COMMUNICATION TOOLS and SKILLS1

To achieve effectiveness, Zastrow (2012) does assert that it necessitates of

group workers, perhaps by extension all clientele and social workers to
communicate their thoughts and feelings accurately. Zastrow (2012) reiterates
that communication does entail at the commencement the translation of
thoughts and feelings into symbols (often spoken words, however also non-
verbal signals) that others can understand. The process herein is referred to as
coding. The subsequent step is to send the message. The message can be sent
by avenues in a manner of a letter, e-mail, telephone, note, spoken words,
posture, gesture, facial expression etc. At the reception of the message by the
receiver, he/she decodes the message by interpreting it in the terms of thoughts
or feelings that mean a thing to the receiver. The process relayed herein is
referred to as one way communication. A two-way communication is however
climactical with the receiver of communication responding. This is admittedly
the dominant type of communication.
Dubois and Miley (2005) do and otherwise maintain that oral and written
communication skills are absolutely essential, this in particular within the
proclivity of social work, precisely by the reason that basic processes of social
work are exchanges of information. The subject below addresses the tools that
are identifiable with attending.

TOOLS FOR ATTENDING

Put in simplicity, to attend is synonymous to being present. In Social Work

worker - service user relationships, it does necessitate to be present and to
demonstrate or prove as much to service users. The following tools or
strategies, taken from Potgieter (1998) and elaborated on below, will assist one
to achieve this.
• Listening & observing;
• Clarification;
• Paraphrasing;

1 Notes in this section are taken from:

Potgieter, M. C. (1998). The Social Work Process: Development to Empower People. Pretoria:
Prentice-Hall. Chapter 7

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• Responding to feeling;
• Summarising.

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LISTENING

The thought that listening is a “natural process” cannot be confirmed. Potgieter

(1998:87) informs us that “We normally pay more attention to our thoughts
and feelings than to the messages we are receiving from others and we
often listen to ourselves for the first time when we experience that others
are attending to us”. It is clear therefore that listening is not automatic: effort
must be applied towards listening.
It is reasonable to agree with Potgieter (1998). To cite an example, how many
times do you think “oh this reminds of…” during a conversation with someone?
This shows that instead of focusing on what you one is hearing, people often
focus more on the impact of what they are hearing to themselves rather than to
the person talking. Similarly, when we are being listened to we are more likely
to pay more attention to what we are saying.

IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING CANNOT BE OVEREMPHASISED

Listening is the single most important tool in providing a conducive
environment for self-reflection and or situation analysis.

Importance of listening in Social Work practice cannot by any means be

overstressed. To elaborate, listening will assist one to understand both
content and context of what is being is said. In addition, it is the tool that will
ensure that the therapeutic process remains focused and achieves its
targeted goals. Cournoyer’s (2008:142) makes the following comments on the
importance of listening and, with that accurate understanding of what is being
said:
“Accurate understanding conveys respect. It
demonstrates that you value others and are interested
in what they have to say. In a sense, careful listening is a
gesture of love.”
He (Cournoyer, 2008) continues to list the following values of
listening:

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 1. Listening enables Social Workers to gather important
information for both assessment and intervention;
2. It helps service users to feel better;
3. It is a demonstration that service users are important to
workers;
4. Encourages service users to express themselves;
5. (Perhaps most importantly) Improves service users’ self-
understanding, and capacity to reach resolution of issues.

To add to the list of values of listening, Potgieter (1998:87) quotes Long (1996)
who makes the following profound statement in relation to listening: “To be
truly understood is an experience which most people find profiting and
humanizing”. This statement supports the point made above that listening
enhances understanding of service users issues (content and context) and adds
further that being heard and understood feels good. I am confident that all
reading these notes will agree.
Another fundamental strategy for facilitating listening according to Potgieter
(1998) is SILENCE. The author cautions workers never to interrupt service
users’ speech or silence. Silence is a strong therapeutic tool as it allows for
reflection on what is being said by both the Social Worker and the service user.
Observing; clarification; paraphrasing; responding to feeling; and
summarizing also enhance listening and are elaborated on below.

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CLARIFICATION

Clarification facilitates understanding for both worker and service user.

