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Introduction to the Helping Profession

• Social work aims to improve the interaction between people and their social environments by facilitating change.
• Change is facilitated at levels including personal, family, group, community, formal institutions, and societal systems.
• Social workers respond to the social world and work with diverse groups.

Areas of Social Work Practice

• Community development involves assessing community needs, planning programs, and advocating for change.
• Child welfare ensures the safety of children and youth.
• Correctional facilities manage cases, handle probation and parole, and provide other services.
• Hospitals contribute to the care, treatment, and rehabilitation of patients.
• Mental health helps clients manage mental health conditions and develop coping skills.
• Family and school social workers work with families and children in schools.
• Gerontology focuses on working with older adults.
• Disability services involve working with people with disabilities.
• International social work involves working in international settings.
• Main areas include healthcare, mental health, education, and community development.

Generalist vs. Specialist Practice

• Generalist practice involves a variety of areas of focus and theoretical orientations, such as case management, hospital social work, and research.
  • Pros: broader knowledge, many areas, responsiveness, greater awareness.
  • Cons: sometimes deep knowledge is necessary.
• Advanced Generalist practice uses skills, knowledge, and values to address complex problems across multiple levels and systems.
  • Skills are applicable to school social work, military social work, trauma counseling, mental health counseling, and substance abuse counseling.
    • Pros: a broad skill set and the ability to work across various settings, advocating for systemic change while providing direct client services.
    • Cons: a potential lack of deep specialization, limiting career options in highly focused fields like clinical practice or research.
• Specialist practice has a narrow area of focus like private practice (addictions, group work), geriatric work, school or psychiatric social work, or research.
  • Pros: deep knowledge in one area.
  • Cons: may lack confidence in unfamiliar situations, and requires time for study and practice.

Shaping a Social Worker's Professional Purpose

• A social worker's professional purpose is shaped by serving user needs and expectations, the institutional context of practice, and professional practice.
• Professional purpose is informed by a combination of theories, knowledge, and values acquired through readings, practice assignments, reflections, and discussions.

Integrating Faith into Social Work

• Christian social workers are influenced by their beliefs and can draw upon them.
• Consider how faith aligns or doesn't align with the topics being discussed and the challenges.
• Social work has strong roots in Christianity and the church, with a history of helping the poor and vulnerable
• Integrating values like love, care, kindness, respect and serving aligns with social work values and will serve to impact practice

Communication Skills

• Communication skills are important and defined as the following:
• General listening skills are an active process.
  • Active listening is purposeful and requires 100% engagement, which is needed for forming relationships and gaining understanding.
  • Good listening includes attention, openness, and empathy.
• Non-verbal skills involve communication through physical presence and behavior, such as facial expressions and posture.
  • Non-verbal skills are powerful,but can cause communication issues.
• Observation skills involve taking note of and analyzing what we see and experience
  • Provide information, understanding, and reframing.
• Verbal skills include facilitation, paraphrasing, parroting, and clarification.
  • Facilitation directs the conversation towards a professional purpose.
  • Paraphrasing repeats the gist of what someone has said.
  • Parroting repeats the exact words of the service user.
  • Clarification seeks a deeper understanding of the situation.
• Considerations that might influence communication: distractions, personal beliefs, and jargon (language that people don't understand).
  • Jargon can make it hard for people to talk.
• Strategies for successful communication include, watching body language, asking open-ended questions, and connecting with listening.
• Considerations when communicating: first language, non-verbal cues, cultural factors, and age.
• Religion can impact on communication and decision-making, shows understanding and builds trust of others

Assessments

• Assessment is "gathering, synthesizing, and evaluating pertinent information"
  • It is both a process and a product.
• Assessment is vital for effective communication and work, and is used for interpretation.
• Information gathered in an assessment: community needs, community assets, research gaps, and policy implications.
• DataGathering during assessment: face-to-face interactions, observation, and assessment tools.
• "Assessment tool" is used for identifying strengths and enabling conversations.
  • Examples include genograms, psychological tests, ecomaps, and questionnaires.
• Considerations include: informed consent, the communication process, the role of theories, the role of the population, and spirituality/religion.
• Theories are relative to assessment; different assessments use different theories for approach and interpretation.

Social Work Practice with Individuals (Micro Practice)

• Micro practice refers to direct work with individuals.
  • Addresses those who voluntarily seek help and those legally compelled to do so.

Four Phases of Practice:

• Engagement: The social worker initially establishes a relationship with the client.
• Assessment: Information related to the clients situation is gathered.
• Intervention: A plan is developed to address the client's needs.
• Termination: The client/social worker professional relationship is concluded.

Engaging the Service User

• Engaging the service providee involves building a trusting, and collaborative relationship.
• Involves active listening, showing empathy, and respect.
• Engagement encourages openness and honesty and strengthens the relationship.
• Active listening, asking open-ended questions, creating a safe environment, and being patient will achieve this.
• Engaging Challenges: distrust, fear, communication barriers, and personal biases.