Effective communication skills are one of the most crucial components of a social worker’s job. Every day, social workers must communicate with clients to gain information, convey critical information and make important decisions. Without effective communication skills, a social worker may not be able to obtain or convey that information, thereby causing detrimental effects to clients. Show
Listening SkillsA significant portion of a social worker’s job involves interviewing clients and other parties involved in a client’s care. To provide the most effective services and counseling, a social worker must develop the ability to listen carefully and pay attention to details. This may involve learning to take detailed notes so as to easily recall what was said later. Effective listening also involves paying attention to how the social worker reacts as the client is speaking. This means avoiding giving signs that the social worker disagrees with something a client has said, interrupting a client, rolling eyes, doodling, multitasking, or yawning and appearing generally disinterested in what the client is saying. Getting InformationOften social workers have to gain information from people who are not willing to part with that information or who may be difficult to understand. A social worker must know how to ask the right questions to get the necessary information or to alter the language of the questions to help a client understand what was being asked. Social workers may also benefit from knowing how to use alternate tactics for getting information, such as role playing or word association. Nonverbal BehaviorsA social worker’s nonverbal behaviors can go a long way when it comes to communicating. Social workers should make eye-to-eye contact when speaking with clients and those involved with their care. Giving a smile can signal warmth and make a social worker seem more approachable. Keeping a distance of three to five feet between the social worker and the client can also help improve the level of comfort in the room, although a social worker also needs to keep in mind that cultural norms for physical distance vary, so that some clients may want to be closer than the social worker is used to. Building TrustSocial workers must often build someone’s trust in order to effectively communicate. Communication with a client will not be successful if the client feels the social worker does not have her best interest in mind or if the social worker does not genuinely listen to the client. Building trust also involves not minimizing what a client has to say. Even if the social worker does not agree with the client or wants to focus on something more important, it is often necessary to focus on the client’s agenda rather than the social worker’s to help build trust and make the client feel important or as though she has some say. Handling ConflictOften, social workers encounter conflict. Knowing how to diffuse conflict and not let it interfere with the issues that need to be dealt with is key. Social workers should avoid threatening or warning clients, judging clients or making inappropriate generalizations that could lead to conflict. Social workers should also refrain from raising their voices, even if a client begins to yell first. For particularly difficult clients, a social worker may choose to bring a mediator or other impartial party into the room during any conversations to help diffuse conflict. It is a holistic, collaborative approach concerned with identifying a client’s inner and outer resources to promote resilience (Pulla, 2017). Client strengths include their individual talents and problem-solving abilities as well as the resources available in their support networks, such as family, friends, and the wider community. In short, this approach focuses on what is strong, not just what is wrong (Baron et al., 2019). This article will explore the strengths-based approach to social work, the different models and theories used, and some strengths assessment tools available for social workers. A strengths-based approach requires a social worker to establish a collaborative relationship with clients that develops their resilience to life’s challenges. Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Strengths Exercises for free. These detailed, science-based exercises will help your clients realize their unique potential and create a life that feels energizing and authentic. This Article Contains:
Strengths-Based Approach in Social WorkThe strengths-based approach has been widely embraced in the social work field because of its holistic, person-centered perspective that focuses on clients’ assets rather than their deficits, pathologies, and problems. The strengths-based approach draws on a variety of models and theories and comprises a collaboration between the social worker and their client that maps the client’s strengths and assesses these strengths as the foundation for social work intervention planning (Pattoni, 2012). The social worker focuses on building on the client’s existing strengths, assets, and resources and the support available in their relationships and community. This avoids duplicating services that may already be available and contributes to the development of grassroots community resources as their locally targeted reach expands (Berg, 2009). The video below from the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) explains the approach in accessible terms. Social Work & Strengths: 3 Models and TheoriesSeveral strengths-based models of care have been developed, including the following. 1. Asset-based community development (ABCD)The asset-based community development approach focuses on a client’s strengths in the context of their wider network and community resources. ABCD is based on five core principles (Russell, 2017).
According to this model, local people are in the driving seat of change and first establish community strengths that can be shared locally, before searching for additional support from outside agencies.
While this approach recognizes individual clients’ strengths and skills, it also recognizes how these can be amplified by the presence of supportive relationships. Relational power means the societal whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
This involves focusing on what’s strong rather than what’s wrong. This focus builds on existing strengths to make them stronger and then uses them to address what’s wrong.
This focuses on local neighborhood community development from a bottom-up rather than top-down perspective by drawing on local people’s knowledge of each other’s strengths and local resources that institutional agents often miss.
