https://terriswaty.wordpress.

com/2014/09/05/social-work-values-and-ethics/

SW PRACTICE W/ INDIVIDUALS/FAMILIES

Barriers to Change;
Termination
DECEMBER 5, 2014SW PRACTICE W/ INDIVIDUALS/FAMILIES4 COMMENTS
I want to start by saying how excited I am this semester is
finally coming to a close. This has probably been the most
academically difficult semester I have had in a while. The
amount of stress was ridiculous at times, but I have learned so
much. Everything we learned this semester is imperative for
successful practice so even though it was difficult, I am
appreciative.

This week in class, we discussed barriers to change. There are

barriers to you as the counselor, barriers to the client, and
barriers to the system.I want to touch on barriers to the
counselor and barriers to the client since I think these are the
hardest to overcome. Connecting our clients to resources is our
job so I think we would have less trouble overcoming barriers
in the system.

Barriers to you as the counselor could be counter-transference,

stereotypes, boundaries, burn out, compassion fatigue/vicarious
trauma, over/under involvement, and lack of cultural
awareness/sensitivity. Addressing these barriers is essential to
being aware of the feelings you have when you are with your
client. Self-awareness is another key to social work practice.

Barriers to the client could be transference, mistrust,

unfamiliarity, and pre-contemplation. The client may have had
bad relationships in their past and they could transfer those
feelings unto the social worker. It can be difficult to create a
trusting relationship if those feelings are not addressed. Clients
may also not trust the process because they are unfamiliar and
feel uncomfortable. If a client is in the pre-contemplation stage,
they are not ready to change or do not realize they have a
problem that needs to be changed. These clients may need
motivational interviewing in order to gain the motivation to
change.

I personally think counter-transference/transference would be

the hardest thing for me to overcome. I have had a hard past and
I would hate if I realized I was transferring my feelings onto my
clients. Self-awareness and consulting with your supervisor are
two things that may help during these situations. What barriers
to change do you think you might struggle with?

Once again, burnout was discussed. Throughout the semester,

self-care was emphasized time and time again. People cannot
stress enough that taking time to take care of one’s self is of the
utmost importance when working with clients. Burn out can be
recognized by symptoms such as unhappiness, fatigue, loss of
motivation, increase of negative outlook, and difficulty
empathizing with clients. Obviously, developing a plan to
combat burnout is important to maintaining a healthy work
attitude. What are some self-care methods you use?
Termination is an important part of the therapeutic relationship.
It is the closing of the meetings. It is important to not just spring
termination on the clients since they need to prepare
emotionally. Clients must know from the beginning when the
meetings will come to a close. It is also important to maintain
boundaries when deciding how you are going to maintain
relationships with clients outside a working relationship. How
do you think you will keep in contact with your clients?

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Blog 11-
Interventions;
Additive Empathy
NOVEMBER 29, 2014SW PRACTICE W/ INDIVIDUALS/FAMILIES5 COMMENTS
First, I want to apologize for this being late. I assumed I was
going to have time tomorrow to write it but my family had
pretty much our entire day planned. I should have predicted that
and wrote the blog earlier in the week. On that note, I hope
everyone had a happy holiday weekend!

This week in class we continued discussing three interventions:

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, Task Centered Approach, and
Crisis Intervention. Solution-Focused Brief Therapy is based on
the assumption that small changes can lead to larger changes
and that paying attention to to solutions is more relevant than
focusing on problems. SFBT is client centered and strengths
based. SFBT incorporates the use of different types of questions
to get clients to tap into their own capacities and allows the
clients to be hands on when creating alternatives to their
situations. One type of question is the exception question. This
questions is asked to get the client to think of a time when the
problem wasn’t happening or didn’t occur. Another type of
question is the miracle question (my personal favorite). The
miracle question is asked in order for the client to take a minute
and imagine that a miracle happened and the problem was
magically solved. The client is then asked to explain what that
day would be like after the problem was solved. A third type of
question that can be used could be a scaling question. This
question just helps the client estimate how bad the problem
actually is. This question also assesses a person’s confidence in
their ability to change. A fourth type of question that could be
used is a coping question. This question asks how the client has
coped in the past and can also help point out a client’s strengths.

We had the opportunity to watch the video with the family

consisting of the mother, father, and daughter who were not
getting along and the father was out of work. The social worker
used the intervention Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
excellently. She creatively used miracle questions, exception
questions, indirect complimenting, coping questions, and
scaling questions. I especially liked the way she incorporated
the miracle questions and the scaling question. What was your
favorite part of the video or a question you think the social
worker executed well?

Another intervention we talked about was Crisis Intervention.

Knowing what type of crisis a person is experiencing and when
to intervene is essential for skilled practice. There are several
different types of crises a person can go through such as death
in a family, sudden illness, being bullied, loss of job,
discrimination, internal crises, and other traumatic events. Crisis
Intervention focuses on the 3RP: reduce symptoms, relieve
stress, restore functioning, and prevent deterioration. There are
seven steps within crisis intervention. Those steps are: define
problem, ensure client safety, provide supports, examine
alternatives, make plans, obtain commitment, and anticipate
triggers or relapse.

