Social Work Practice Skills - Essay Example

Application of the Social Work Process Name Course Lecturer Date Engagement In engaging the client, I am going to visit his home. Given the age of the client and the current situation he is in, it will be more comfortable for him to speak to a social worker from his home. On arrival I will greet the client. According to Kwintessential (2004), handshakes constitute the widely used type of greeting by Chinese and people are addressed by their surname or honorific title. As a result, I will give a handshake to the client. However, since I do not know the client’s surname, I will have to use his first name, Alan. Active listening forms a crucial aspect of communication in carrying out social work. It requires the effort of the social worker to listen and comprehend what the client says and leaves unsaid, to keenly observe and comprehend the oral and non-oral communication. Useful techniques in active listening includes appropriate questioning, oral and non-oral prompts and reflecting back (Parris 2012). After exchanging greetings and doing some introduction, I will maintain silence and listen carefully to the client as he explains his situation. In Chinese culture, non-verbal communication tells a lot and people depend on voice tone, facial expression and posture in interpreting how the other person feels (Kwintessential 2004). As the client talks, I will use gestures such as nodding to indicate my attentiveness. Moreover, when speaking I will keep an impassive expression and avoid frowning. Drawing from Cultural China (2010), though eye contact in Western nations is considered essential and basic when talking to people, prolonged eye contact is inappropriate in China. Consequently, when talking to the client I will try to avoid eye contact as much as possible to avoid offending him. I will also take some notes to help me remember some things that the client says and which are important in the social work process. After Alan finishes explaining his situation, I will tell him about the social work services that our agency offer. In addition, I will ask him to point out what he expects to achieve or how he expects to benefit from our services and converse over his expectations to see what is achievable or not achievable. Given Alan’s home and personal issues, my social work services can be very helpful to him in getting over his wife’s death, understanding and dealing with his health issues as well as his daughters’ conditions. I will then provide counselling to Alan on how to deal with his situation. According to Ravhudzulo (2011, p.131), acceptance is an important step in overcoming the death of a spouse. Moreover, sharing one’s feelings with others will help one to go through the process of grieving. Thus, I will request Alan to first accept his wife’s death and then share his feelings with me. Trust is important in the delivery of social work services (Cournoyer 2013). In this case, I will assure Alan of confidentiality in whatever information he discloses to me during the counselling. Such assurance will place him in a comfortable zone to share his feelings about his wife’s death and daughters’ situation. In orienting Alan about the helping process, I will inform him about aspects such as time and meeting points for the counselling sessions, as well as my responsibilities and his responsibilities in relation to the process. Considering Alan’s situation, I will try to settle for a time and venue that is more convenient for both of us. I will avoid scheduling for sessions very early in the morning or asking him to come to the agency’s office for the services. At this point, I will compile and sum up all the necessary information that I have acquired from engaging the client. Assessment I will use the DSM to diagnose the mental health issues that Alan might be suffering from. This will help me in understanding its cause and how to manage it. Alan has lost his wife recently, one of his daughters keeps coming back home fleeing from her violent spouse and the other daughter has bi-polar disorder. As a result, he is mentally disturbed by the death of his wife and his daughters’ situations. One of Alan’s strengths is that, despite his situation and health issues, he is maintaining himself well. In addition, he has not allowed his situation to overcome him, he continues to be strong spiritually and goes to church on Sunday. Moreover, Alan acknowledges the importance of social support and has joined the men’s group in his church. The recent passing of Alan’s wife along with his health issues constitutes the primary source of problem in his life. Vivian’s violent relationship and Karen’s bi-polar disorder and mental health condition form a secondary source of problem for him. Both the primary and secondary sources of problem have to be dealt with for Alan to be able to lead a normal and healthy life. Information on whether Alan has previously sought any form of therapy for his situation is missing. This is important in assessing the ideal intervention for him. Moreover, information on what might be the cause of the violence in his daughter’s relationship is important, since it will establish how to manage the situation. Müller (2009, p.149) maintains that, questioning is among the commonly used skills in carrying out social work. It enables the social worker to gather all the necessary information from the client for proper intervention. Accordingly, I will pose some questions to the client and acquire information about previous therapies. Moreover, I will make arrangements to meet Vivian in order to collect information about her relationship and establish the source of violence. Planning I will collaborate with Alan in developing a plan that will guide the helping process for dealing with his situation. According to Robison & Reeser (2002), social workers should work together