Social Work 304 Assignment # 2 Sample Termplate

Role Play 1

SOCIAL WORK 304 ASSIGNMENT # 2 SAMPLE TERMPLATE

STUDENT YYYAAA

Preparation

The client that I had a meeting with was already a client within my agency. She was referred to me by another staff member at the agency. To prepare for the meeting, I went over the client’s file to review what their situation was. I felt that this was an important step for me to do so that I would be familiar with the client and what their needs were. The client had a meeting with me for a different reason than they were meeting with another staff member. It was still important to learn all the information I could about the client to ensure that I would be prepared to meet their needs (Cournoyer,

2005).

Knowing who the client was and what kind of assistance they were looking for helped with an efficient use of time. Meetings with clients can only run for a certain amount of time due to schedules with other clients. It was important for me to use the time I had with the client efficiently so I could serve the client. I already knew some information about the client, so I did not need to spend a great deal of time on determining important information.

To gain as much knowledge about the client as possible I asked the intake worker if they had any additional information that was not in the file. The intake worker may have only included information that was relevant to the original issue that the client was at the agency for (Cournoyer, 2005). Although gathering this information prior to meeting with the client was important, I felt it pertinent that I remained open minded and not judge the client based on the information I had. I had not met the client yet, therefore Role Play 2

I was responsible for creating my impression of the client once we had the first meeting.

The fact that I did not stereotype the client or create opinions of them before we had our first meeting was a strength of mine. People should not based their impressions upon information gathered from a third party (Cournoyer, 2005). The source of the information may have a bias or did not keep accurate records (Cournoyer, 2005). I found it to be beneficial for both the client and myself to remain open minded.

In preparation for the meeting with the client, I sought advice from my supervisor.

I was worried about the meeting because this was my first client at the agency. Having never conducted an interview, I was nervous about what questions to ask and how to approach the situation. The advice I was given calmed me down and I realized that skills that I had learned from my communications class prepared me for the meeting. I definitely feel that if I had not gone to my supervisor, my first interview with the client would have been worse.

At my agency I share an office with another social work placement student. This was not the ideal conditions for client confidentiality so I had to make arrangements for the other student to work at another location. Since confidentiality is such a pertinent principle of social work, it was my priority to make alternative arrangements for the other student (Cournoyer, 2005). Finding another place for the student to work took some time, however considering the importance of using the office without a third party, I did the work to find a new location.

Beginning

The beginning phase of the interview had both strong points and areas for improvement. It was beneficial for the client and I to recap what was said and Role Play 3 accomplished during the previous meeting (Cournoyer, 2005). We were reminded of where we left off and provided us with some guidance of where to continue. This was also helpful in keeping an efficient use of time so that the client would not have to repeat any information (Gallant, 2005).

Introductions

A weakness of the beginning phase was that it was too short to provide enough time for the client to become comfortable in the situation (Gallant, 2005). There was not introduction because this was not the first interview so I did not feel like I needed one. I did however feel it was important to acknowledge her name in my initial greeting.

Saying someone’s name can let them know that they are important. It is awkward for the client to being sharing their inner thoughts and feelings to another person. No matter how many times the client and I had met before, adequate time should be allowed for the client to feel at ease. It could have been easier for the client if I had gone through more introductions.

Describing the Initial Purpose

At the start of the session, it is useful for both the client and the social worker to state the purpose of the meeting. The client will know what to expect from the meeting and the worker will be able to have information prepared (Cournoyer, 2005). I did not include this step in the meeting with the client which should have been done. Providing the goal of the meeting would have given the session some direction as to what the topic of discussion would be of. In the future, I will recognize the importance of this step and include it in my meetings.

Outlining Client Roles Role Play 4

To assist the client in feeling comfortable in the social worker and client relationship, it may have been helpful to explain the client role (Cournoyer, 2005). At the beginning of the interview I could have allow the client the opportunity to ask any questions they had about our relationship or the process we were undertaking. The client may have had a question by I never provided them with the chance to ask it.

Discussing Policy and Ethical Factors

Although I have been interested and concerned about this issue since reading this chapter, the thought never came to me about discussing policy and ethical factors with my client. It sounds ridiculous however I somewhat expected the client to know the policies and rules with dealing with social workers. I felt uncomfortable being in the position of authority and informing the client of the policies. I understand that this is an imperative aspect of social work and so I must put aside my fears to talk to clients about this issue (Cournoyer, 2005).

