Communication Skills and Key Theories Applied to Social Work Practice - Research Paper Example

Listening skills. Part of a social worker’s duty significantly entails interviewing clients, as well as other individuals involved in the care of that particular client. The social worker needs to develop the capability of listening and paying attention to all details during such interviews, which is necessary for providing effective counseling service (Al-Dhafiri, 2014). This may encompass learning, which aids in taking detailed notes that the social worker may later use to recall what the client said from the start of the interview.

Paying careful attention also forms part of effective listening, which helps the social worker to react adequately while the client speaks (Cournoyer, 2010). This implies avoiding the use of signs in the case where the social worker disagrees with the client as this may seem discouraging. Consequently, the client may not be frank for the rest of the interviewing process. Getting information. In most cases, social workers find hard times as they attempt to gain information from individuals who are not willing to share the required details.

In other cases, understanding some individuals turn out to be very difficult and any attempt to access the needed information only proves futile. Thus, with good communication skills, a social worker can choose the right questions to ask or change the language to enable the client to understand the necessary information required from him or her (Mazza, 2015). Good communication skills also permit the social worker to employ the use of diverse tactics to get the needed information, which may include word association or role-playing.