Problem Solving - the basic prhttp://web.hku.

hk/
%7Ehrnwlck/introsocwork/notesproblemsolving.htmocess of social work practice

The phases of the problem solving process

Different authors prefer different terminology, description and number of phases for the
problem solving process. Say, John Dewey chose:
1. recognizing the difficulty
2. defining the difficulty
3. developing possible solutions
4. selecting an optimal solution
5. carrying out the solution
Compton and Galaway chose:
1. Engagement
2. Assessment
3. Intervention or action
4. Evaluation
The PPPS model for social policies uses:
1. Problem definition
2. Policy
3. Programming
4. Service Delivery
5. Evaluation

Stress and Coping

This is another group of social work literature dealing mainly with how clients deal with
problem solving. Strictly speaking, the problem solving process described by John Dewey
(plus the obviously missing component "evaluation") is a general problem solving process

not just applicable to social work practice and such description can be equally applicable to
the problem solving process of clients. Anyway, the concepts of stress and coping are also
very useful in understanding the general problem solving process.
The general problem solving process as described by Compton and Galaway is basically a
"rational model", whereas the stress and coping literature also deal with the issue of
emotional responses in the problem situation.
Stress is a condition when uncertainty or risk is perceived in meeting our wants or towards
our well being. Examination is a source of stress, or "stressor". The possibility of failing the
examination or the failure of obtaining good grades produces "stress". Facing the same event,
say examination, different people will experience different level of stress. For those who do
care much about the examination or is so confident about one's own ability, there would be
hardly any stress. For those, who cares and yet have very little confidence will experience a
high level of stress.
Coping is to deal with the stress. The ways we handled coping are called "coping
mechanisms". The application of coping mechanisms for different persons in different
problem situation will depend on our personality, the appraisal of the problem situation, the
resources that we have, and our repertoire (patterns of behaviour that we use to act).
We may perceive the stressor as a threat, a challenge or an opportunity. The perception of a
threat would usually arouse negative reactions such as "fight" or "flight". "Fight" responses
are usually aggressive and confrontational. Whereas, "flight" is usually escapist, i.e. avoiding
the situation such as running away physically or emotional detached from the situation when
physical absence from the situation is not possible.
The perception of challenge will create drives to gear up oneself to deal with the situation,
such as gathering information, shape up existing skills or learning new skills, trying harder,
etc. Challenges are seen as taxing our abilities and yet apparently can be overcome.
When situation is perceived as an opportunity that is desirable and yet can only be obtained
with adequate efforts invested, the individual will appear to be optimistic and feel at ease.
Loss of opportunities can be quite unpleasant yet less stressful than failing to deal with a
threat or meeting a challenge.
Resources available to us are crucial to our ability to cope with the stress situation and
solving the problem. Different people are endowed with different resources, such as financial,
knowledge, wisdom, social network, etc. Social work process also helps to increase these
resources, such as providing knowledge and skills, suggesting alternatives, and bringing other
resources (e.g. financial, services, etc.) to the client.
We have behavioural patterns, i.e. repertoire. We tend to adopt the same pattern of behaviour
to deal with situations that are similar. When this set of repertoire is limited, our ability to
deal a variety of situations will be limited. Similarly, if we are too rigid in our repertoire, i.e.
unable to modify our behaviour when the situation changes, we would not be able to deal the
situation adequately. Expanding our repertoire and awareness of our own repertoire are
important for use to deal the ever-changing world.

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Additional note on the issue of terminology - client, customers or service users
Compton and Galaway distinguished four different terms, namely, client, respondent,
prospect, and applicant. In Hong Kong, the term "service user" is frequently used as a generic
term to describe those using social welfare or social work services. The Social Welfare
Department chooses to use the term "customer", as the "customer" is always right.

The Helping Process

http://thehelpingprocess.weebly.com/

Three phases of the helping process:

Phase 1: Exploration, engagement, assessment, and
planning
Phase 2: Implementation and goal attainment
Phase 3: Termination
Phase I: Exploring, engaging, assessing, and planning
Phase I is helpful in any setting and lays the groundwork for
subsequent application of interventions and strategies for
resolving clients problems and promotes problem-solving
skills
Processes involved and tasks to be completed during Phase I:
1. Exploring clients problems by eliciting comprehensive
data about the person/person, the presenting problem, and
environmental factors

-What circumstances brought the client?

-Is the client mandated?
-Give a brief description of your view on the purpose of the
client's visit and and aks how you can be of help
2. Establish rapport and increase motivation
-Having effective communication skills is crucial- you must
be able to engage the client
-Establishing rapport will help client feel less intimidated by
the process as well as to acquire clients trust; nonjudgmental
attitude, acceptance, respect or clients right of selfdetermination, respect of clients worth and dignity,
-Client must perceive you as understanding and genuinely
interested in their well-being.
-Cultural factors should always be considered when
implementing interviewing techniques
-Involuntary clients can be resistant-your interaction with the
client can help motivate and influence
-Acknowledge clients problem and recognize their motivation
to work towards a solution
-Establish expectations of the helping process

3. Formulate a multidimensional assessment of the problem,

identifying the systems that play a significant role in the
difficulties and identifying relevant resources that can be
utilized or must be developed
-Continue to establish rapport while exploring clients
problems
-Exploration of the problem is a critical process
-While exploring, attend to emotions and immediate concerns
-Gather information of the individual client, interpersonal and
environmental
-Recognize clients strengths (these can be tapped into during
the goal attainment phase)
-Formulate a working assessment from which the goals and
contract upon which Phase II of the problem-solving process
is based
-An adequate assessment includes analysis of the
problem, the person, and the ecological context
- Analysis of the individuals system includes assessment of
the clients wants and needs, coping strategies, strengths and
limitations, and motivation to work on the problem
-The factors to assess, which are critical in selecting
appropriate and attainable goals, are: flexibility, judgment,
emotional characteristics, degree of responsibility, capacity to
tolerate stress, ability to reason critically and interpersonal

skills
-Assessment of ecological factors involves consideration of
the adequacy or deficiency, success or failure, and strengths or
weakness of salient systems in the environment that bear on
the clients problem
-This assessment aims to identify systems that must be
strengthened, mobilized, or developed to satisfy the clients
unmet needs
-Some of the systems that affect clients needs include
couple, family, and social support systems , spiritual beliefs,
child care, health care, employment systems, various
institutions, and the physical environment
-Cultural factors should also be taken into consideration
-Keep in mind larger systems and the properties of these
such as power, rules, norms etc
-Remember that individual difficulties tend to be related to
systematic difficulties so interventions should be directed
towards both the system and the individual
-Assessment focuses on the style of communication employed
by individual participants, interactional patterns among
members, and the impact of individual members on process
that occur in the system. These factors are weighed when
selecting interventions intended to enhance functioning at
these different levels of the larger systems
Note: Problem exploration skill are used during the

assessment process that begins with the first contact with

clients and continues throughout the helping relationship
4. Mutually negotiating goals to be accomplished in
remedying or alleviating the problem and formulating a
contract
-This process aims to recognize what needs to be changed and
what related actions need to be taken to resolve or improve
the situation
-Formulating a contract is a vital process because it
demystifies the helping process and clarifies for clients what
they may expect from the relationship and what is expected of
them
-The solution-focused approach takes the position that goals
are central when working with clients
-By focusing on goals as perceived by clients, an empowering
momentum may be created
-Exploration of clients problems often reveals that resources
or services that are not provided by the agency may need to be
utilized.
Phase II: Implementation and Goal Attainment
1. Also known as the action-oriented or change-oriented
phase, this phase involves explaining the plans formulated
together by you and your client.
- The process begins with dividing the goal into general tasks

that identify general strategies to be employed in pursuit of

the goal
- These tasks are then divided into specific tasks that
designate what the client and social worker plan to do
between each of the sessions.
-after formulating goals with the client, you select and
implement interventions designed to assist the client in
accomplishing the goals set forth
-interventions should relate to the problems that were
identified and the goals that were designated
2. Enhancing self-efficacy
-The helping process is greatly enhanced when clients
experience an increased sense of self-efficacy
- Self-efficacy is when it is believed that they can
successfully accomplish a task or perform behaviors
associated with their goals
-Help clients become aware of their strengths and recognize
incremental progress of clients towards their goal attainment
3. Monitor Progress
-Monitoring progress is important for several reasons:
-Evaluating the effectiveness of change strategies and
interventions (for third-party payers and implementing
interventions that are based on evidence based practices)

-To guide clients efforts toward goal attainment

-Evaluating their progress towards their goals
enhances endurance of focus and efforts and promotes
efficient use of time
-To keep abreast of clients reactions to progress or lack of
-When clients do not feel that they have progressed
they may become discouraged and lose confidence
-To concentrate on goal attainment and evaluate progress
4. Barriers to Goal Accomplishment
-Progress rarely will go smoothly
-Clients typically encounter obstacles and experience anxiety,
fears, and frustration
-Others involved with the client may undermine the clients
efforts to change by being opposed to the changes, ridiculing,
or by making change even more difficult
-for this reason, it is important to involve significant
others in the problem-solving process
-You need to be aware of the challenges your client may face
and assist them to overcome these challenges
-Other barriers are personality factors, problematic behaviors,
and obstructions within the familys environment

-Finally, there are barriers in regards to denial of services by

organizations, or policies and procedures that restrict clients
access to resources
5. Relational Reactions
- Working with your client may create emotions for each of
you, hamper the helping process and create difficulty towards
goal attainment
-Clients may have unrealistic expectations or misperceive
your intentions
-this may cause disappointment, discouragement, hurt,
anger, rejection, and other emotional reactions and hamper the
helping process
-In addition, couples, parents, and other group members may
experience relational reactions to other members resulting in
problems while they are interacting
- These reactions reflect maladaptive attitudes and beliefs
learned from relationships with parents or significant others
-Make sure that you explore and resolve these relational
reactions
-Finally, make sure you are aware of your own relational
reactions and how to manage them
6. Enhancing Clients Self-Awareness

-During the helping process, clients will experience a wide

variety of emotions from confusion, anger, and being
overwhelmed
-Though at these times you may veer from goal
attainment activities, this is also a time that clients have an
opportunity for growth in self-awareness
-You can facilitate the process of self-discovery by employing
additive empathic responses (discussed in chapter 17) during
the goal attainment phase
-These can be applied both in individual and group
sessions
-Additive responses are particularly helpful with clients who
wish to get in touch with their emotions and wish to express
their feelings to significant others
-Confrontation is another technique used to foster selfawareness
-Confrontation helps clients become aware of growthdefeating inconsistencies in perceptions, feelings,
communications, behavior, values and attitudes, and then
examine these discrepancies in relations to stated goals.
7. Use of Self
-Throughout the helping process, you will increasingly use
yourself as a tool to facilitate growth and
accomplishment

-Relating and disclosing feelings, views, and experiences

ensure that clients believe that you are genuine, open and
authentic
-By modeling authentic behavior, you encourage clients to
reciprocate by risking authentic behavior themselves
-By doing so, they will achieve significant growth in
self-realization and in interpersonal relations
-Assertiveness should be used when problematic behaviors
impinge on the relationship or impede progress
Phase III: Termination
The terminal phase includes three major aspects:
1. Assessing when client goals have been satisfactorily
attained
-You may develop specific indicators of goal achievement
(discussed in chapter 12)
-Termination may be based off these indicators
2. Helping the client develop strategies that maintain change
and continue growth following termination
-After termination many clients relapse or regress to their
previous level of functioning
3. Successfully terminating the helping relationship

-Termination may produce mixed feelings for both you and

the client
-If you have had an extensive period of time with your client,
they may have a sense of attachment
-Try to have follow-up sessions to evaluate results and to
facilitate the termination process by indication the social
workers continuing interest in clients