Communities have imperceptible boundaries that define who belongs and who is deemed an outsider. The focus on inclusion recognizes that those on the edges of communities often have skills and assets that can benefit their neighbors and enrich community life as a whole. 2. Knowledge, values, ethics, theory, and skills (KVETS)KVETS stands for knowledge, values, experience, theories, and skills (Stanley et al., 2018). It is the practice framework recommended in the UK 2014 Care Act as a strengths-based approach to social work. The model comprises a set of practice triggers to be considered when making decisions and choosing an intervention. The aim is to provide person-centered, holistic, ethical interventions that uphold human rights and social justice, as illustrated in the diagram below. Source: https://www.scie.org.uk/publications/guides/guide13/law/ For further reading on KVETS, check out the SCIE’s extensive resources on the subject. 3. Local area coordination (LAC)LAC is a strengths-based approach to social work that focuses on relationship building and developing community networks (The Local Area Coordination Network, 2019). The approach aims to provide person-centered services that are co-created with local communities. Individuals require less institutional intervention and ongoing care because they draw on existing strengths and community resources. LAC has 10 largely self-explanatory principles:
A local area coordinator is assigned to a defined neighborhood and works with people who are at risk of needing formal service intervention and may be isolated or causing concern locally. The coordinator helps clients to identify what they want and need that is missing from life. The coordinator and client explore the client’s personal, relational, and community assets and collaborate on practical solutions to existing problems to minimize formal service intervention. In this way, a local area coordinator helps clients build connections locally and develop skills that promote resilience and independence (Lunt & Bainbridge, 2019). How Does It Work in Practice? 3 ExamplesA great way to illustrate how a strength-based approach makes a difference, is with the three inspiring examples below. 1. Embrace, Richmond, VA, United StatesIn the video below, a social worker from Richmond, VA, in the United States describes an Embrace neighborhood project that decided to use ABCD. This was after three separate murders in the first three weeks of 2011, and after a three- to four-year journey, the Richmond neighborhood had turned itself around. 2. Doncaster Children’s Services Trust, UKIn the video below, social workers from Doncaster Children’s Services Trust describe how they use strengths-based approaches to get the best for children and families who face hurdles in the parenting process. KVETS is the strengths-based framework recommended in the UK Government’s 2014 Care Act and used by social services across the United Kingdom (Social Care Institute for Excellence, 2015a). 3. National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), AustraliaThe NDIS helps children and adults with intellectual, physical, sensory, cognitive, and psychosocial disabilities get the support they need to develop their skills and independence. They use local area coordinators to plan and implement support packages in collaboration with their service users. For a brief explanation, see the video below. Performing Strengths Mapping ExplainedStrengths or asset mapping involves identifying individual, family, and community strengths or assets as the basis for planning social work interventions (Social Care Institute for Excellence, 2015b). Many tools can be used to map individual strengths. However, in a social work context, this usually begins by having the first of the three conversations described below and detailed in the SCIE’s three conversations model. This person-centered dialogue aims to identify a client’s resources, needs, and sources of support. Specialist social work services, such as mental health services or children’s services, may use specific assessment tools to engage with their clients further after having this initial conversation. Some of these are discussed below. Further strengths mapping is required to decide on a specific social work intervention. This typically takes place at a community or neighborhood level. The Rural Health Information Hub (n.d.) in the United States describes their strengths-based asset mapping exercise as: “A systematic process of cataloging key services, benefits, and resources within the community, such as individuals’ skill sets, organizational resources, physical space, institutions, associations, and elements of the local economy.” The local community is much more likely to buy into interventions if they build on the community resources available and support their further development. Social work services become more targeted, effective, and relevant the more they engage with and build on existing community resources. Below is a list of community assets that might be included in each segment of an asset map.
You will find an example of an asset map on page 15 of this guide. 3 Strengths Assessment Tools for Social WorkersUsing a strengths-based assessment framework ensures that a social worker conducts a holistic and balanced assessment of a client’s resources and needs that does not reduce them to a set of problems or symptoms rooted in discourses of deviance, psychopathology, frailty, or illness (Graybeal, 2001). A strengths assessment begins with a “blossoming conversation” that should be as natural as possible. It should not be structured around service eligibility criteria, although these are addressed later. A visual mind map of the blossoming conversation is reproduced below. Source: City of Wolverhampton Council (2017, p. 17). The blossoming conversation refers to the initial rapport building required to progress through the three conversations and ROPES assessment processes detailed below. 1. The three conversations modelThe three conversations model is a strengths-based approach to needs assessment and care planning recommended by the UK Care Act guidelines published by the SCIE. The model recommends that social workers engage their clients in three types of conversations to assess their strengths and needs (Social Care Institute for Excellence, 2015a).
