Helping process in social work

SOCIAL WORKSOCIAL WORKSOCIAL WORKSOCIAL WORKSOCIAL WORKSOCIAL WORKSOCIAL WORKSOCIAL WORK

HELPING PROCESS HELPING PROCESS HELPING PROCESS HELPING PROCESS HELPING PROCESS HELPING PROCESS HELPING PROCESS HELPING PROCESS

Nunavik Counselling and Social Work Training Program

Spring 2011

� Always take seriously the problem experienced by the clients.

� Be persuasive in pursuit of service for the client.

� Work creatively with them toward achieving solutions.

Important reminder for social Important reminder for social workerworker

solutions. � Properly assess needs and identify the request for assistance from the client.

� Applicants; a client request services of a social worker to deal with internal or external problem (teachers, nurses, doctors, employers, family members)

� Referrals; client who did not apply for service. Person who are referred vary in the extent to which they perceive that referrals as a source of pressure or simply as a source of potential assistance.

Involuntary clients; who respond to perceived

Potential clientsPotential clients

� Involuntary clients; who respond to perceived requirements to seek help as a result of pressure from other persons or legal sources.

Clients are facing a situation of disequilibrium in which they can

potentially enhance their problem-solving ability by developing new resources or employing untapped resources in ways

that reduces tension and achieve mastery that reduces tension and achieve mastery over problems.

� Clients are facing a situation of disequilibrium in which they can potentially enhance their problem- solving ability by developing new developing new resources or employing untapped resources in ways that reduces tension and achieve mastery over problems.

Reflective activity 1 disequilibrium vs change = transition

� Phase 1: Exploration, engagement, assessment and planning.

� Phase 2: Implementation, achieve goal and attainment goal.

Phase 3: Termination.

The helping process in social workThe helping process in social work

� Phase 3: Termination.

� The first phase lays the groundwork for subsequent implementation of interventions and strategies aimed at resolving client’s problems and

Phase 1: Exploration, engagement, Phase 1: Exploration, engagement, assessment and planningassessment and planning

problems and promoting problem solving skills.

Keys steps in helping Keys steps in helping relationshiprelationship

� Exploring client’s problem by eliciting comprehensive data about the person(s), the problem, and environmental factors, including forces influencing the referral for contact.

� Establishing rapport and enhancing motivation.� Establishing rapport and enhancing motivation. � Formulating a multidimensional assessment of the problem, identifying systems that play a significant role in difficulties, and identifying relevant resources that can be tapped or must be developed.

� Mutually negotiating goals to be accomplished in remedying or alleviating problems and formulating a contract.

� Making referrals

� Have in mind the fact that a client being self-referred it’s very rare.

� Potential client may be very anxious about the prospect of seeking help and lack of knowledge about what do expect.

� The social worker should begin in such circumstances with a matter-of-fact, non-threatening, description of the circumstances that led to the referral, such has:

� Example: Your mother referred you because she was concerned that you’re

Exploring client’s problem Exploring client’s problem by eliciting comprehensive by eliciting comprehensive data about the person(s), the problem, and data about the person(s), the problem, and environmental factors, including forces influencing the environmental factors, including forces influencing the referral for contactreferral for contact

� Example: Your mother referred you because she was concerned that you’re sometimes arriving at home on the effects of alcohol and seems to be depressed.

� The social worker should also give a clear, brief description of his or own view of the purpose of the first contact end encourage an exploration of how the social worker can be helpful.

� Example: We are meeting to both explore your mother’s concerns and also to hear from you about how things are going at home, at school with your friends as you see it. My job is to find out what things you would like to see got better and to figure out your ways that might work…

Exploring client’s problem Exploring client’s problem by eliciting by eliciting comprehensive data about the person(s), the comprehensive data about the person(s), the problem, and environmental factors, including problem, and environmental factors, including forces influencing the referral for contactforces influencing the referral for contact

Establishing rapport and enhancing Establishing rapport and enhancing motivationmotivation

� Effective communication in the helping relationship is crucial.

� Engaging clients in successfully means establishing rapport which reduces the level of threat and gains the trust of clients, who recognize that the social rapport which reduces the level of threat and gains the trust of clients, who recognize that the social worker intends to be helpful.

� One condition of rapport is that clients perceive a social worker as understanding and genuinely interested in their well-being.

� Motivation related to a person’s past experience, which leads him or her to expect that behaviours will be successful or will fail in attempting to reach goal.

� Individuals with limited expectations for success often appear to lack of motivation.

� As a consequence, social workers must often attempt to increase motivation by assisting clients to discover that their actions can be effective to reach goals.

� Clients who are referred frequently have misgiving about the helping process. They do not perceive themselves as having a problem and often attribute the source of difficulties to another person or to untoward circumstances.

