REVIEW OF BASIC

COMMUNICATION
SKILLS
September 8, 2014

Todays class

Engagement & Facilitative conditions

Verbal barriers
Empathy
The initial interview checklist
Westernized assumptions
Confrontation

Goals

Discuss and practice skills from 321

Highlight necessary steps for first
sessions
Feel comfortable with each other and the
role-play process

Reminder:

There are no expectations of perfection

here.
PROGRESS, NOT PERFECTION.
Trust the process.

Engagement

In fours

Consider your own engagement with

helping professionals

Doctors office
Interviews where people were asking you
for information
Being a student in a classroom in which the
instructor does or does not foster
interaction

What works? What feels good? What

doesnt?

Engagement

Engagement is all about feeling

connected as a person to the
professional.
How can you convey messages to clients
that they are welcome?
How can a setting convey messages to
clients that they are welcome?

Facilitative conditions

What qualities would you desire or

expect of a person in whom you would
confide personal problems?

Facilitative conditions: 3
categories

Empathic communication
Respect

Warmth, non-judgmental, respect for worth,

dignity, individuality, confidentiality

Authenticity or genuineness

How can we convey each of

these conditions to our clients?

Empathic communication

FEELING empathy CONVEYING

empathy

Youre already good at feeling empathy

Empathic communication goes way beyond
this

Research shows that communicating

empathy is learned through systematic
and dedicated practice.
So lets practice!

PAIR UP!

One of you will be the social worker, the other will be

the client or talker.
Talkers: we will break the rules today, and you will
talk about a real issue in your life. Think of a
challenge youre facing, a change youre
experiencing, or personal concern youre willing to
share with a classmate.
Listeners: Use empathic responses. Remember that
empathy is about FEELINGS. Try to identify the
feelings in the story youre hearing.
It is important that the person who is sharing
feelings gives corrective feedback when the "social
worker" is off target.

Next

Take a few minutes to discuss your

experiences as the talker and the
listener. Give each other feedback.
Switch it up!

Discuss:

Did you find yourself demonstrating any

of the verbal barriers to
communication? Which ones?

Lets talk about communication barriers

Reassuring, sympathizing, consoling, or

excusing
Advising and giving suggestions or solutions
prematurely Using sarcasm or employing
humor inappropriately
Judging, criticizing, or placing blame
Trying to convince clients about the right point
of view through logic, lecturing, instructing, or
arguing
Analyzing, diagnosing, or making glib or
dramatic interpretations

More and more

Threatening, warning, or counterattacking

Stacking questions
Asking leading questions
Interrupting inappropriately or excessively
Dominating interaction
Fostering safe social interaction
Responding infrequently
Parroting or overusing certain phrases or clichs
Dwelling on the remote past
Going on fishing expeditions

The good news:

You can generally gauge how

well youre doing

Good signs
They

continue to explore the

problem or topic.
They express pent-up emotions.
They engage in deeper selfexploration.
They volunteer more personally
relevant material.
They affirm the validity of the
responses verbally or nonverbally.

Not so good signs

They

reject the response verbally

or nonverbally.
They change the subject.
They ignore the message.
They appear confused.
They become more superficial,
impersonal, emotionally
detached, or defensive.
They argue or express anger.

The initial interview

Lets review

What needs to happen in the first

session??

Tasks of the initial session

establish some rapport,

review issues of informed consent and
client rights,
explore what brings the client to the
agency or setting,
begin to explore what the agency can
offer the client

Super. Lets practice.

TRIOS this time. (Groups of three!)

Social worker, client, observer.
2 handouts: checklist, scenarios

Westernized assumptions

What do you think?

Are listening skills cultural?

What about empathy?
What about confidentiality?
Rapport?

What types of clients might be culturally

different?

What types of clients might be culturally

different?

Teenagers
Children
Older adults
People from other regions of the country
People from different ethnic backgrounds
People from different religious
backgrounds
People from different racial groups
People from different economic classes

So what can we do?

So what can we do?

Ask.
No really, ask.
Ask the client, ask others in the clients
community what the expectations might
be.
Make sure you are listening more than
you are talking.
Pay close attention to client responses.
Dont be too rigid (or too flexible) with
rules and expectations.

More fun topics:

Confrontation

Confrontation

What do you think of when you think of

confrontation?

Confrontation

What do you think of when you think of

confrontation?
When is it appropriate to confront a
client?

Wrapping up

Listening skills, empathy, and

developing rapport are critical
engagement skills
But we still need to handle the tasks of
the session juggling these roles takes
practice
Sometimes confrontation is necessary,
and helpful
Be aware that the things we discuss this
semester are culturally rooted, and
therefore may need to be adjusted from

Next week

Just one chapter! Chapter 8. Dont forget the

quiz.
Case study due read about Bea Rosen and
answer the questions. Upload your assignment
to webcampus.
Next week we jump into a discussion of
assessment the first of two weeks on the
topic. Well start off talking about assessing for
challenges and strengths.
The psychosocial assessment is one of the
primary tools of social work practice we will
be doing TWO of them this semester!