Social%20Work%20Skills

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Social Work Skills

• Introduction
• Chapters 1 and 2

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General Social Work Skills

• As a social worker,
• You will serve people in all walks of life and in
  all kinds of situations.
• The range of settings in which you might serve is
  wide and varied.
• The contexts for practice are often complex,
  demanding and challenging.
• Competence requires adequate knowledge, ethics,
  accountability, and proficiency

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Social Work Skill...

• ... fundamental to social work practice.

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Are you in the right place?

• 47-304-01
• Tues-Thurs
• Room
• Fall 2007

If so...Welcome!
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About Me
Maritime School of Social Work

• Hail from East Coast of Canada
• Born and raised in a coal mining town
• Went to university to study philosophy
• Led to Social Work
• Led to Education
• Ended in academia
• Been here for 30 years

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About Each Other?

• Class Exercise
• Break into groups of 2
• Introduce one another
• Tell person one true statement about yourself and
  one false statement
• Have the person try and decipher which is the
  false and which is the true statement

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About Us

• Opportunity to learn
• Opportunity to share
• Opportunity to grow
• Opportunity to become hands-on, competent and
  confident social workers

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Point of This Course

• Come to know, understand and practice the steps
  important to social work practice.
• To use case examples and situations that clearly
  illustrate the essential skills of social work
  practice.
• To work our way through summaries and
  skill-building exercises, and get involved in
  actual hands-on practice.

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Teaching Methodology

• Lectures accompanied by PowerPoint outlines,
  class and small group discussions, and
  experiential activities.
• My responsibility
• Provide content, and to provide the structure and
  opportunities to learn.
• Your responsibility
• To learn to be actively engaged in class, to be
  curious about new ideas, to be willing to try new
  skills, to ask questions when needed, and to
  complete all assignments (including assigned
  reading).

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Course Work and Grading

• Refer to Course Outline
• Assignments
• Tests
• Multiple Choice
• Attendance
• Participation

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This Class RULES!

• Respect for Self
• Do your best
• Positively participate in all classroom
  activities
• Respect for Others
• Stay on task without disturbing or distracting
  others
• Avoid put downs or harass others
• Respect other peoples differences and opinions
• Respect for School
• Raise hand to speak
• Enter and exit the room quietly
• Complete all assignments on time
• Actively listen when others are speaking

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Course Text The Social Work Skills
Workbook Barry. R. Cournoyer
Available in BOOKSTORE
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• Up to here for Thus. Sept. 6th

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Professionalism
3. Ethical Decision Making
4. Talking and Listening
5. Preparing
6. Beginning

• Exploring
• Assessing
• Contracting
• Working and Evaluating
• Ending
• Appendices

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Student Resources

• Text Resources
• http//infotrac.thomsonlearning.com/
• Student Support Resources
• http//www.uwindsor.ca/support
• Student Development and Support
• http//www.uwindsor.ca/sds
• Student Counselling Center
• http//www.uwindsor.ca/scc

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Chapter 1

• Introduction

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Chapter Purpose

• The Purpose of this chapter will be to
• Discuss breadth and complexity of social work
  practice
• Define and discuss the concept of social work
  skill
• Discuss the significance of social work sills
• Identify the phases or processes of social work
  practice
• Discuss common factors and essential facilitative
  qualities for professional relationships
• Discuss the purposes and functions of The Social
  Work Skills Learning Portfolio
• Discuss the qualities and characteristics needed
  by ethical, effective social workers

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Social Workersmany the splendid role
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And the many splendid tasks
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Do you Know Where Youre Going to?

• What kind of social work would you like to
  practice in the future?

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• At some point in your career as a social worker,
  you might
• Serve in a child protection capacity, responding
  to indications that a child may be at risk of
  abuse or neglect.
• Help families improve their child-caring
  capabilities or serve in the emergency room of a
  hospital, intervening with persons and families
  in crises.
• Lead therapy groups for children who have been
  sexually victimized or provide education and
  counselling to abusive adults.