Seeking Feedback

Another area which needed some improvement was the seeking feedback stage of the beginning phase. Allowing the client to provide feedback helps to convey the message that this is a mutual and reciprocal process (Gallant, 2005). I was unsure how to include seeking feedback into the interview so it was left out. In the future this process will be beneficial for me so I can improve my interviewing skills to better serve clients.

Exploring

Asking Questions

The exploring phase also had areas which were strong along with areas that needed improvement. One of the stronger aspects of the interview was that I asked a few Role Play 5 questions to obtain facts and ideas from the client. This was an effective means to receive this information as it was directly given to me from the source (Gallant, 2005).

Asking the questions also helped me to clarify what the client had said to me. It was important to fully comprehend what the client’s message was so that we could both work together (Cournoyer, 2005). It was important to have only asked a few questions during the interview because the client may feel as though they were being interrogated

(Cournoyer, 2005). I also felt that I used an appropriate time to begin asking questions.

The beginning phase had just ended which indicated that the client and I should start the exploring stage.

I used open and closed ended questions, both provided me with different results.

The open ended questions were a more useful tool than the closed ended questions. I found the open ended questions provided the client with the opportunity to speak freely

(Cournoyer, 2005). Clients are meeting with a social worker to talk not to listen to the social worker talk endlessly. Open ended questions allowed me to ask a brief question and receive a long thoughtful response from the client. Some of the open ended questions that I used were “would you like to tell me more about that?” and “how are you feeling about that now?”. These questions allowed the client the opportunity to express themselves.

Although there was not stated purpose or goal for the meeting, the intention was to continue in the discussion of the client’s feelings towards school, her work and family.

Open ended question were helpful to meet this goal as they generated a detailed response from the client. The closed ended questions were beneficial for determining facts and information needed (Cournoyer, 2005). One of the closed ended questions that I used Role Play 6 was “are you having difficulty in any of your other classes?”. A short question could be asked by the social worker and all the important information given afterwards. Too many closed ended questions may cause the client to feel as though they are being interrogated, which is not the intention (Cournoyer, 2005).

Seeking Clarification

At times it can be difficult to understand clients as some people interpret messages differently (Gallant, 2005). To ensure that I always understood exactly what the client had meant, it was necessary to seek clarification from the client (Cournoyer,

2005). Instead of blatantly asking the client the repeat what they had just said, I turned it into a closed ended question. By saying “Do you often compare yourself with others” allowed me to verify what the client had said about other people in her classes.

Reflecting Content

An empathetic skills that lets the client know that you are listening is reflecting the content of what the client said back to them (Cournoyer, 2005). If the client does not believe that the social worker cares about them or does not listen to them, then they may not share any more thoughts or feelings (Cournoyer, 2005). I tried to reflect back to the client what I hear them say so that they would know I understood the message.

Reflecting Feeling and Meaning

Active listening is a vital skill that must be used in a client meeting. Active listening helps the clients to feel understood and more comfortable talking to the social worker (Gallant, 2005). Before I tried the active listening statements, I was unsure of its effectiveness. When I practiced the statements in class, they were generating responses from other students. I felt that the students were only giving me those responses because Role Play 7 they knew they had to. When I finally did try out the active listening statements with the clients, it calmed me down to see that clients were responding well to them. I was surprised and happy to see that my active listening statements were effective in conveying my empathy for the client. I was worried that I would not be able to show my empathy when they time came to meet with the client, but I was glad to see that things worked out.

Practicing my active listening statements in class was extremely helpful as I made mistakes and learned from them. I learned about the importance of these statements and how they are effective in demonstrating empathy for the client. It was difficult to find words to reflect the feelings that the client was expressing. Instead of constantly using simplistic words like happy, sad and angry, I needed to expand my vocabulary. Using a variety of words helps the client to feel understood and makes them feel more comfortable (Gallant, 2005). Although I found it a challenge to use a variety of words, I tried to do so for the benefit of the client.

Reflecting Feelings

One of the areas of improvement I felt was necessary for my reflecting feelings aspect of the interview was that I needed some variation in my active listening statements. Most of my statements started with the words “you feel…”. Some variation in these statements would have made the active listening statements more effective.

Using the same reflective statements could have made the client feel as though I was using a standard method of reflection instead of genuine interest in the client.