with their clients as well as the clients’ families. This is crucial because it leads to the development of mutually agreed-on objectives and goals for intervention, which in turn lead to effective management of clients’ problems. Alan’s ability to get over his wife’s death takes first priority in the intervention, while management of his health issues comes second. Dealing with Vivian’s violent relationship will take third position, while Karen’s mental issue and bi-polar disorder will be dealt with last. Alan’s bereavement will be dealt with at three levels. First, I will offer him social support, which will include an opportunity to share his feelings with me. Second, I will coach him into accepting the painful incident. Lastly, I will give him counselling on how to move on. Moreover, the intervention for his health issues will comprise of two levels. The first step will entail having Alan share the physical, emotional and psychological effects of the health issues with me. Afterwards, I will refer him to a medical facility for medical attention and care. Having Vivian share her violent relationship’s experience will be the first step in dealing with the issue. Then, I will counsel her and her spouse on how to handle issues that often lead to disagreements or violence. Since bipolar disorder constitutes a recurrent and lifetime illness, individuals with the illness require long-term medical care to manage bipolar symptoms. Such care includes psychotherapy and medication to prevent relapse and lessen symptom severity (Miklowitz 2006, p.30). Thus, on Karen’s bi-polar disorder and mental issue, I will refer her to a mental health practitioner for psychotherapy and medication. The intervention will work towards the achievement of several goals. The first goal is to help Alan to move on with his life following his spouse’s death. In addition, the intervention will seek to ensure effective management of Alan’s health issues and recovery where possible. Moreover, it will aim at helping Vivian to lead a peaceful and happy life with her partner. It will also seek to help Karen to successfully manage her bi-polar disorder and mental issue. Drawing from Sachs & Thase (2000, p.573), though bipolar disorder has no cure, proper treatment can help a person to have enhanced control over their mood changes and related signs. The belief behind the goals is that, effective management of Alan’s bereavement and health issues and his daughters’ respective issues will help him lead a better and normal life. The counselling for Alan will comprise of three sessions every week for three consecutive months, while the referral for medical intervention will be made on the first session of the helping process. Vivian and her spouse’s counselling will be done twice per week for a period of one month, while Karen’s referral will be made immediately after the engagement due to the seriousness of her condition. Implementation The counselling sessions for Alan will be held on Monday, Wednesday and Friday every week for three successive months at his home. The sessions will start at 10 o’clock in the morning and will last for one hour. Offering the social work services on a continuous basis makes it easy to monitor how the client is coping with the situation, as well as observe any improvements. Moreover, I will carry out the counselling sessions for Vivian and her partner on Tuesday and Thursday every week for one month at the agency’s premise, which is near their places of work. Both parties go to work and thus, the sessions will be held between 5pm and 6 pm after work. Furthermore, though there will be no counselling sessions for Karen, I will pay her a visit once per week to check how she is fairing. I will also stay updated on the medical check ups for Alan and Karen. I will devote myself into sending them text messages to remind them about their next check ups. Rooney & Rooney (2011) assert that, obtaining feedback from the client concerning their progress as well as satisfaction with the services offered is a vital aspect of assessing and monitoring progress. In monitoring the client and his daughters’ progress, I will question them on how they are feeling and whether they consider the intervention beneficial and relevant to their situation, on every subsequent session. Moreover, I will rely on doctors’ remarks to check the progress of Alan and Karen in dealing with their respective health issues. Some parts of the plan will be subject to revision, but only if no improvement is identified at the end of the intended intervention period. After one month, changes will be done to the plan in case Vivian’s relationship will not have improved. Moreover, after three months the plan will be revised if no significant improvements are evident in Alan’s life. Evaluation A client satisfaction questionnaire will be used in evaluating the effectiveness and usefulness of the helping process. Drawing from Walsh & Lord (2004, p.39), surveys for client feedback that focus on satisfaction form a comparatively easy way of evaluating social work services and are the most commonly used techniques that social workers use to assess clients’ outcomes. Social workers have been using these surveys to evaluate the general performance of a wide service, as well as to establish the service’s aspects that clients value most (Mark Hughes 2012). Three different questionnaires will be formulated to be filled by Alan, Vivian and Karen. The reason behind having different questionnaires is because each of the three parties has different issues that require different interventions. The questionnaire for Alan will focus on his bereavement and health issues. It will seek to assess whether the counselling and medical care has been helpful to him in dealing with his situation. Moreover, the questionnaire will aim at establishing any source of dissatisfaction in my services along