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You might also

• Aid couples whose relationships are faltering
• Help single parents who seek guidance and support
  in rearing their children.
• Serve persons who abuse alcohol and drugs
• Help family members who have been affected by the
  substance abuse of a parent, child, spouse, or
  sibling.
• Work in a residential setting for youthful
  offenders, a prison for adults, or a psychiatric
  institution.

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You Could Even

• Help people who are in some way physically or
  mentally challenged.
• Serve in a school system or perhaps as a
  consultant to a police department.
• Function in a crisis intervention capacity for a
  suicide prevention service.

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The Social workers role - a tiered approach
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Social Workers can also work in a variety of
settings

• Health and Community Services
• Health Care
• Communities
• Long-term care
• Justice
• Research
• Self-employment
• (Hick, 2002, p. 61)

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Real Life Scenario

1. Listen to the following audio recording of a
   client-therapy session
2. Write down what the issue is
3. Note what techniques the therapist uses

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A RECORDED GRIEF SESSION

• MUSIC-BASED INTERVENTION
• The scenario demonstrates the strategic use of
  the Music Impact Inventory Scale (MIIS) with a 48
  year old grandmother who lost her grandson
  accidentally last summer. Gordon was 5 years old
  and drowned in the family swimming pool. This is
  the six grief session that I have had with this
  grandmother.

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• You may ask yourself,
• "Can I possibly learn what I need to so that I
  can serve competently as a social worker in all
  those places, serving such different people, and
  helping them to address such complex issues?"
• The answer to that question is certainly No!
• TAKE HEED THOUGH
• You can acquire expertise in those skills that
  are common to social work practice

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Regardless of situation or setting

• Social workers are trained to function
• Within established codes of ethics and
  professionalism
• Within a holistic theoretical and practice
  framework
• By taking into account and working within the
  person-and-situation (PAS) or person-in-environmen
  t (PIE) or person-issue-situation (PIS) paradigm
• By employing social work skills

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Social Work Code of Ethics

• Social workers pledge adherence as follows
• The social work profession promotes social
  change, problem solving in human relationships
  and the empowerment and liberation of people to
  enhance well being.
• Utilising theories of human behaviour and social
  systems, social work intervenes at the points
  where people interact with their environments.

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Person-in-environment (PIE)

• Social Work seeks to recognize both the client
  (person), their environment, and the interaction
  between them.
• Florence Hollis (1964) PIE or "person-in-the
  situation"
• Stresses person's physical, social, and
  psychological realities that both define and
  limit that person.
• Social Workers seek to examine both the personal,
  and the social aspects of all 'Problems'
  social/personal problems
• Most intervention happens at the individual
  level, with system approaches to problem solving
  seek mainly to improve individual functioning.

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For Example PIE for Child
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• It is for these reasons that this 304 course is
  invaluable, not only in your professional
  relationships but they will help you in your own
  communication skills in general
• in truly understanding others, affirming their
  uniqueness and celebrating their individuality

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Im a full human being. I want you to be able
to relate to me as one human being to another.
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Social Work Skill

• "the practice component that brings
• knowledge and values together and
• converts them to action as a response to
• concern and need (Johnson, 1995, p. 55),
• "a complex organization of behaviour
• directed toward a particular goal or activity"
• (Johnson, 1995, p. 431)

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• And a "social worker's capacity to use a
• method in order to further a process
• directed toward the accomplishment of a
• social work purpose as that purpose finds
• expression in a specific program or service"
• (Smalley, 1967, p. 17).
• Skill is "the production of specific
• behaviours under the precise conditions
• designated for their use"
• (Middleman Goldberg, 1990, p. 12).

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Social Work Skill

• Circumscribed set of discrete cognitive and
  behavioural actions that
• Derive from social work knowledge and from social
  work values, ethics, and obligations,
• Are consistent with the essential facilitative
  qualities,
• Reflect the characteristics of professionalism,
  and
• Comport with a social work purpose within the
  context of a phase or process of practice.