I have a tendency to like Crisis Intervention more than other

interventions because I personally know how affective it can be.
I was in a pretty bad car accident and this intervention would
have been very helpful in the situation. The driver of the vehicle
I was in struck a pedestrian that he did not see. I however did
see him and the result of the accident was me have post
traumatic stress disorder and not getting treatment for at least a
year after. I feel like if this model was put into place, both the
driver and I would have been more stable in the months that
followed. Was there a time in your life that you feel this
intervention could have helped you?

The last intervention we continued going over this week was

Task-Centered Approach. This approach focuses on identifying
the target problem, setting goals, listing tasks to reach those
goals, and then determining specific tasks that can be
completed. Goals that are identified must be attainable and time
oriented. We had the opportunity to watch a video about a
family with a husband who had lost his job and living in
transitional housing. The family identified goals with the social
worker and then set out to complete those goals. I feel like this
approach can be very beneficial for those who want to see
immediate changes.

Tuesday was a practice class and we had the opportunity to go

over these interventions in different scenarios using additive
empathy and the techniques we used. When going through the
packet, I realized that solution focused is still my favorite
intervention to act out. I love the idea of the miracle question.
What was the intervention you feel came easiest to you?

I also have found myself using additive empathy in serious

conversations. For example, I was talking to my younger cousin
this weekend about how stressed he is about sending in his
college applications. He has been avoiding it even though the
deadlines are approaching. I have personally been through the
stress of submitting college applications but since he was
avoiding the situation, I knew there must be deeper reason
behind his stress. After speaking with him and using semantic
and propositional interpretations, he came to the conclusion that
he was feeling forced to apply to schools farther from home
even though he wasn’t ready to leave his comfort zone so he
was avoiding the process all together. It was actually a great
conversation for both of us and I found myself feeling closer to
him after. Have there been times you’ve felt like you’ve used
additive empathy in everyday situations?

-Terri

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Blog 10: Family

Intervention and
Additive Empathy
NOVEMBER 22, 2014SW PRACTICE W/ INDIVIDUALS/FAMILIES5 COMMENTS
Sooo.. I know this is late, and I do apologize. The past couple of
weeks have been particularly taxing after starting a new
medication. But I’m here now and we’re gonna get this done!
So this past week we discussed additive empathy and family
intervention. Both are crucial to our work as well as our own
lives.

In keeping the systems perspective in mind, Family Intervention

may be one of the most important factors of what we do. Since
we’re all a product of how we’re raised and our interactions
with others as well as our own thoughts and feelings, we must
work with families to support our clients, otherwise we’re only
being half as effective as we can be. The idea of meta-
communication, or communicating about communicating, is
one which I thoroughly agree with. Often we tend to react to
others, without knowing why it is that we’re doing so or what it
is that we mean or want. Taking a step back from the situation
and analyzing it together as a family can truly help get to the
heart of the problems.

I’ve seen this in effect in my own life. My father has an

addiction to alcohol, and it has placed a strain on my family
which I’ve experienced all my life. Growing up, it was easy just
to despise him for what my family has gone through. I still
loved him, but I was only looking at the behavior, not the
emotions behind it. It wasn’t until I took Dr. Shorkey’s
Treatment of Substance Use Disorders class that I truly began to
understand it. What one person goes through affects the whole
family. Since alcoholism usually goes hand in hand with
depression in working to isolate the person, it was plain that that
was what my father had been doing: working to isolate himself
from us by reacting in ways which made us dislike him. It took
a lot of work and many conversations with him about how we
interacted late into the night before I learned that his own father
had been physically abusive to him and his mother. I began to
understand the fear my father had of winding up that way, and
how that fear had in effect led to just that happening. It’s easy to
jump to conclusions about someone, but truly difficult
understand their feelings, and talking about how you talk, and
what you mean, and why, can lead to the heart of the issue. It
does require honesty and vulnerability, and that is something
that each individual as well as different cultures express
differently, but by reaching that state of communicating on a
purely emotional level by suspending emotions, you reach a
greater understanding of each other.

And all this talk of emotions leads perfectly into additive

empathy. Since emotions are our job, it makes sense that
reaching deeper emotional awareness would be part of what we
do. Our brains tend to do a good job of shielding us from harm,
whether it’s physical or emotional. After my car wreck, I didn’t
feel hurt because of the adrenaline. After a major shock, it’s
common to feel numb. We tend to avoid our negative feelings,
because they hurt. But by embracing them, we gain a greater
totality and awareness of who we are as people. Gestalt
approach. It’s easy to avoid a situation because we’re afraid that
we might not act the way we wish. This avoidance often leads
to the counter-productive things in our lives. It is at these times
that confrontation can be helpful. By being honest with
ourselves, and facing our feelings, we can work to understand
what’s going on behind our masks and work to change our
behaviors.

I realize that during this whole thing I’ve kept my focus on the
third-person plural (we, our, etc.) rather than discussing things
in terms of clients and social workers (us, them). Reflecting
back on it, I don’t wish to change this. We are no different than
our clients, and go through the same emotional experiences as
them. Maybe not the same situations, but similar emotions, and
doing it together with them only helps to build the relationship.
I do feel it is important to be wary of propositional
interpretations and assertive confrontation. We don’t want to
put words in our clients’ mouths or push them away. I believe
just seeing them as ourselves may be helpful.

