Fall 2026 SOWK 486w Week 07 - Counterproductive Communication

In week seven, the topic of counterproductive communication builds on week six, which generally focuses on skills related to communication. Communication occurs all the time, through both verbal and nonverbal patterns. As social workers, we have an obligation to examine how we communicate and make an effort not to create barriers that hinder free communication. The agenda for class this week is as follows:

  • Parts and best practices of verbal and nonverbal communication
  • Verbal communication
  • Barriers to communication

Learning objectives include:

  • Identify and describe common counterproductive communication patterns and interviewing roadblocks.
  • Evaluate and apply verbal and nonverbal communication techniques to strengthen therapeutic rapport.
  • Reflect on how implicit bias and personal communication styles influence engagement.

Big Bang Theory Video Clip

[Whole Class Activity] Watch the video clip.

Sheldon uses some counterproductive communication patterns. While, with the relationship that Sheldon has with Penny, he seems to be effective. Today we are spending time talking about some of the what not to do.

Week Seven Plan

Agenda

  • Parts and best practices of verbal and nonverbal communication
  • Verbal communication
  • Barriers to communication

Learning objectives

  • Identify and describe common counterproductive communication patterns and interviewing roadblocks.
  • Evaluate and apply verbal and nonverbal communication techniques to strengthen therapeutic rapport.
  • Reflect on how implicit bias and personal communication styles influence engagement.

Preparation for In-Class Teach Back

Students are to prepare to share information about their selected area to their classmates. This should include recording a video. Students may choose to create a presentation that can be completed during class. The goal is to help classmates know how to assess for the given topic and have a group discussion about the topic.

  • Assessing Biophysical Functioning (pp. 168-172)
  • Assessing Cognitive/Perceptual Functioning (pp. 172-176)
  • Assessing Affective Functioning (pp. 176-180)
  • Assessing Behavioral Functioning (pp. 180-182)
  • Assessing Environmental System (pp. 182-186)

Content can be shared through providing information, group discussion, and demonstration.

[Whole Group Activity] Select Topics

Have class divide into five groups (Potentially number students off). Race to answer questions

  1. Tell me three of the inappropriate interviewing techniques:
  1. Stacking questions
  2. Asking leading questions
  3. Interrupting inappropriately or excessively
  4. Dominating the interaction
  5. Keeping discussion focused on safe topics
  6. Responding infrequently
  7. Parroting or overusing certain phrases or clichés
  8. Vague effusive positivity
  9. Dwelling on the remote past
  10. Tangential exploration
  11. Failing to be aware of implicit and cognitive bias (p. 134)
  1. Tell me three of the inappropriate interviewing techniques:

Tell me three more

  1. What is one verbal communication behavior that can contributes barriers?
  1. Reassuring, sympathizing, consoling, or excusing
  2. Advising and giving suggestions or solutions prematurely
  3. Using sarcasm or employing humor that is distracting or makes light of clients’ problems
  4. Judging, criticizing, or placing blame
  5. Trying to convince the client about the right point of view through logical arguments, lecturing, instructing, or arguing
  6. Making a declaration rather than inviting a discussion about options
  7. Threatening, warning, or counterattacking (p. 129)
  1. What is one verbal communication behavior that can contributes barriers?

Tell me one more

Group who hasn’t answered is last.

Verbal and Nonverbal Behavior

How we manage and deal with verbal and non verbal behavior has a lot to do with how we are able to communicate.

[Discussion] Who has seen Lie to Me?

[Activity] Watch Lie to Me Intro video

Lie to Me is not actually exactly accurate, but there is some truth.

  • Human interaction and communication involve both verbal and nonverbal behavior.
  • Verbal behavior is what is being said.
  • Non verbal behavior is communication in ways other than spoken words.
  • People communicate by…
    • Facial expressions
    • Hand movements
    • Eye contact
    • Sitting position
    • Proximity
  • Any aspect of a person’s presence that conveys ideas or information without being spoken is nonverbal communication.

Verbal and Nonverbal Behavior

Any aspect of a person’s presence that conveys ideas or information without being spoken is nonverbal communication. In communication in general, there are six basic parts of communication:

  1. Attentive listening
  2. Eye contact
  3. Facial expressions
  4. Body positioning
  5. Paraverbal
  6. Verbal

As we think about these verbal and nonverbal aspects, we should also be thinking about this threefold task:

(1) to assess your repetitive nonverbal behaviors (2) to eliminate nonverbal styles that hinder effective communication (3) to sustain and perhaps increase desirable nonverbal behaviors

Attentive Listening

The opposite of talking isn’t listening. The opposite of talking is waiting. ~ Fran Lebowitz

Attentive listening implies more than just audio reception of the words that are said. It focuses on comprehending the meaning of what is said. This can be called physical attending.

It takes real focus on the person you are talking to.