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A "social worker's skills include being
proficient in communication, assessing problems
and client workability, matching needs with
resources, developing resources, and changing
social structures" (Barker, 1995).
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Twelve skills outlined by the National
Association of Social Workers skills (NASW, 1981)

1. Listen to others with understanding and purpose
2. Elicit information and assemble relevant facts to
   prepare a social history, assessment, and report
3. Create and maintain professional helping
   relationships
4. Observe and interpret verbal and nonverbal
   behavior and use knowledge of personality theory
   and diagnostic methods
5. Engage clients (including individuals, families,
   groups, and communities) in efforts to resolve
   their own problems and to gain trust
6. Discuss sensitive emotional subjects supportively
   and without being threatening

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Skills Continued

1. Create innovative solutions to clients needs
2. Determine the need to terminate the therapeutic
   relationship
3. Conduct research, or interpret the findings of
   research and professional literature
4. Mediate and negotiate between conflicting parties
5. Provide inter-organizational liaison services
6. Interpret and communicate social needs to funding
   sources, the public, or legislators

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• The skills are derived from the tasks associated
  with commonly identified phases or processes of
  social work practice, the essential facilitative
  qualities exhibited by most effective
  professional helpers, and the fundamental
  characteristics of professionalism and include

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Phases or processes of social work practice

• Preparing
• Beginning
• Exploring
• Assessing
• Contracting
• Working and evaluating
• Ending

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Common Factors Research

• A review by Asay and Lambert (1999) of six
  decades of therapy outcomes and identified 4
  common therapeutic factors which contribute to
  successful therapeutic outcomes
• 15 Model and Technique factors
• 40 Client variables and extratherapeutic
  variables
• 30 Therapeutic relationship factors such as
• warmth, acceptance, empathic understanding, and
  client-therapist agreement
• 15 expectancy and placebo effects

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CLIENT FACTORS (40 )

• Pre-existing characteristics of the client
• Intelligence
• Personality traits
• Temperament
• Ethnic background
• Abilities
• Family size
• Family support
• Social network
• Etc.

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Who are the clients?

• Clients, like social workers, vary is several
  characteristics, but with one notable exception
• Most clients that seek help have reached a
  point where their coping mechanisms no longer
  function.
• Some clients seek services because someone else
  is distressed (e.g., a parent, employer, spouse,
  or other family member) or because they are
  referred, appointed or mandated to seek social
  services
• These clients tend to be less motivated than
  clients
• seeking help for themselves.

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Which clients tend to fare better in their
treatment outcomes?

• Clients who do their homework tend to do
  better. That is, clients who complete
  assignments given to them by their therapists
  (e.g., keep a diary of emotions, etc.) show
  better treatment outcomes.
• Burns Spangler (2000) reported that depressed
  patients who were homework compliant, reported
  decreases in depression.
• Clients who are cooperative open tend to have
  better treatment outcomes than clients who are
  resistant defensive. (Orlinksy, Grawe, Parks,
  1994).

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RELATIONSHIP FACTORS (30 )

• Factors that influence the quality of the
• relationship between therapist and the client
• Perceived empathy
• Acceptance
• Warmth
• Confidence
• Clients selfexpression
• Etc.

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Relationship Factors The Evidence

• Krill (1986, p. xi) suggested that the
  relationship between a social worker and a client
  is more likely to be productive when
• Worker and client like and respect each other.
• Client is clearly told what to expect and how to
  contribute to the helping process.
• Worker is warm, genuine, and sincere and
  regularly expresses empathy about the client's
  experience.
• Worker and client engage in goal-directed
  activities such as practice, in session tasks,
  or between-session action steps.
• Worker actively seeks to involve significant
  persons in the client's life in the helping
  process.

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• The quality of
• the therapeutic
• relationship
• between social
• worker and
• individual or
• family is critical
• to achieving
• successful
• outcomes.