I admit that it was difficult for me to work on examples in class

this week. My new med is a benzodiazepine and it had me
kinda checked out at times, but this is my unrestrained
emotional response to this past week’s topics. Thoughts?

-Jordan Whittley

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Blog 9: Cognitive
Reconstruction;
Solution Focused
NOVEMBER 15, 2014SW PRACTICE W/ INDIVIDUALS/FAMILIES9 COMMENTS
Cognitive Restructuring is founded on the idea that our thoughts
influence our feelings and emotions which ultimately affect the
way we behave and act on a given situation. The brain begins to
formulate patterns about past life events and can often leave the
person to conclude negative thoughts about oneself, other
people, or about the world around us. Its goal is to change how
they behave or act based by changing how someone thinks. The
first step is to help the client understand how our thoughts
determine our emotional responses to particular situations by
identifying cognitive distortions. Cognitive distortions include
all or nothing thinking, overgeneralization, mental filters
(focusing only on the negative and not the positive),
magnification or minimization, fortune telling, should
statements, personalization and blame, etc.

Many of us fall prey to these universal distortions. I know this

year in terms of class coursework, my jobs, thesis, and post-
grad applications have left me quite busy. I begin feeling
overwhelmed, frustrated with high anxiety. I often begin to
engage in should statements and start dwelling in the negative.
The important thing is that I recognize these distortions as I
notice my anxiety getting higher. I then recognize that I have
too much in my plate so it is natural that I feel tired and want to
go to bed. This allows me to normalize my situation and justify
my situation and feelings. From the distortions delineated above
and discussed in class, is there a cognitive distortion in which
you identify more than others? What do you do to untwist the
way you think?

The second step of cognitive reconstructing is to challenge the

client’s cognitive distortions by having them thinking about
specific situations where in which they normally engaged in
these distortions and dwelled in negative emotions. The clients
must describe the way they felt, what was going on in their
mind, and how they acted. Thirdly, we must develop coping
statements collaboratively with the client. Coping statements
are balanced thoughts and statements that justifies the way one
feels. These can be positive affirmations that begin with “I am”
“I can” or “I will.” For example, I will succeed or I am hard-
working. The last steps are to assign the client homework and
outline self-rewards for the client.
How does everyone feel about using this intervention? What do
you think are some of the limitations of this intervention?
Another intervention discussed in class was Solution Focused
Therapy, which is a client centered approach because the client
creates their own solutions to their problems. It assumes the
client knows how to solve their problem and only focuses on
the good and not the bad. Instead of focusing in the here and
now, it is more future oriented because the present is where it’s
problematic. In class we watched a video where the therapist
was able to incorporate some of the unusual questions, in which
the questions asked are the interventions, in a very constructive
way. We were able to see outcome, exception, coping, and
scaling questions at work. What were some of the things you
liked or disliked about the approach?

María

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Blog 8: Task
Centered, Crisis,
Intervention
NOVEMBER 6, 2014SW PRACTICE W/ INDIVIDUALS/FAMILIES7 COMMENTS
Today in class we discussed the Crisis Intervention Model
which aims reduce a client’s stress and many of the feelings of
hopelessness and lost. It aims to restore functioning and prevent
the client from feeling like they are “falling apart” both
mentally and physically.

Professor Johnson covered the seven critical steps social

workers should follow when they come across an internal or
external crisis. These are important steps that we should all
think about as we enter field in the spring, I know I am because
my field placement is at Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid whose
clients are experiencing many forms of crisis such as domestic
violence or pending legal matters. These steps include: (1)
Defining the Problem (2) Ensure Client Safety (3) Identify
Social Supports (4) Examine Alternatives (5) Make Plans (6)
Obtain Commitment (7) Anticipate “triggers” or relapse.

To me, step 2, ensuring client safety, resonates with me. Three

years ago, when my cousin whom is an undocumented
immigrant from Mexico, reached out to my father during a time
of crisis. She was thinking of leaving her husband because she
had enough of domestic violence. She asked my father if she
and her four kids could stay with us. I remember my father who
holds traditional catholic values told her that she couldn’t just
leave her husband and that she needed to work things out. I
remember being so appalled by his recommendation and
screaming at my father for not wanting to drive to the city she
lived in that was three hours away. I was so disappointed. She
had built the courage to rely on her support network for her
safety, but my father’s religious values affected her safety.
While this may not be an example of a social worker failing to
ensure a client’s safety, I think it’s a very important story to
think about in terms of also diving in deeper in who a client
may consider a person of support and how religion and Mexican
familism values may play a role.