Psychomotor Behavior (Body Positioning/Posture)

Our posture and body positioning are important; it is one way that we provide information to others.

We can think about four quadrants:

  • Tension vs. Relaxed Positions
  • Open vs. Closed positions

When working with clients, it is important how you present yourself nonverbally.

[Activity] Have a student act out what it might look like to be tense vs. relaxed.

  • Tension
    • Extreme tension could convey a lack of confidence or excessive nervousness.
    • It could cause distance between you and the client, and they may have a difficult time feeling comfortable or trusting you.
  • Relaxed
    • But on the other hand, being too relaxed could give the impression that you do not care much about what happens
    • It could damage your professional credibility.

Posture

Recommended

  • Arms and hands moderately expressive; appropriate gestures
  • Body leaning slightly forward; attentive but relaxed

Not Recommended

  • Rigid body position; arms tightly folded
  • Body turned at an angle to client
  • Fidgeting with hands
  • Squirming or rocking in chair
  • Leaning back or placing feet on desk
  • Hand or fingers over mouth
  • Pointing finger for emphasis

(Hepworth et al., 2023)

Eye contact

We don’t want to have no eye contact, and we don’t want to have constant eye contact. We want to have moderate eye contact, which is somewhere in between no eye contact and constant eye contact.

Not extremes…

  • No Eye Contact
  • Constant Eye Contact
  • Moderate Eye Contact

We should remember:

  • Purpose: Eye contact is important in establishing rapport with clients.
  • Variability: It is important to remember that eye contact varies among different cultural backgrounds.
  • Significance:
    • The inability to make eye contact could mean that someone is afraid or insecure; it might also imply disinterest or dishonesty.
    • On the other hand, maintaining constant eye contact can be intimidating or make someone uncomfortable.
    • Eye contact is a complex nonverbal behavior. it can be intimidating or make someone uncomfortable.

Facial Expressions

[Activity] What emotion are each of these facial features expressing?

Have each image and have students try to guess

  • Like everything in SW, It’s about self-evaluation
    • We’re not only looking at the client’s facial features or affect, but also becoming aware of our own.
    • Are our facial expressions corresponding with our other nonverbal behavior and what we are saying?
  • Facial expressions provide an excellent means of communication.
  • Facial expressions can reinforce what you say verbally and emphasize that you mean what you say.
  • We need to be concerned about whether we have incongruence and leakage (e.g., feelings about the client leaked out)

Images from (Mizgajski & Morzy, 2019)

Reference

Mizgajski, J., & Morzy, M. (2019). Affective recommender systems in online news industry: how emotions influence reading choices. User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction, 29(2), 345-379. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11257-018-9213-x

Facial Expressions

For both facial features and eye contact, the following are the recommendations based on the Hepworth et al. (2023) text.

Recommended

  • Direct eye contact (except when culturally proscribed)
  • Warmth and concern reflected in facial expression
  • Eyes at the same level as the client’s
  • Appropriately varied and animated facial expressions
  • Mouth relaxed; occasional smiles

Not Recommended

  • Avoidance of eye contact
  • Staring or fixating on person or object
  • Lifting eyebrow critically
  • Eye level higher or lower than the client’s
  • Nodding head excessively
  • Yawning
  • Frozen or rigid facial expressions
  • Inappropriate slight smile
  • Pursing or biting lips

(Hepworth et al., 2023)

Body Positioning

[Activity] Class participant to demonstrate space. (Clinicians should be at the closer end of the social)

  • Distance
    • The use of personal space or distance between you and the client is a part of body positioning.

Physical Proximity

Recommended

  • Three to five feet between chairs

Not recommended

  • Excessive closeness or distance
  • Talking across a desk or other barrier

(Hepworth et al., 2023)

For the Birds

We are going to watch a short clip from Pixar (partly because I love Pixar) called for the Birds. There is no words used in the video, but the birds communicate through chirping. They communicate by using tone of voice, volume, and cadence. Watch the video and look for the emotions the birds demonstrate and how they communicate them paraverbally.

[Whole Class Activity] Watch Pixar’s short film for the birds.

  • What emotions were shown?
  • How could you tell related to paraverbal communication?

Paraverbal Communication

Paraverbal communication is how we say the things we say, not the words we use.

[Discussion] What is each

  • Tone
  • Volume
  • Cadence

Note described using this terminology from the textbook.

Tone of Voice (1 of 5) - How

[Whole Class Activity] Have students go around and put emphasis on different words in the sentence “how can I help you.”

Emphasis on “how”

Tone of Voice (2 of 5) - Can

[Whole Class Activity] Have students go around and put emphasis on different words in the sentence “how can I help you.”

Emphasis on “can”

Tone of Voice (3 of 5) - I

[Whole Class Activity] Have students go around and put emphasis on different words in the sentence “how can I help you.”

Emphasis on “I”

Tone of Voice (4 of 5) - Help

[Whole Class Activity] Have students go around and put emphasis on different words in the sentence “how can I help you.”