with the possible changes that he would like to be made to the services. The questionnaire of Vivian will contain questions relating to her violent relationship. It will be intended to establish whether the intervention has helped her and her partner to solve their relationship issues. In addition, Karen’s questionnaire will revolve around her mental health and bipolar condition. Through this questionnaire, I will be able to establish how effective has been the treatment and psychotherapy in managing Karen’s situation. Termination The counselling intervention for Alan will be terminated at the end of the three months after evaluating his progress. If he will have gotten over his wife’s death and begun to lead a normal life, intervention will be terminated. However, the intervention will be continued if no significant improvement will have been identified. Moreover, the termination of his medical care will depend on the advice that his doctor will give. Vivian’s intervention will be terminated after one month only if she and her partner will have resolved their relationship issues. As for Karen, bipolar disorder is incurable and thus, she will have to continue her medication and therapy on long-term basis. In other words, termination will be made after the various goals have been achieved. That is, the intervention will be terminated after Alan has gotten over his wife’s death and his health issues have stabilised or been cured. As for Vivian, termination will occur after she starts getting along with her partner without violence. I will ensure the maintenance of progress in Alan and his daughters’ condition by checking on them on a regular basis after the contract is terminated. In rendering social work services, people encounter violent or harsh clients mainly due to the latter’s health condition. This may cause the worker to undergo emotional reactions. The social worker may also say things that may offend the client (Newhill 2003). In case something happens that may result in emotional reaction, I will try to handle the matter in a calm manner and avoid arguing with the client, which may worsen the matter. In case Alan’s health issues are not managed after three months, I will refer him to a different doctor. Moreover, I will refer Karen to a more competent psychiatrist if her mental health continues to deteriorate after the first intervention. Follow up After termination, I will create time out of my working hours to be checking on Alan and his daughters. I will talk with my superiors about the need to do a follow-up on the client’s progress. According to Christ College (2009), social workers carry out a follow-up after terminating their contract with their clients as a way of ensuring continued improvement. The main aim of my follow up will be to check Alan’s health issues progress, Vivian’s relationship improvement and see how Karen is managing the bipolar condition. Due to limited time, I will make the follow up mainly through phone calls. Where any of the three parties notices a problem, I will make arrangements to meet him or her to discuss the issue. During the meeting I will try to straighten out the difficulties that the party may be facing by suggesting proper alternatives. Furthermore, I will prepare Alan, Vivian and Karen on how to handle similar or related situations to the current ones through counselling. For instance, in Vivian’s case, I will counsel her on how to deal with disagreements between her and her partner in advance before they result in violence. Once I am satisfied with the progress of the three parties in their respective situations, I will discontinue contact. However, clients have a right to voluntary discontinuing of social services (Unrau & Grinnell 2011). Thus, if either parties requests for the same, I will respect his or her decision. Reference List Christ College 2009, Process of Social Casework, Retrieved July 31, 2013, from http://christcollegemsw.blogspot.com/2007/08/unit-iv-process-of-social-casework.html Cournoyer, B 2013, The social work skills workbook, Belmont, CA, Cengage Learning. Cultural China 2010, Cultural differences in China, Retrieved July 30, 2013, from http://traditions.cultural-china.com/en/14Traditions5522.html Kwintessential 2004, China - Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette, Retrieved July 30, 2013, from http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/china-country-profile.html Mark Hughes, MW 2012, Organisations and Management in Social Work: Everyday Action for Change, Thousand Oaks, SAGE. Miklowitz, D 2006, A review of evidence-based psychosocial interventions for bipolar disorder, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67 (11), 28-33. Müller, B 2009, Teaching social work is teaching to ask questions: an inter-subjective approach to social work practice, Journal of Social Work Practice: Psychotherapeutic Approaches in Health, Welfare and the Community, 23 (2), 147-157. Newhill, CE 2003, Client violence in social work practice: prevention, intervention, and research, New York, Guilford Press. Parris, M 2012, An introduction to social work practice: a practical handbook, Maidenhead, Open University Press. Ravhudzulo, A 2011, Embracing Life Again After the Death of a Spouse, Adelaide, Xlibris Corporation. Robison, W & Reeser, LC 2002, Ethical Decision-Making in Social Work, Arlington, Allyn & Bacon. Rooney, RH & Rooney, GD 2011, Direct Social Work Practice: Theory and Skills, Boston, MA, Cengage Learning. Sachs, G & Thase, M 2000, Bipolar disorder therapeutics: maintenance treatment, Biological Psychiatry, 48 (6), 573-581. Unrau, YA & Grinnell, RM 2011, Social work research and evaluation: foundations of evidence-based practice, New York, Oxford University Press. Walsh, T & Lord, B 2004, Client satisfaction and empowerment through social work intervention, Social Work in Health Care, 38 (4), 37-56. Read More