Now, that we have all received our field placements, do you

feel like the crisis intervention model may be a good tool to use
during our field agencies? Knowing your client population, our
times of crisis foreseeable in your field agency?
-María

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Blog 7: Open Topic

OCTOBER 31, 2014SW PRACTICE W/ INDIVIDUALS/FAMILIES6 COMMENTS
This week groups presented information that they learned in
their interviews. Everyone interviewed a different social worker
for the project, so getting back that much feedback from
currently-practicing social workers is astounding. Although all
the topics were different, besides the two mental health groups,
the information was often fairly similar. Challenges, positive
aspects, and words of wisdom were very similar. Some theories
overlapped in many of the different topic areas.

This project helped to give me a better idea of the types of

social work and the differences between them. The description
of the agencies helped to learn more about social service
agencies in the Austin-area. The day-to-day activities painted
the picture for what a typical day is like for a social worker in
each field. I think the biggest issue I had with presentations is
with how specific some groups got. I understood the project to
be a broader summary of their practice area. Of course this
would mean synthesizing what group members learned, but
doing it in a way that was a bit more general and less specific.

I choose mental health because I am actually really interested in

the legal system, and people with mental illness are
disproportionately represented in our jails and prisons. I feel
confident that I will work with people with mental health issues,
to at least some extent, in my career. Although we have not
received our field placements yet, my top choice is a legal
defense firm for people who are indigent and experiencing
mental illness. We would work with the clients to connect them
to resources, with the hope of reducing recidivism and
reintegrating them successfully into the community. Legally,
attorneys would aim to lessen punishment and sentences due to
their mental illness. My other top choices for field are similarly
related. Do ya’ll hope to enter a field placement or career
similar to the topic area you presented on in class?

Overall, this was a good experience for a group project. Writing

the paper with the three members of my group did prove to be
challenging. We had difficulty cutting down the paper to make
it fit the length requirement. It also took a lot of planning to
make sure we discussed mental health on the level of practice
area instead of just individual agency. The best part of this
project is reflecting back on how each group member had to go
to a great length of effort to find an agency, contact them, set up
an interview, conduct that interview, and them convene with
other classmates to complete the assignment. Like in interviews
that we have held in other classes, we discussed how this is also
a great opportunity for networking in a field that you are
potentially interested in working in. Austin is abundant in social
services, so this is a great city for a social worker to find
employment if students decide that they want to stay in this
area.

Giving the presentation was interesting for my group. I realized

when were up there presenting that my fellow group members
are not the type to interject and add on to anyone else’s section
of the presentation. This is not a bad thing, but it did make me
concerned about the possibility of our presentation being too
short. Therefore, whenever I spoke, I found myself trying to
giver greater explanation that I originally intended, while
keeping the focus broad. What did everyone else experience
while giving presentations in your groups?
Alissa Osgood

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Blog 6: Commentary
on Assessment/Open
Topic
OCTOBER 17, 2014SW PRACTICE W/ INDIVIDUALS/FAMILIES6 COMMENTS
It took me a long time to think of what I wanted to write for
today’s blog. The topic is “Commentary on mock assessments
or open topic.” Let me talk a bit about what I feel about the
assessment.

I was nervous about this whole project. Any time someone

watches a video of me, I feel insecure. What if I didn’t do a
good job? What if I did the wrong thing? Oddly, when Maria
was the social worker, I felt more at peace. I felt more
comfortable as the client than I did as the social worker. For me,
it was easier to relate to the client I was portraying than the
social worker I was supposed to be. I may not have been in the
same situation, but I felt the same feelings as my character. I’ve
felt shame, and loneliness, and bitterness, and it was those I
drew upon to make my character as the client more believable.

As the social worker, I was nervous. I spent so much time

thinking “Did I cover this? Did I remember to do that?” that
sometimes I missed the problem at hand. I was so worried about
doing things right, that I didn’t truly grasp the concept of who I
was supposed to be and connect emotionally with my client as
well as I could have. After thinking on it, I realized that my
client felt that same shame, that same loneliness, even though
the situation differed from my character’s. For some reason, I
didn’t draw on those feelings as the social worker. I denied
them, and I’m starting to feel that I shouldn’t have. That, I
believe, is the essence of working with a client to heal, to
connect, to feel.

By being able to sit with those feelings, and accept them for
what they are, we will be better social workers. I feel that this is
what is meant when we’re told to be authentic, to be self-aware,
to empathize. Realizing that while we may be in different
situations, we are both people, with the same feelings, and if we
can just tap into that in the moment, then perhaps we can form a
connection with our clients that might lead to a relationship of
true compassion and healing.

I know that for me, I usually push my feelings aside to get the
job done, so it’s strange for me to accept that feelings ARE the
job. For us to come together as a community and a society, we
can’t view the work we do as us leading or pushing a client a
certain way to a certain goal. Rather than being in front of or
behind, we walk side by side with our clients, for as long as
they need us, and go through it together. We may offer
guidance, but it should always be from a place of where the
client is at, rather than where we feel they should be or are
coming from.

I think from now on, I’m going to try and spend more of my
time in the moment, being present and aware of what’s going on
in the current situation, because I’ve noticed that by suspending
any thoughts and expectations, I’m happier, more peaceful, and
feel more connected that way. And those connections will lead
to more effective healing for both my clients and me.