Client may freely acknowledge problems and do � Client may freely acknowledge problems and do not lack incentives for change but assume a passive role, expecting social workers to magically work out their difficulties for them.

� They should voice a belief in client’s abilities to works as partners in searching for remedial courses of action and mobilize client’s energies in implementing the task essential to successful problem resolution.

� One very successful strategy is to acknowledge the client’s problem and explicitly recognise the client’s motivation for a change or find solution.

� Duration and severity of a problem.

� The problem is susceptible to change, given the client’s potential coping capacity.

� Assessment of the clients’ want and needs, coping capacity, strengths and limitation, and motivation to work on the problem.

Formulating a multidimensional assessment Formulating a multidimensional assessment of the of the problem, identifying systems that play a significant role problem, identifying systems that play a significant role in difficulties, and identifying relevant resources that in difficulties, and identifying relevant resources that can be tapped or must be developedcan be tapped or must be developed

problem.

� Evaluating the flexibility, judgment, emotional characteristics, degree of responsibility, capacity to tolerate stress, ability to reason critically and interpersonal skills of the clients.

� Cultural factors.

� Assessment of the client's situational context. Knowledge of the circumstances and specific behaviour of participants

Formulating a multidimensional assessment Formulating a multidimensional assessment of the of the problem, identifying systems that play a significant role problem, identifying systems that play a significant role in difficulties, and identifying relevant resources that in difficulties, and identifying relevant resources that can be tapped or must be developedcan be tapped or must be developed

of the circumstances and specific behaviour of participants before, during and after troubling events. (power distribution, role, rules, norms, channels of communication and repetitive interactional patterns).

� If the social worker and the individual client, couple, family have reached agreement concerning the nature of difficulties and the systems that are involved, the participants are ready to negotiate individual and/ or group goals.

� This mutual process aims to identify what needs to be changed and what related action need to

Mutually negotiating goals Mutually negotiating goals to be accomplished to be accomplished in remedying or alleviating problems and in remedying or alleviating problems and formulating a contractformulating a contract

to be changed and what related action need to be taken to resolve or ameliorate the problematic situation.

Making referralsMaking referrals

� Phase 1: Exploration, engagement, assessment and planning.

� Phase 2: Implementation, achieve goal and attainment goal.

Phase 3: Termination.

The helping process in social workThe helping process in social work

� Phase 3: Termination.

Reflective activity 2

Stage 1 Pre contemplation Stage 2 Contemplation

� In this stage the individual is not considering a change in is behaviour.

� The behaviour is not thought of as a problem.

� Understanding the consequences of the continued

� In this stage the individual is becoming more aware of the benefits of making a change in is behaviour.

� Internal conflict may arise from the viewpoint that something must be given up to achieve the change.

Stages of Change ModelStages of Change Model

consequences of the continued behaviour and realizing that making a change is within your personal control empowers you to move from the pre-contemplation stage to the contemplation stage.

to achieve the change.

� Realizing that positive gains will be attained from a change in behaviour is key to moving forward to the preparation/decision stage.

Stage 3

Preparation

Determination

Stage 4 Action

Willpower

� In this stage the individual is taking preliminary steps to address the problematic behaviour.

� In this stage the individual is making the effort to put the action plan into practice. Individuals

Stages of Change ModelStages of Change Model

� They are trying to gather information about what they will need to do to change their behaviour.

� Where people start believing in themselves.

� They find that they are the ability to change

Stage 5 Maintenance stage

� In this stage the individual is consciously avoiding the behaviour that was previously a problem by focusing on the new-enhancing behaviour.

Stages of Change ModelStages of Change Model

� Individuals in this stage are becoming increasingly confident that they can sustain the change they wanted to achieve.

Stages of Change ModelStages of Change Model

Relapse � Relapses may occur during this stage, but they should be viewed as minor setbacks common to the process of making lasting changes.

� People who relapse will � People who relapse will experience an immediate sense of failure that cam seriously undermine their self-confidence.

� Relapses it’s a opportunities to learn and being more stronger.

Transcendence

� This is the stage were if you maintain maintenance long enough, you will reach a point where you will be able to

Stages of Change ModelStages of Change Model

you will be able to work emotions and understand your own behaviour.

Stages of change model

Stable behaviour Transcendence

Preparation

Action

Maintenance

Pre-contemplation

Contemplation

Preparation

Relapse

� Precontemplation; Not yet acknowledging that there is a problem behaviour that need to be change.

� Contemplation; Acknowledging that there is a problem but not ready or sure of wanting to make a change.

� Preparation/determination: Getting ready to change.change.

� Action/Willpower: Changing behaviour.

� Maintenance: Maintaining the behaviour change.

� Relapse: Returning to older behaviours and abandoning the new changes