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Characteristics associated with good therapists?
Clients prefer therapists with advanced training.
Advanced Training
Includes communication, relationship-building,
self-monitoring skills.
Good Interpersonal Skills
Should be able to listen to clients effectively
communicate with them.
Good Listening Ability
Genuineness, empathy, Unconditional positive
regard.
These promote rapport with the client build
trust.
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HOPE EXPECTANCY (15 )

• The expectation of the client that the therapy
  will lead to positive change

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MODEL TECHNIQUE (15 )

• Beliefs
• Techniques
• Procedures
• Etc.
• contributing to the therapists (theoretical)
  frame of reference and practice

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• Social workers have long recognized the
  importance of the relationship
• McNeill et al (2005) found 3 common elements
  which lead to behavior change or reduction in
  problem behaviors
• Accurate empathy, respect or warmth and
  therapeutic genuineness
• Establishing a therapeutic relationship or
  working alliance
• An approach that is person centered, or
  collaborative and client driven

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Facilitative Qualities

• The characteristics of effective helpers are
  often called the facilitative qualities or the
  core conditions
• When consistently demonstrated by professionals,
  these aid in developing and maintaining a special
  rapport with their clients.
• This rapport is sometimes called the helping
  relationship, the working relationship,
  professional rapport, or the therapeutic
  alliance.

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The essential facilitative qualities become
critical because when social workers consistently
reflect these qualities, the risk of harming the
person-and-situation tends to decrease and the
probability of helping usually increases.
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Effective Helpers

• Regardless of theoretical orientation and choice
  of intervention approach, effective helpers tend
  to reflect common characteristics such as
• Empathy
• Regard
• Authenticity
• Professionalism in their service to others.

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Empathy

• One of the Primary Skills to Master
• A process of joining in the feelings of another,
  of feeling how and what another person
  experiences, and feeling with another person.
• It is an understanding and appreciation of the
  thoughts, feelings, behaviours, experiences, and
  circumstances of another human being.

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Empathetic Response

• A verbal technique that acknowledges you have
  heard the clients emotional content.
• No requirement to feel the emotion.
• Steps
• Identify the emotion open-ended questions
• Identify its cause
• Respond in a way that shows you understand the
  connection between 1 and 2
• Why is this important?

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Empathic Listening

• A mother recalled of a time when her young
  daughter invited her to come outside and play.
• At first, the mother intently watched as her
  daughter repeatedly hit a tether ball, but soon
  began to wonder what her own role was in the
  game. So she asked her daughter.
• In response, the young girl matter-of-factly
  explained that every time she was successful in
  hitting the ball, the mother should congratulate
  her and say, Good job!
• This is, essentially, the role of empathic
  listening, that of accompanying another person
  and celebrating together the fact that the other
  can begin to unpack and analyze the challenges
  being faced.
• In the childs game, success is measured by the
  ability to have the ball and its cord wrap around
  the post.
• In empathic listening, success is measured by the
  ability to unpack the often pain-soaked narrative
  and let it float to the surface.

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Empathetic Response CAUTION

• Some clients feel quite uneasy when the worker is
  frequently and intensively empathic.
• They might prefer a formal encounter in which the
  worker provides direct advice and guidance in a
  business-like fashion.

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Other Facilitative Factors

• Integrity
• Professional knowledge
• Critical thinking and lifelong learning
• Ethical decision making
• Self-understanding and self-control
• Cultural competence and acceptance of others
• Social support and self-efficacy

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Regard

• The facilitative quality of regard or respect
  suggests an attitude of non-controlling, warm,
  caring, unconditional positive regard
  non-possessive acceptance of other persons.
• In cross- or inter-cultural contexts, regard also
  includes the genuine acceptance of difference.
• Respect of this nature goes well beyond basic
  tolerance to include appreciation of the value of
  diversity in human communities.

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Authenticity

• Authenticity refers to the genuineness and
  sincerity of a person's manner of relating.
  Reflecting fundamental honesty, an authentic
  social worker is natural, real, and personable.
• The presentation is congruent so that verbal,
  non-verbal, and behavioural expressions reflect
  synchronicity.
• Words and deeds match.

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Professionalism

• Includes several characteristics
• integrity,
• professional knowledge and self-efficacy,
• ethical decision making,
• critical thinking and lifelong learning,
• self-understanding and self-control,
• cultural competence and acceptance of others
• social support.