-Jordan

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Blog 5: Assessment,
Treatment,
Planning, and
Evaluation
OCTOBER 10, 2014SW PRACTICE W/ INDIVIDUALS/FAMILIES2 COMMENTS
After the initial assessment, social workers begin to formulate
goals and contracts for clients. Goals are part of helping process
and are essential in Crisis Intervention models, CBT, Solution
Focused Brief Treatment, and general Case Management. It can
be difficult to work with clients who are not seeking help
voluntary and have been mandated for therapy. One important
theoretical framework is motivational congruence. Motivation
congruence means that you work on target goals that are
personally meaningful to client, but also satisfy their mandate.
That is why the principle of “starting where the client is” can
become very important when working with involuntary clients
by also giving voice to client’s needs.

Among involuntary clients, expressions of anger, frustration,

and fear are common. When clients are hesitant, it is important
to be strategic in creating goals. For example, the agreeable
mandate strategy entails for a search of common ground that
bridges the views of the client and of the court. For example, I
work at mental health clinic where clients come in for a
mandated psychological evaluation that is routine for assessing
their vocational options. My duty is to administer some of the
assessments that the individual has to take before the client’s
consultation with the psychologist. One client who had been
previously diagnosed with major depression was very
frustrated, especially after finding out that the psychological
evaluation will take about three hours. He was angry and
expressed that he felt like he could not keep a job and that there
was no point in trying in getting one. He mentioned that he only
came to the appointment because he was told to come by his
case manager. Ultimately, we agreed in a shared goal of
completing the assessment because he wanted to find a job that
would allow him to take his anxiety and anti-depressive
medication even if that job was temporarily.

However, not all mandates that you agree with a client work,
sometimes the social worker has to try to get rid of the mandate
to eliminate the outside pressure that the client is feeling and
come in agreement to another shared goal. Breaking a goal into
tasks helps the client progress in the helping process.

After goals and tasks are set between the client and the social
worker contracts can be used to help the client plan out their
goals and self-monitor themselves in completing their goals.
There should be an ongoing review of the status of the goals,
related tasks, or action steps to determine the effectiveness
relative to changing the target of concern that was specifically
defined at the beginning of goal agreements. A great tool to use
is the goal and tasks forms and reviewing behavioral contracts
that were initially made. It is imperative to involve clients in the
evaluation process that way they know their improvement or
lack of improvement. There are multiple types of measuring
change and effectiveness of interventions/treatment. For
example, client’s self report, self monitor, self-anchored scales,
standardized assessment tools e.g. brief symptom inventory,
depression scales, AUDIT for substance abuse. Self-anchored
scales can be useful in how the client feelings have changed
over the course of the treatment.

For example, the social worker could administer a self-anchored

scale at the initial meeting and another at the end of the
treatment to evaluate its effectiveness. Another measure for
evaluating the client is self-administered scales which are good
to quantify the effectiveness of the intervention of change in
client behavior. However, in order to see these kinds of results,
the social worker must establish baseline, administer the
measurement at the beginning and the end.

While quantitative methods, such as those discussed above are

good ways of measuring effectiveness, social workers should
also employ qualitative measures as well. Qualitative
measurements include the use of diagrams such as eco-maps,
visual maps, pictures, or narratives from the client of family
members on informative events or critical incidences.
Qualitative measures allow clients to deepen their
understanding by being able to visually grasp and understand
something, it hones in the client’s self reflection. In my opinion,
the social worker can always benefit from a mixed method
approach, combining both qualitative and quantitative measures
because there are benefits and limitations to both type of
measurements, the use of both allows for the social worker to
see the larger picture.
-Maria

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Blog 4: Family
Assessment,
Treatment,
Evaluation
OCTOBER 3, 2014SW PRACTICE W/ INDIVIDUALS/FAMILIES3 COMMENTS
Family assessment is the first crucial step toward defining the
issues within families so that they can work together to change.
Family assessments can be complex because there is a potential
for many people to be involved. There are many assessment
tools, such as genograms, ecomaps, social network maps, and
culturagrams, that you can use to put the family into particular
contexts. Members have to be willing and able to come into a
session. A member might be resistant if they fear being called
out among all their family members to change. Just
assembling the necessary family members together would be
the first step in the right direction. Social workers need to
maintain a keen eye for communication barriers, boundaries,
and possible alliances between certain members.

Like the family assessment video we watched in class, often

families come in for particular reasons that end up not being the
true source of their issues. The family we watched came in for
difficulty sleeping and excessive crying of one of the youngest
family members, and left realizing that the girl’s mother was
overburdened and causing her children to feel her stress. Family
assessment begins by understanding who you are working with
from the family and how they relate. You soon can see family
dynamics come into play, as leaders and authority figures
emerge, and others clearly have less power. Just by looking at
the family, you can often see where some issues may exist.

Whenever a child comes into a session, it is important to

physically assess how they look. Bruises, scratches, or other
trauma need to be immediately inquired about with the child’s
guardians. If abuse or neglect is suspected, a social worker
needs to immediately report this. Right now in current, local
news, we are seeing how not taking a situation like this
extremely seriously can led to dire consequences. The sad case
of Colton Turner resulted in the death of a child and the firing
of CPS caseworkers for mishandling the case. In the video we
watched, the daughter kept yawning and her eyelids would
become heavy. She was clearly extremely tired and this was
affecting her behavior.