According to Loewenberg (1983) in Potgieter (1998) clarification specifically
assists service users to understand:
1. Themselves;
2. Their situation/ problem;
3. Their relationships with others;

Additionally, it assists service users to realize their role in creating a difficult

situation.
Simultaneously, clarification assists workers to:
1. Confirm that they understand what is being said;
2. Get more information or explanation from service users.

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EXAMPLE OF CLARIFICATION
SERVICE USER Sometimes she gets home around 3 or 4 in the morning.
This morning she was so drunk she couldn’t stand straight.
Her boss has already told her that if she does not get her
act together, the boss will have to let her go at the end of
this month. (Service user sighs heavily and shakes his head
slowly, looking serious).
SOCIAL You are saying your wife’s drinking affects her work?
WORKER
(Seeking
clarification of
content and
context.)
OR SOCIAL You mean your wife may have a drinking problem?
WORKER
(Seeking
clarification of
content)
OR SOCIAL What you are saying is that your wife may lose her job due
WORKER to her drinking?
(Seeking
clarification of
content)

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PARAPHRASING

To paraphrase is to say what a person has said in your own words.

Paraphrasing helps to:
1. Encourage elaboration by service users;
2. Demonstrate that the worker has understood what has been said;
3. Focus on a particular idea, behaviour or event;
4. Emphasise the main ideas in a conversation; (Potgieter, 1998)

EXAMPLE OF PARAPHRASING
SERVICE USER It was around 3 or 4 in the morning when she got home.
She was so drunk she couldn’t stand straight. She told me
that her boss has already told her that if she does not get
her act together, the boss will have to let her go at the end
of this month. (Service user sighs heavily and shakes her
head slowly, looking serious).
SOCIAL What you are saying is your wife drinks excessively and
WORKER has received a warning at work.
(paraphrasing)

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RESPONDING TO FEELING

Feelings are an important aspect of social experience. Society and its agents,
however, is not averse to causing people to feel guilty; embarrassed; or even
ashamed of their feelings. Social Workers try by all means NOT to reflect this
social downfall. To this end, Social Workers encourage and affirm people’s
unique feelings. Social Workers should bear in mind that there are no right or
wrong feelings. They do this through responding to feeling.

To respond to feeling therefore is to verbally or non-verbally

acknowledge service user’s expressed or displayed emotions where
possible. (Meaning where workers believe they understand such
feelings).

To do this the following points may be useful.

1. Use service user’s own feeling words;
2. Take particular note of service user’s non-verbal cues;
3. Use a tone that is appropriate to the feeling expressed or displayed by a service
user.

EXAMPLE OF RESPONDING TO FEELING

SERVICE USER It was around 3 or 4 in the morning when she got home.
She was so drunk she couldn’t stand straight. Her boss has
already told me that if she does not get her act together, the
boss will have to let her go at the end of this month. (Service
user sighs heavily and shakes her head slowly, looking
serious).
SOCIAL I notice that you are concerned about your wife.
WORKER

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SUMMARISING

Summarizing picks out the main points in a conversation. It is similar to

paraphrasing to a large extent and may serve the same purpose i.e., that of
demonstrating that the service user is being heard. Secondly, it is helpful to
both the service user and the worker in that information is repeated, thereby
allowing the Social Worker to demonstrate attention and understanding as well
as providing the service user with a reflection of what she or he has said. Thus,
it gives a service user an opportunity to “listen to her or himself”. Furthermore,
1. It identifies themes or patterns in messages; and
2. Slows down communication;

SERVICE USER It was around 3 or 4 in the morning when she got home.
She was so drunk she couldn’t stand straight. Her boss has
already told me that if she does not get her act together,
the boss will have to let her go at the end of this month.
(Service user sighs heavily and shakes her head slowly,
looking serious).
SOCIAL Your wife drinks excessively and has received a warning at
WORKER work...
(Paraphrasing)
SERVICE USER I mean, she has always been a rather heavy drinker though
she only used to drink occasionally. But since I got
retrenched, forcing us to surrender our house to the bank,
she drinks almost daily and as you know she joined
Alcoholics Anonymous for about a month but dropped out
before completing treatment. I can say she is now worse
than when she joined AA.
SOCIAL In short, your wife’s drinking increased since you lost your
WORKER job, treatment has not helped and she is now also at risk of
(Summarizing) losing her job.