45, I started the professional bachelor’s degree in orthopedagogy via distance learning at HoGent.
I officially graduated in September 2019. The orthopedagogy course offers me the opportunity to better understand and guide people with their injuries.
In the meantime, I can already say that my task as a remedial educationalist is never finished and is constantly changing. During those 10 years I continued to work full-time.
Who am I Annemie Declercq as a Foster Caregiver?
Since February 2013, my husband and I have also been foster parents of a girl who is now turning 11. She has been going out with us for 10 years.
This includes not only her own self. As foster parents, we come into contact with all the agencies associated with it. This includes the foster care service, the youth court, the youth court consultant, the biological parents, CAW, etc. In short, a tangle of networks that you have to take into account. Namely to make agreements with which you have to achieve a result. And of course this works!
It remains a passion for me to help people.
They are job seekers, people on the margins of society who have sometimes already been written off from society. People who still have to prove themselves.
I think Martin Luther King describes this in one of his most striking quotes. Namely that ‘people who are part of society protect against this society. When this is not the case, they will unconsciously want to destroy this society’. The alternative is to ensure that there is something in our society that matters to them.
Many young people pass Annemie Declercq’s office.
Young people who disappeared under the radar, young people who no longer have hope. Many young people come from facilities and institutions. They then tell their story of what went wrong in their youth, and what abuses they themselves experienced. Many young people say that they are not and have not been listened to.
Yet bonding and attachment are one of the most important building blocks in personality development.
Attachment helps people gain basic trust because it allows them to express themselves emotionally. Connectedness makes people dare to look at the world openly and enter into healthy relationships.
It is also an important basis for thinking about oneself and others. This link can also be made to people who grow up in poverty. It is difficult for people in poverty who have never known this secure attachment to give this to their children.
Repair unsafe attachment?
The repeated transmission of insecure attachment is an important element in the vicious circle of poverty. Poverty is also accompanied by a feeling of loss. Desires and dreams can only be built to a limited extent for all kinds of reasons. This is where the most important wish of people in poverty and people with injuries originates! The wish that their children will have a better life.
For Annemie Declercq it is therefore important that children and young people have a voice. That they are listened to.
At a funeral of one of my people I made a promise to him during a speech. A promise where I told myself that I will continue to fight against injustice. I will make my voice heard for the voiceless who come my way.
Social trend!
It is also important that I gain insight into social trends. It is important to me that I develop the courage to encourage each other. As well as changing something socially by denouncing it. In the same way, by denouncing abuses we try to bring about change, by exposing injustice. For example, by denouncing and even openly questioning the bureaucracy and the ‘far from my bed show’ of political decisions.
Structurally towards a society where empathy and solidarity are important.
At the beginning of February 2020, I visited the buildings of the Flemish government with the intensive services expert VDAB Brussels to help defend the importance of group sessions for vulnerable people in the cabinet of Minister Crevits.
Although I want to remain humble about this, my input from the workplace through you was great. Also from my personal commitment, this was an added value to successfully convince the people of the cabinet of the group offer.
All areas of life.
As a work-welfare consultant in the VDAB, I work in all areas of life that are important to my people. Referral and cooperation with the various services is therefore an important objective in my work.
Of course it is clear that I will continue to pursue this in the future. Vulnerable people are also given priority here on our website to inform and help. We also help vulnerable people with referrals when necessary.
Who am I Annemie Declercq as an Experience Expert?
Firstly, having worked in the VDAB for so long, I am also familiar with communication. And secondly, with the registration systems that a Flemish government entails. And the paperwork that plays a role in the social economy.
I really enjoy my job as a work-welfare consultant in the VDAB! It also offers me many opportunities to discover and offer new things.
With this expertise, Annemie Declercq would like to follow up your questions about narcissism.
Resume
- Annemie Declercq is a resident of Hooglede near Roeselare in West Flanders, Belgium. Her youth was characterized by social commitment and she has a career at the VDAB in Roeselare, where she comes into direct contact with the most vulnerable in society. She is also a remedial educationalist and foster carer, and she has a passion for helping people on the margins of society.
- Her work as a orthopedagogue offers her the opportunity to better understand and guide people with injuries, and she continues to work full-time. As a foster parent of a girl, she is closely involved in various agencies and networks.
- She helps job seekers and people on the margins of society, with a special focus on young people who have disappeared under the radar. She emphasizes the importance of bonding and attachment in personality development, and the need to make the voices of children and young people heard.
- She is also active in addressing abuses and promoting empathy and solidarity in society. She has been committed to group sessions for vulnerable people and continues to strive for referrals and collaboration with various services.
- As an expert by experience at the VDAB, she brings expertise in communication, registration systems and the social economy. She is determined to continue her commitment to vulnerable people. Finally, she is willing to follow up on questions about narcissism.
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Toxic people and their organizations cause great damage to society. Everyone is subject to it and our society is increasingly moving towards even more narcissistic anti-democratic tendencies. That’s why we give you the growth tasks for free, full of self-care tips, self-healing tips and options for trauma processing so that you have more opportunities.
It is satisfying when you respond to our blogs, but it is increasingly taking its toll to spend so much energy exposing the despicable anti-democratic narcissistic behavior. But I cannot stand by and watch as many get away with violence, theft, slander, lies, exclusion and destruction of other people who are so confused that they don’t even know how to work on their recovery.
We can reach even more people with our experience and put them on the road to recovery thanks to your further distribution. Here you can get your free English copy of “Shadow Work Journal” by Dr. Nicole Lepera. As always, there is no copyright. You can print, share and recopy it if necessary. I would like to see your progress as you use this journal. In addition, I would like to congratulate you on taking this step to have a look at this. Shadow work can change lives and takes a lot of courage, so I encourage you.
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