Cultural competence is always crucial for a social worker, but it

is especially important to remember when you are working with
a family. Family members are often of mixed cultures, or just
simply from a culture that is not your own. You need to be
aware of how this affects roles and responsibilities within the
household. Difficulty understanding a culture’s traditions and
customs would most likely be the hardest thing for me when
working with a family. If they come from a patriarchal
background and give males more respect than the women in
their families, I would find this challenging. My belief in
equality among men and women and in relationships would
make me want to impose my ideas on them. However, I would
meet them where they are at and work with them in the context
of their culture. What challenges would you all face in the
assessment of families?

When planning the treatment for a family, you have to

customize a plan uniquely suited for the family you are working
with. It is important to employ strengths theory when
determining a treatment plan. Examine how they have coped
with problems in their family before. Look for resilience as well
as weaknesses to work on. All families have some areas of
strength, and harnessing that can become your most powerful
tool of change within the family. For some families, it is much
harder to see where these strengths lie, but I do think there are
certain relationships and people in every family that are strong
outlets for growth. During this same initial assessment, it is also
important to see what resources are available to them. This
follows the systems approach, where you consider the internal
systems within the family as well as the larger societal systems.
The next step is to write up an assessment that is confidential
and contains important details like a thorough explanation of
the issue you see, their family history, collateral findings, and
treatment goals. You can also include diagnostic impressions
and recommendations.

As we discussed in class, there are many types of goals,

but they all should be made SMART (specific, measurable,
attainable, relevant to the client, time-bound). Goals are client-
centered, yet laws, systems, and funding are among a myriad of
important considerations in setting goals. Often goals have to be
negotiated with family members because they will not always
agree on what is most important; make it a collaborative effort
and realistically address obstacles. Empower the clients by
finding motivational congruence. Social workers should work
with clients to create attainable goals so they do not lose faith is
the helping process and their own ability to change. The
specific goals need to be defined and bound by a time
constraint. Treatment needs to reflect the wants and needs of the
client, so goals should focus on small steps that progress toward
that change. You have to make sure that there are measurable
ways to track progress. Make an appropriate contract for the
family such as one of contingency or good faith. You will
monitor the goals every step of the way – at the initial baseline,
during every session, and at termination. Evaluate the family by
seeing how what they actually did compares to what they said
they would do in their goals. There are also standardized scales
that can be used to track families. Working with families has
many challenges, but it also presents the transformational
opportunity to better a family’s situation.

Alissa Osgood

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Blog 3: Intake and

Assessment
SEPTEMBER 25, 2014SW PRACTICE W/ INDIVIDUALS/FAMILIES5 COMMENTS
So, this one is going to be a little more informal than the others.
I’ve left my blog topic paper at home, but I believe this week is
intake and assessment, since that’s what we’ve been covering in
class.

Assessment is arguably the most important part of the process.

It’s from the initial assessment that the social worker and the
client find out where they’re starting and where they’d like to
go together. This crucial phase can set the tone for the rest of
the sessions. It’s of utmost importance that the social worker
maintain their openness in learning about their client, and
portray themselves in a non-threatening manner. The last post
focused on empathy and really understanding the client.
Assessment is the perfect time for that. If it is approached in a
non-judgmental manner, a social worker can learn a great deal
about their client. Now, I have never personally done an
assessment on anyone, but I have noticed that people are more
willing to open up to me when I suspend my preconceptions
and become open to all possibilities. That’s kind of what I’ve
been focusing on in my own personal life: the concept of could.
Not will, or can, or should. Those ultimately lead to coming to a
belief and unintentionally sticking by it. Remaining mindful of
the potential for a situation will ultimately lead to a lot less
frustration, and more openness on one’s own part. I’m not sure
if that makes any kind of logical sense, but it does in my head
and I tried to explain it as best I could.
So, during assessment, we evaluate how a client is
economically, legally, medically, spiritually, socially, etc. We
basically get the whole picture (or as wide a range as we’re able
to from the client) and work with the client to determine their
needs, the resources they have (and might still need) to meet
those needs, and determine the best course of action. It’s
important during this part to remember that we are committed to
a client’s self-determination. We can help provide information,
but ultimately it’s their choice on what to do. Often doing an
assessment can be helpful in just sifting out all of the crap to get
to the root of the problem. When a client lists everything they
are going through, it can seem overwhelming, but ultimately
summarizing it can help sort things out, even for the client. I
know that if my therapist weren’t there, I’d still be running
circles in my brain trying to figure out what was wrong with
me.
There was a discussion in class about the pros and cons of
diagnosis, and that’s kind of where I’d like to leave this weeks
blog and open it up to a conversation about that. I admit, I’m
approaching this from a biased perspective.