Emphasis on “help”

Tone of Voice (5 of 5) - You

[Whole Class Activity] Have students go around and put emphasis on different words in the sentence “how can I help you.”

Emphasis on “you”

Voice

Recommended

  • Clearly audible but not loud
  • Warmth in tone of voice
  • Voice modulated to reflect nuances of feeling and emotional tone of client messages
  • Moderate speech tempo

Not Recommended

  • Mumbling or speaking inaudibly
  • Monotonic voice
  • Halting speech
  • Frequent grammatical errors
  • Prolonged silences
  • Excessively animated speech
  • Slow, rapid, or staccato speech
  • Nervous laughter
  • Consistent clearing of throat
  • Speaking loudly

(Hepworth et al., 2023)

Verbal Communication

There can be barriers to verbal communication through the messages we try to send in our verbal communication.

Every time we communicate a message with another person or group of people, there is an intent and an impact. At both of these levels, there can be barriers.

  • Message

  • Barriers in …
  • Intent

  • Impact

  • In Intent
    • The client may be using words, phrases, or concepts that are not clear to you.
    • The client may be saying something vague, and their intent is not what you interpret.
  • In Environment
    • Thinking what your going to say next
    • Phones ringing
    • Home visits
    • Children
  • In Impact
    • Concerns regarding crisis
    • Personal problems
    • Biases

(Kirst-Ashman and Hull, 2015)

Reference

Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hull, G. H. (2015). Understanding Generalist Practice (7th ed.). Cengage Learning.

Twelve Communication Roadblocks (1 of 4)

Communication is one area of constant and incremental improvement for everybody. I had an interesting experience while living in South America. I had gone down to Lima to get my camera fixed, and on my bus ride I ran into some problems.

Story about trip from Lima to Cusco

  • From 21 hours to 36 hours
  • Protest about governmental officials in province
  • People blocking the road, throwing rocks, and painting vehicles

Generally, our clients don’t throw rocks at us, but our communication, rapport, and ability to work with them will improve when we reduce roadblocks to effective communication.

Twelve Communication Roadblocks (2 of 4)

While Hepworth lays out 7 different roadblocks, Gordon (2003) describes 12 different ones. They are all incorporated into parts of the ones described in the book. I wanted to spend some time discussing these.

[Whole Class Activity] Discuss what each roadblock might look like in communication.

  1. Ordering, directing, commanding
  2. Warning, admonishing, threatening
  3. Exhorting, moralizing, preaching
  4. Advising and giving solutions or suggestions
  5. Lecturing, teaching, giving logical arguments
  6. Judging, criticizing, disagreeing, blaming

(Gordon, 2003)

-> For information’s sake, the 7 roadblocks described by Hepworth et al (2023)

  1. Reassuring, sympathizing, consoling, or excusing
  2. Advising and giving suggestions or solutions prematurely
  3. Using sarcasm or employing humor that is distracting or makes light of clients’ problems
  4. Judging, criticizing, or placing blame
  5. Trying to convince the client about the right point of view through logical arguments, lecturing, instructing, or arguing
  6. Making a declaration rather than inviting a discussion about options
  7. Threatening, warning, or counterattacking

Twelve Communication Roadblocks (3 of 4)

  1. Praising, agreeing
  2. Name-calling, ridiculing, shaming
  3. Interpreting, analyzing, diagnosing
  4. Reassuring, sympathizing, consoling, supporting
  5. Probing, questioning, interrogating
  6. Withdrawing, distracting, humoring, diverting

(Gordon, 2003)

[Discussion] Do we ever do any of these?

Reference

Gordon, T (2003) Teacher effectiveness training. First Revised Edition. New York: Three Rivers Press

Twelve Communication Roadblocks (4 of 4)

[Small Group Activity] Talk with a partner about how you sometimes fall into counterproductive communication patterns. You don’t need to be overly personal, but it helps everyone recognize that we can improve our communication patterns.

Please consider sharing any of the following; you do not have to go through all of the points:

  • What counterproductive communication pattern do you use?
  • How has counterproductive communication affected a conversation you’ve been in?
  • A personal story about counterproductive communication in your life?
  • A way you try to use positive communication patterns in your life?

Inappropriate Interviewing Technique Barriers

The following is a list of inappropriate interviewing techniques…

[Whole Class Activity] Break up into groups of three or 4, look at this list and 2 or three of barriers… and plan a way to demonstrate or show this.

See p. 135 in book

_ Stacking questions _ Asking leading questions _ Interrupting inappropriately or excessively _ Dominating the interaction _ Keeping discussion focused on safe topics _ Responding infrequently _ Parroting or overusing certain phrases or clichés _ Vague effusive positivity _ Dwelling on the remote past _ Tangential exploration _ Failing to be aware of implicit and cognitive bias

(Hepworth et al., 2023)