Partializing Role Play 8

At times the client can overwhelm the social worker with information and problems in their life. To tackle all the information the client just said, partializing is used to break down the large amounts of information into manageable parts (Cournoyer,

2005). This is a skill that I feel I need to improve upon in order to improve my services to my clients. Sometimes the client sends too much information for me to handle at once, so I need to learn how to reflect everything that client had just said. Since I did not use this skill well in the interview, in class it is important for me to practice this during role plays.

Going Beyond

Looking at both what the client says verbally and non verbally is an important quality for a social worker. This empathic skill prevents the social worker from mirroring what the client had said and communicates the message in a different way (Cournoyer,

2005). I used this skill when I said “You’re worried because you’re grades aren’t going to be high enough”. The client had not directly spoken about being worried about having poor grades but I noticed her non verbal communication as well and could tell she was concerned. Using the going beyond phase more frequently will be beneficial with my empathetic listening skill in the future.

Reflective and Empathic Skills

It was not only important to reflect the client’s feelings but also to reflect the content. The clients needed to know that I understood what they were saying so I had to express back to the client what they had said. It was a challenge to find new words to describe to what the client had said. The exercises we did in class gave me the opportunity to practice reflecting the content of the client. I was able to learn from other Role Play 9 students and get their advice on ways to reflect the content without repeating exactly what the client had said.

One of the well implemented active listening statements was “you’re feeling worried because you didn’t attend all your classes this week”. I tired to reflect the client’s thoughts and feelings about her struggle with school. This also came across in other parts of the conversation when I said “you feel regretful because you think not going to class will affect your grade. The client’s worry continued so I again reflected with other statements like “you’re worried because your grades won’t be high enough” and “you feel overwhelmed because you don’t have enough time for your studying”.

There were a variety of other words used throughout the conversation as well including unmotivated and pressured which all contributed to well composed active listening statements.

My Values, Biases and Personal Needs in relation to the role play

The client was of the same age group as my friends and I so over the duration of my university education, I have become accustomed to hearing some of these issues that the client was dealing with. Often times I myself feel overwhelmed by the amount of essays and exams I have upcoming. Friends of mine talk to me about their stressors in their lives which usually include a combination of school, work and family problems. I found it a challenge for me to remove myself from the situation as I knew there was the potential of my feelings and experiences being projected onto the client (Gallant, 2005).

Given that I was so familiar with the stories that the client had said, I listened with fresh ears since every person has their own view of the situation. Even though the story was Role Play 10 generally based with the same information, no two people are alike therefore to me this was all new information (Cournoyer, 2005).

Usually when I discuss with my friends the difficulties they are having in their lives, I tend to jump to the problem solving mode as soon as possible. I try to help my friends get through their problem so they can move on. Hearing that my friends have some of the same difficulties as the client, I wanted to start to problem solve. I have been accustomed to searching for a solution that I had to stop myself and continue to listen to the client. It was not my role yet to assist the client with a solution but to provide statements of reflecting feeling and content (Gallant, 2005).

It is important that social workers are self aware so that when they work with clients, their views and opinions are not imposed upon the client (Gallant, 2005). I realized this when working with this client because since I was familiar with the subject, I felt a need to inform the client of my past experiences. I wanted to let the client know of some of the ways I have dealt with similar issues. I prevented myself from doing those things because I knew that it was up to the client to determine when she needed help and what kind of help she needed (Cournoyer, 2005). It was not my place to direct instructions on how to mend her problems. Social workers are to maintain a professional relationship with their clients at all times and following the code of ethics guidelines. It is not the role of a social worker to solve a client’s problems for them (Code, 2005).

Overall Analysis of my skills

After completing the role play and analysing all the aspects of the interview, I realized how much I still needed to learn to be able to serve clients at a professional level.

I had done the course readings prior to completing the role play, but some of the Role Play 11 information seemed to slip my mind when I was conducting the interview. I skipped over some parts of the beginning process like ‘outlining the client roles’ and ‘discussing policy and ethical factors’. In the exploring section I need to improve on my partializing and going beyond skills. It is important that I continue to use role plays as a learning tool so improve my interviewing skills. Role Play 12

References

Code of ethics. (2005). Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers.

Cournoyer, B. (2005). The social work skills workbook. (4th ed.). Toronto, ON:

Brooks/Cole Publishing Co.

Gallant, W. (2005). Class discussion. Professional communication in generalist social work practice.

0529fcdaedaad12ff24a3f61e3f40a3e.doc POSTED OCT. 13, 2006