DQ 1 WEEK 3 response 2 449
Hello Professor Smith and Classmates,
In the first session, the social worker remains seated when the client walks into the room and as she shakes his hand. She immediately points out that he is late to their meeting as well. Furthermore, when she is talking to the client about what their session entails, she uses language such as “i have to” to describe that she needs to inform the client of his rights and the confidentiality she should provide him. Her tone when discussing his progress as she states “you started treatment but never finished it” and “you probably didn’t learn much in those two weeks” is judgmental and accusatory. As a result, you can see the client is guarded, defensive, short with his responses, and doesn’t fully open up to her. By the end of the session, the client is extremely upset and storms out of the session. (Honestly, can you blame him?)
From Session 1, I learned that how you interact with the client even at the beginning with body language can set up how the course of the session is going to proceed. Additionally, it does not matter what you personally think about what a client has done or who a client is, as social workers you are not put in place to cast further judgement on a client, rather your job is to be a resource and provide help to them. How you choose to interact with the client, whether that be open minded, understanding, non-judgmental and compassionate or the opposite will determine how your relationship with the client unfolds and grows. In the Redo of Session 1, you can see a difference in the way that the client responds to the social worker in the way she immediately greets him as he walks in, asks him to sit and asks him how he would like to be addressed by name. She also talks directly with the client about the purpose of their meeting rather than stating that she “has to” do these things. She is speaking respectfully to the client, offering him the opportunity to correct her on his record if she understands anything incorrectly, and allows him the space to share why he didn’t continue his treatment.
In watching the redo we can see that the way the social worker chooses to interact via non-verbal and verbal communication determines how comfortable or safe the client feels sharing personal information about themselves. In the first session, the client gave short responses with no additional information and in the redo of the session, the client is more open about themselves and why they didn’t continue therapy. The client is much more willing to work with the social worker, to agree to different treatment options or trying previous options again and is much more willing answer her questions when she is welcoming, warm, attentive, and non-judgmental about his past actions.
Our texts emphasizes the importance of respecting the individual, “To affirm the uniqueness of another person, you must be committed to entering that individual’s world, endeavoring to understand how that person experiences life. Only by attempting to walk in his or her shoes can you gain a full appreciation of the rich and complex individuality of another person.” (Hepworth, D. H., Rooney, R. H., Rooney, G. D., & Strom-Gottfried, K., 2017) We saw in both videos how disrespect for an individual and respect for the individual makes a world of difference.
What are your thoughts class?
Respectfully,
Stephanie
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References:
Hepworth, D. H., Rooney, R. H., Rooney, G. D., & Strom-Gottfried, K. (2017). The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Work. Direct Social Work Practice: Theory and Skills (10th ed.). Cengage Learning.