Story time:

When I knew that I was mentally and emotionally unhealthy, I

dreaded a diagnosis, because to me it would just be pointing out
another flaw in myself that I’d have to worry about. Luckily,
my therapist approaches things from a more humanistic
perspective, so she understood. Labels can really suck, and
ultimately it’s who you are as a person that defines you. But, in
order to continue getting financial aid, I had to prove that I was
seeking help for my depressive symptoms, which meant she had
to prove what she was doing to help. That meant a diagnosis. I
had kinda been switching back and forth between anxiety
symptoms, depression symptoms, and obsessive-compulsive
symptoms. It was all honestly very frustrating, but I looked at
the process as a way of understanding whether my anxiety was
causing my obsessive compulsions, or whether my obsessive
compulsions were causing my depression, or what. Long story
short, I was diagnosed with Depression, recurrent episode, with
anxious distress and ruminating thoughts. So basically, my
depression caused the other two. And you know what? It was a
relief. I finally had words to describe how I felt, and moved past
it. I admit there are times when I feel defined by it, though, but
ultimately I feel it was the right choice. End of story.

Despite my experience, I’m still on the fence about the

diagnosis issue. I do believe that in the rush to classify things
we as a society over-diagnose people. However, having gone
through it myself, I can say that it helped provide me with a
place from which to start healing, which is ultimately what the
assessment process is all about. Figuring out where you are,
where you want to go, and how to get there.

So, thoughts on the assessment process? Anything you feel I

left out?

—Jordan Whittley

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Blog 2: Empathic
Communication,
Authenticity
SEPTEMBER 20, 2014SW PRACTICE W/ INDIVIDUALS/FAMILIES4 COMMENTS
Empathy and authenticity are valuable elements for
communication within the social work profession. For some
people, these are characteristics that are naturally conveyed in
conversation; for others, these are skills that need to be
extensively practiced to become natural. However, everyone
can improve in demonstrating these. Empathy is a complex skill
that takes training in order to become fully competent in
utilizing it in dialogue. From my experience, I mistakenly
considered my interactions empathic just because I consider
myself a compassionate person. There is much more effort and
practice that goes into attaining the highest levels of empathy
and authenticity. In the case of the social work profession, these
are valuable tools used to engage our clients so we can build
rapport and promote growth in our clients. There are certain
steps that we can take to become more empathic and authentic
communicators.

To communicate empathically, you must attempt to sense your

client’s feelings. We can get hints through their words, tone,
facial features, posture, and even things that are left unsaid. We
must interpret these signs and let them know how we think they
are feeling, and we have to do this in a way that is considerate.
We do not always perfectly guess how someone feels, so that is
why it is important for us to ask for confirmation of our
assumptions. Empathic communication means that social
workers come across in a way that is not threatening. The goal
is not to be hostile or frightening in the eyes of our clients, but
to seek to understand the emotions they are experiencing. The
social worker is not an expert or a superior figure in relation to
a client, so we want to present ourselves in a way that is
personable and respectful. We are not trying to convey that we
feel the same way (sympathy), but rather that they know that we
sense how they feel.

Empathic communication is not just a way for us to be “nice”

and to show we care. It is an essential tool in the social-worker
client relationship. We establish rapport, assess problems, and
overcome difficulties with our clients using this practice. There
are varying levels of empathic communication. We identified
different levels in an exercise in class, and it was not difficult to
notice the differences between low levels and high levels of
empathic responding. While it is difficult to define the perfectly
empathic response, there are features to our conversations that
can increase these levels. For me, roleplaying empathic
communication was challenging at first, but it became easier
after days of practice. During the first day of roleplaying, I felt
awkward for not knowing exactly what to say sometimes. As I
am sure real social workers can relate, some situations are more
difficult to assess, and sometimes the words just are not there
for what you want to articulate. Once I understood we were at
the stage of just trying to convey empathy and not solve their
problems, I felt like the task was more manageable. The
scenarios we practiced are real challenges people face, and I did
initially feel internal pressure to come up with the perfect
response. However, I realized that we are far from perfectly
responding to every situation, and simply putting some of the
elements of empathic communication into our conversations is a
great start. As in real life, people pick up on genuine care and
concern, and you do not have to be perfect as long as you are
trying to follow them and respond with respect. However, I am
feeling much more comfortable with empathic communication
after practicing the technique for multiple class sessions.

A second important piece of our communication with clients is

authenticity. I think of being authentic as being “real” – not
masking your true reactions and sentiments. This is a form of
language therapy and a way to help the client grow. The social
worker can share their commentary and participate at a
comfortable and appropriate level of self-disclosure with the
client. Social workers need to also be assertive in certain ways
during their interactions with clients, which is another way of
relating authentically. Social workers are often resistant to
conflict, and being assertive often carries the negative
connotation of being pushy or argumentative. There is a time
and place for conflict, but I think most social workers are aware
that this is not the best way to approach a client, especially if
you want them to return for future sessions. At the same time,
making people happy and keeping things comfortable is not a
social worker’s job, and they need to be okay with directly
stating what they want to happen and giving firm, clear
instructions. I found that the key to this is turning many timid
questions into commands. Not in a way that’s demeaning to
clients, but in a way that leads the session in a particular
direction, oriented toward meeting a certain goal. Sometimes it
can be difficult for me to be assertive, but when put in a
position to lead a group, I feel much more comfortable with
managing group interactions and dialogue.

In conclusion, empathic communication and authenticity hold a

crucial role in the conversations social workers have with
clients. Even if life experiences have made someone more
genuine and compassionate, he or she still needs to work on
heightening empathic and authentic communication skills as a
social worker. For my fellow bloggers, I am wondering how
you all felt about the roleplaying that we did in class? Were
there any situations where you found it more difficult to
respond? What are your strengths and weaknesses in empathic
communication and authenticity? I’d love to hear any of your
thoughts on this unit!

Alissa Osgood

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Social Work Values

and Ethics
SEPTEMBER 5, 2014SW PRACTICE W/ INDIVIDUALS/FAMILIES7 COMMENTS
Values can be defined as beliefs of how things ought to be
whereas ethics can be defined as moral principles that guide
behavior. Social workers have a Code of Ethics to follow and
also certain values that determine what should be important to
members of the profession. The Cardinal Values of Social Work
can be remembered through the acronym A CHANCE.
According to the values of Social Work, all humans deserve
Access to resources, Compassion, Human relationships,
Authenticity and integrity, Nondiscriminatory treatment,
Competent providers, and Ethical treatment.

Every person deserves access to resources that could potentially

help them navigate everything life throws at them. By
upholding this value, social workers vow to advocate for their
client and ensure that they receive the resources necessary to
help them grow and succeed. This may seem like an easy value
to uphold, but situations may occur when one’s own personal
values conflict with the value mentioned above. For example,
the case we discussed in class about the elderly man who
continuously misplaces his glasses and comes to an agency with
limited funds to request aid for a new pair. Social workers may
be hesitant to help the client because funds are limited and he
loses his glasses often, but the Cardinal Value states that every
person deserves access to resources.

The value of compassion means all humans deserve to be

treated with dignity and respect. Every person has worth and
their own importance no matter how they act or where they
come from. Social workers must be aware of their own feelings
and preconceived notions when dealing with clients who may
make them uncomfortable or have done things that the social
worker does not agree with. The client still deserves to be
treated with acceptance and understanding. The book gives an
example of a client who is a 35-year-old married male who got
caught peeking in the women’s dorms at a college. Social
workers may develop negative feelings towards the client but
must put them aside and be open-minded in order to adhere to
the values of social work practice.
Social work recognizes that human relationships are an essential
part of the rebuilding process and not only should the social
worker build a healthy, trusting relationship with the client, but
should also help foster other positive relationships in the
client’s life. In order to uphold the value of human
relationships, one must never judge their client but instead make
them feel accepted and build trust.

Authenticity and integrity can be defined as possessing the

quality of being honest and moral. Social workers should never
present themselves in a way that is not true. It is their duty to
their clients to uphold the Social Work Cardinal Values and
present their credentials honestly and accurately and do not
participate in fraudulent or deceiving practices. Integrity also
deals with how professionals treat their colleagues, which
should always be with respect.

Nondiscriminatory treatment should be fairly straightforward.

No matter your personal opinion of the client’s actions, past,
beliefs, or socioeconomic status, you should always treat them
with respect and be willing to do whatever necessary to ensure
they receive the services they need. A social worker cannot
show favoritism to certain clients or put clients on the “back
burner”.

Social workers should only practice within a range of what they

are knowledgeable about and according to their abilities. Social
workers should never provide services that they are not
competent about. This could be damaging to clients. Also,
social workers should always practice ethical treatment when
dealing with clients. As mentioned earlier, social workers have
their own code of ethics to follow when practicing. The key
points of the Code of Ethics is commitment to client, self-
determination, informed consent, maintaining professional
boundaries, and confidentiality.

There are certain cases when the last key point of the Code of
Ethics, confidentiality, can be called into question.
Confidentiality, or the business of keeping private what is said
between client and social worker, is limited when a social
worker believes a client could be a danger to self or others,
there is a suspicion of abuse or neglect, or the social worker
finds it necessary to discuss the client’s case with a supervisor.
Also, confidentiality can be limited when the client is a minor
and the legal guardians have requested the records, or records
have been subpoenaed.

Ethics within the practice of social work are rarely crystal clear
and there is often an ethical dilemma. Ethical dilemmas occur
when both options, or solutions, seem to be of equal value or
equal consequence. The conflict can occur when a social worker
has opposing values and ethics, or a social work ethic and the
law. The example in the book describes a married woman who
had an affair and contracted HIV. The woman does not to tell
her husband about the affair therefore keeping him in the dark
about her HIV+ status. The social worker has to honor the
confidentiality of the client, but at the same time has a right to
warn the husband preventing him from harm. There often is no
right answer, hence the dilemma.

There are steps to better handle an ethical dilemma. When

confronted with a dilemma, the social worker should define the
problem, identify the conflicting issues, consult the Code of
Ethics, the law, a supervisor, and possibly a lawyer that
represents the agency, consider possible courses of action,
choose a plan of action, and assess the outcomes of the
 decision. Ethics and values are extremely important to maintain
when working in the social work profession because social
workers deal with vulnerable individuals who are looking to
professionals to help them thrive.

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