For a more detailed account of the model, you can visit the SCIE website. 2. Resources, opportunities, possibilities, exceptions, and solutions (ROPES) modelROPES is a strengths-based framework devised by Graybeal (2001) to guide practitioners on the broader process of continuous strengths-based assessment. The table below outlines the ROPES model with life domains that should be considered during an assessment and questions to be considered during an exploratory conversation.
Adapted from City of Wolverhampton Council (2017, p. 18). 3. The recovery modelThe recovery model is a person-centered, holistic, and strengths-based approach to the provision of mental health services that contrasts sharply with the old medical model rooted in psychopathology and medication (Jacob, 2015). It emphasizes peer support during recovery as a primary strength and source of social integration, especially following a period of hospitalization. The recovery model is a framework that identifies a service user’s strengths to build resilience. A social worker will support their client to regain control of their life after experiencing a serious mental illness. For many service users, recovery is about living a meaningful life while living with a mental health problem (Scottish Recovery Network, n.d.). The Scottish Recovery Network (n.d.) describes the recovery model using the following four pillars:
Comprehensive List of Client StrengthsThe following list is not exhaustive but gives some indication of the areas a social worker and client can explore together during a strengths-based assessment and collaborative care planning (Social Care Institute for Excellence, 2015b). 8 Individual strengths
Adapted from Berg (2009). 6 Family strengths
Adapted from JRank (n.d.). 8 Environmental strengths
Adapted from Berg (2009). A Look at Strengths-Based InterviewsStrengths-based interviewing in social work practice refers to both assessment processes and the ongoing evaluation of care plans and services (City of Wolverhampton Council, 2017). As described above, strengths-based social work assessment focuses on specific types of conversations that build rapport by relating to the client as a whole person, rather than a diagnosis or set of problems. However, one specific type of strengths-based interview is motivational interviewing (MI), an intervention that facilitates behavioral change. MI is “a collaborative, person-centered form of guiding to elicit and strengthen motivation to change” (Miller & Rollnick, 2009, p. 137). Motivational interviewing is effective in supporting client-centered behavioral change and has an established evidence base. It is based on the following four pillars:
MI is a strengths-based interviewing technique that social workers use to facilitate client-led behavioral change. To find out more, look at this video interview with the founder of the MI approach, William R. Miller. Best Resources From PositivePsychology.comPositivePsychology.com has a range of resources you can use to support a strengths-based social work practice. First, you can download our free worksheets Exploring Character Strengths, Strengths in Challenging Times, and Motivational Interviewing in Social Work. In addition, we have a huge selection of articles in our dedicated Strengths & Virtues category, providing you with insight, worksheets, and further guidance. We also offer a complete eight-module training course called the Realizing Resilience Masterclass© should you wish to dive deep and take your practice further. If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others develop their strengths, check out this collection of 17 strength-finding tools for practitioners. Use them to help others better understand and harness their strengths in life-enhancing ways. A Take-Home MessageA strengths-based approach to social work involves building a collaborative, person-centered relationship with your client that treats them as a unique individual by focusing on their personal, relational, and community strengths. No longer is a client viewed as a diagnosis or collection of problems, but rather as a unique individual who may require additional support for a while. This approach benefits the quality of social work relationships by promoting clients’ self-efficacy, resilience, and independence. We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Strengths Exercises for free.
What is the main reason a social worker focuses on the strength of the client?In social work, strength-based assessments in therapy are used to determine a client's strengths and how these strengths can be harnessed to help them confront whatever problem they're facing. Therapists should team up with clients to investigate the client's strengths to empower them in their decision-making.
In what kind of circumstances is a social worker most likely to feel judgmental toward a client?In what kind of circumstances is a social worker most likely to feel judgmental toward a client? If done inappropriately, confrontation of a client's statement or behavior is most likely to result in: Anger and defensiveness on the part of the client.
What are the challenges faced by social workers who have to deal with potential clients referred by others?Client resistance and reluctance are considered as two major challenges faced by a social worker while engaging with an involuntary client. Reluctance is related to the client's desire of not being close to the therapist or being engaged in any form of communication with the therapist about their personal lives.
When the social worker gives information material to a client it is important for the client to?When the social worker gives informational material to a client, it is important for the client to: Be able to understand it is most important that the client understands the information being presented.
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