A presentation at Heritage University at CBC Week 06 in in Pasco, WA 99301, USA by Jacob Campbell
Location: Online - Zoom
Time: Monday’s from 5:30-8:15
Week 06: 09/28/20
Topic and Content Area: Communication Skills
Reading Assignment: Hepworth et al. (2017) chapters five and six
Assignments Due:
Other Important Information: N/A
As we have talked about, relationship and client belief in the process is key to having positive outcomes.
Nearly half of the outcome relies on fundamental skills and abilities that social workers need to learn, apart from the type of treatment offered (As cited by Hepworth — Adams et al., 2008; Miller et al., 2013)
Factor | Percentage —- | —- Client or extra-therapeutic factors | 40% Relationship factors | 30% Placebo, hope, and expectancy factors | 15% Model / technique factors | 15%
“Clients often have an unclear idea about what to expect from contact with a social worker, and those ideas may differ from the social worker’s expectations as well (Kadushin & Kadushin, 1997). This is most evident when the client has been referred or mandated for service. Clarifying expectations becomes a key intervention in work with clients who have not chosen to see a social worker (Rooney et al., 2009; Trotter, 2006).”
[Small Group Activity] I’m going to be breaking you up to talk about your assignment… spend some time clarifying your own roles in that.
B. F. Skinner (1933) “Resistance to Extinction” in the Process of Conditioning, The Journal of General Psychology, 9:2, 420-429, DOI: 10.1080/00221309.1933.9920945
You all are going to be participating in teach-back activity over the next couple of weeks.
-> Slide
The discrete verbal following skills include:
You will be making a 10 -15 minute video teaching one of these skills. Longer description listed in My Heritage…
Your goals right now are to do the following:
I want to let you know about a couple of important things. First, I want you know that the things you tell me are confidential. Do you know what that means?… There are some exceptions….
Carl Rodgers and person Center Counseling probably give the best and most focus on basic helping attitudes.
The facilitative conditions (or core conditions) in helping relationships were originally denoted by Carl Rogers (1957) as…
Much of the current research describes these as:
Warmth
Authenticity
Empathy
Facilitative conditions are often thought to be the foundation-level skills that undergird many treatment models and help create a positive client–social worker relationship.
The facilitative skills are particularly useful in treatment situations with voluntary clients.
The RSA. (2013, December 10). Brené Brown on Empathy. Brené Brown on Empathy. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evwgu369Jw
The following is a short video clip from a presentation that Brené Brown did called the “The Power of Vulnerability.”
[Activity] Watch the video clip.
[Discussion] What did you think of Theresa Wiseman (2007) concept of four parts to empathy. “Toward a holistic conceptualization of empathy for nursing practice.”
[Discussion] What do you think about this video?
To review, that is…
Wiseman, T. (2007). Toward a holistic conceptualization of empathy for nursing practice. Advances in Nursing Science, 30(3), E61–E72. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.ANS.0000286630.00011.e3
With empathy being such an important skill, we need to discuss how we can develop perceptiveness to feelings. As well we know that feelings or emotions exert a powerful influence on behavior and often play a central role in the problems of clients.
Applicants or voluntary clients often enter into the helping relationship with openness, hoping to explore both their concerns and their related feelings.
You feel __ about __ because __ You feel __, yet you also feel __
[Partner Group Activity] With partner, take turns sharing respectively for about five minutes, about an experience that they experienced a emotional response (any emotion, happiness, sadness, excitement, nervousness, etc. - does not need to be an overly personal story.) The person not telling the story job is to draw out the details of the event and find opportunities to respond empathetically.
There are a number of ways in which social workers can employ reciprocal empathic responding:
—> Continues on next slide
[Whole Class Activity] What is authenticity and why is it important?
Authenticity is defined as the sharing of self by relating in a natural, sincere, spontaneous, open, and genuine manner.
“Viewed from a therapeutic perspective, self-disclosure encourages clients to reciprocate with trust and openness. Lee (2014) has identified two types of self-disclosure: self-involving statements and personal self-disclosure” (Hepworth, et al., 2017)
The use of self-disclosure can be a meaningful and useful tool that we use as social workers. I also want to provide caution to you. First, let me tell you about my experience and then a couple of things I have found that you should consider.
As social workers practice authentic responding and teach clients to respond authentically in their encounters with others, they should keep in mind the following guidelines related to the four elements of an authentic message:
Ragan, T. (2014 Jan 30) Carol Dweck - A study on praise and mindsets [Video File]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/NWv1VdDeoRY.
[Whole Class Activity] Watch the video.
[Whole Class Activity] Discuss:
As social workers, we sometimes have to authentically respond when there are requests made by the client or when we believe it is for the best interest of the client.
Client Initiated
Worker Initiated
“Another aspect of relating authentically entails relating assertively to clients when a situation warrants such behavior.”
Empathic responding is a fundamental yet complex skill that requires systematic practice and extensive effort to achieve competency.
We can all improve our own level of empathetic responding. I would encourage you to consider where you really are at in regarding to your ability to empathetically respond.
There are six levels on the empathic communication scale:
Level 0: Lack of empathic responding
It is actively judgmental and inappropriately confrontational
Level 1: Low level of empathic responding
Limited awareness or understanding of the client’s feelings; the social worker’s responses are irrelevant and often abrasive, hindering rather than facilitating communication
Common problems related to level one are…
Level 2: Moderately low level of empathic responding
Responding to client’s surface message but omitting feelings or factual aspects
Level 3: Interchangeable or reciprocal level of empathic responding
Ok therapeutic level of empathetic communication…
convey understanding and are essentially interchangeable with the client’s obvious expressions, accurately reflecting factual aspects of the client’s messages and surface feelings or state of being
Level 4: Moderately high level of empathic responding
Somewhat additive, accurately identifying the client’s implicit underlying feelings and/or aspects of the problem
Level 5: High level of empathic responding
Reflecting each emotional nuance and using voice and intensity of expressions finely attuned to the client’s moment-by-moment experiencing, the social worker accurately responds to the full range and intensity of both surface and underlying feelings and meanings at Level 5.
While we do not need to be in all of our relationships, or in every arena. I believe it can be helpful for us to self evaluate ourselves and what levels we might be at.
[Small Group Activity] Partner discussion with the following points:
The focus of week six for SOWK 486 is on communication skill/s. There are many what Hepworth et al. (2017) term as discrete verbal following skills. Rogers (1957), who developed the concept of person-centered counseling, described what he called the facilitative condition. This includes empathy, unconditional positive regard, and congruence. He proposed that when clinicians can maintain these aspects, they are able to support and help promote positive changes in their clients. The plan for today is to talk about the core skills that help clinicians be able to help their clients. The agenda is as follows: