Running Head: MICRO SKILLS 1

Lab Assignment #1: Micro Skills

Carmen Ambriz

SOWK 214: Generalist Practice I

La Sierra University

November 5, 2019
MICRO SKILLS 2

Social Worker’s Non-Verbal Behaviors

Based on the vignette given, there are a couple of non-verbal behaviors that would be

suitable for this case. To start off, Carl’s parents have been divorced for three years, which means

Carl was about nine years old when the divorce happened. With that being said, children are

affected by their parents divorce which can lead to many issues, such as withdrawal, poor

performance at school, poor social skills and possibly adapt to violent behaviour. Carl being a

young adolescent, and with the divorce of his parents might have disrupted his ability to possibly

start and maintain a relationship. Not to mention Carl did initially live with his mother after the

divorce, both parents need to be present in a child’s life. Both parents inhibit the growth and

development, deciding which parent is more beneficial is debatable.

In an office setting, impression is part of the commencement of the introductory stage,

this usually sets the relationship. As a professional, I will have to dress professionally, yet casual,

I want my client to feel safe and not intimidated by my appearance. My office will be the second

area of focus, it will likely have to be open, to allow a sense of freedom, a place where my client

can think freely without the distraction of large furniture or having the feeling of a barrier

between us, which results in the loss of connection. While sitting across from each other, body

language will play a huge role, sitting upright might come off as intimidating or too serious. As

mentioned, I would like my client to have the feeling of comfort and safety in my office,

therefore, sitting in a casual position will loosen up any tension and make myself more

approachable, this will hopefully encourage my client to open up. Eye contact is also a

non-verbal response, but in this case it is not appropriate, young adolescents have a sense of
MICRO SKILLS 3

awkwardness when maintaining eye contact with an individual with high authority, especially

being in a highly vulnerable position.

Social Worker’s Verbal Responses

My main focus would be brought upon Carl, due to the fact that the whole divorce and

his parents blaming each other for their son’s behavior mostly affects Carl more than anything

else, not to mention, a social worker’s main objective is to maintain safety. With that being said,

the six best fitting verbal responses for this situation would be: simple encouragement,

clarification, providing information, empowerment, self-disclosure, and summarization.

Simple encouragement can be demonstrated both physically and verbally that you are

actively listening to what the client is saying (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2015). Simple verbal

encouragement for Carl would be best, he is not doing so well right now with everything that is

going on, giving him positive feedback will boost his confidence and self-esteem, providing

hope that everything will be okay. A physical standpoint of simple encouragement would be

comforting touch, such as a light shoulder pat or a hand hold, of course with the proper and

appropriate consent. Clarification is the action of making sure what the client said has been

understood by the receiver (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2015). Clarification comes to the benefit to

the social worker, by simply asking questions, you make the statement easier to comprehend.

Asking the questions should be simple enough for the client to clarify, anything too complex

might agitate the client, which might result in withdrawal. Providing information as what the title

says; provide accurate information to the client who might be misinformed, there might be a

challenge with this verbal response. Providing information should be used very carefully, social

worker’s should guard against advising clients what they think they should do about an issue or
MICRO SKILLS 4

problem (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2015). This response is dedicated specifically towards the

parents. Now, I do not have the power to read minds, but I do have the power to ask questions

which gives me an insight of their way of thinking. Between the parents, I might inform them

about the effect their arguing has towards their son.

Empowerment, being one of the three principles of general practice, empowerment is the

process of increasing personal, interpersonal, or political power so that individuals can take

action to improve their life situation (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2015). Carl is in the need of simple

empowerment, after potentially blaming himself for the divorce, giving him positive feedback

will boost his confidence and self-esteem, providing hope that everything will be okay.

Self-disclosure is also a potential effective response, yet problematic. Social workers should only

self-disclose if it benefits the client or has relevance. Self-disclosure is a worker’s divulgence to

a client, their personal thoughts, information, feelings values or experiences (Kirst-Ashman &

Hull, 2015). Coming from divorced parents, I can relate to the many emotions Carl is

experiencing. This will further strengthen and richen the relationship established. Lastly,

summarization, usually indicates the end of the session, summarization restates the main points

made (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2015). This will be useful after each session, to go over and briefly

touch the key emotions and ideas discussed, this can also improve the situation, in terms of

opening up, you release any emotional buildup.

In that note, I will have to start off by assessing both parents and the child individually to

gather all information appropriate in order to work in my favor and for me to help them the best

that I can. I will first start off with Carl, and engage with him by asking him simple questions,

such as: how has the divorce of his parents make him feel? Did he have to move to a new school,
MICRO SKILLS 5

is so, how did that make him feel? Does he write down any feelings down? Does he like living

with his dad? What was it like living with his mom? How is he doing at school, and if he is

involved in any after school activities. That way I am able to connect the dots, for example if he

is not doing so well in school is it because by his parents constantly fighting? Does he not have

many friends at school? Or is this a greater issue? This will clarify what the main issue is and for

me to better assist the family.

An educator role will be dedicated towards the parents. I will have to educate the parents

how the divorced and constant arguing and fighting will have an effect on their child, even

though he is 12, it will still have a negative impact on him. Children tend to imitate what they see

and witness and integrate it somehow in their own lives. I will have to ask the parents questions

regarding the early life stages of their son, such as how was the marriage between both of them

when Carl was a baby? How was the father’s relationship with his son? How active was the

father while his son was a baby? How was the mother’s relationship between her son? And how

active was the mother while her son was a baby? (cde.ca.gov)

Once again, my main focus is on the state being of the child, once inside my office, based

off the vignette, I will be receiving him during his toughest time, he might be stressed,

emotionally imbalance, and possibly hurt, meaning Carl might blame himself for the reasoning

behind his parents divorcing even after three years.

Self-disclosure being a difficult verbal response, due to the fact that the client may

interpret this method as a form of becoming friends or anything greater than my initial role, this

might be my preferred response to the situation. I came from divorced parents, I was six years

old and my two younger sisters being three to four years younger than me, this will tie in
MICRO SKILLS 6

perfectly with creating a bond or confidentiality from Carl, except, I will have to leave out my

siblings from the picture due to the fact that Carl does not have any siblings. With this personal

experience, it will show that I can relate with him in a deep emotional and mentally level. This

experience should teach him that everything will be okay, this can also be an encouragement,

such as to not blame yourself for what happened between your parents, that is their problem and

that not child should never blame themselves for their parents actions or hold them accountable

for the outcome, the child did not ask for any of this to happen.

At the end of the session, I will summarize the important points made from both Carl and

I, in order for both of us to be on the same page. Along with the summarization, I will thank my

client for opening up to me, I understand talking about a situation that is still fresh hurts,

especially on a child who might think they are the cause of a complicated divorce.

Social Work Roles

There are many roles a social worker must play, in this case, the appropriate roles I would

take upon are: broker and mediator. A broker links clients to needed resources, and on the other

hand, a mediator tries to resolve any arguments (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2015). The reason being

is there is still some kind of conflict with both parents, which does not help the case whatsoever,

which has to come to an end sooner or later.

Broker fits well in this case because both parents seem to put their child on hold and

resolve the expenses of services, along with this side arguing, both parents are also affected by

the divorce, while I try and help their child, both parents can receive some kind of psychological

therapy or any service along these lines to help soothe this issue so no one blames one another.
MICRO SKILLS 7

As stated in the vignette, both parents blame each other for their child’s problematic

behaviour. In that sense, there is still some arguing going on, even after living in different

households. To reduce or solve this issue, I will have to have a talk with each individual parent

and hear their version of the story to determine why they think that way. This will take some

time, at some point, both parents will have to come to an agreement, determining whos paying

for Carl’s services, if this conclusion does not come and there is no progress made, I will have to

terminate the case or refer to another social worker to finish the case. There are many outside

factors that may contribute to the situation, such as early child development stages, parental

involvement, or family troubles, which as a social worker, it is my responsibility to reduce the

hurt that has occurred in this family and provide necessary resources in order to contribute to a

positive change.
MICRO SKILLS 8

References

“Ages and Stages of Development” Ages and Stages of Development - Child Development

(CA Dept. of Education). N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2019

Kirst-Ashman, Karen Kay,and Grafton H. Hull. “Practice for Working with Individuals.”

Understanding Generalist Practice. 7th ed. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2015. 67-75.

Print.