Engage with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Practice Behaviors:

6.1 – Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment, person-in-environment, and other multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks to engage with clients and constituencies

6.2 – Use empathy, reflection, and interpersonal skills to effectively engage diverse clients and constituencies

A major skill for any profession is being able to connect and reach out to people efficiently. Within my personal and professional life, I have learned how to engage with people effectively to create lasting bonds and meaningful connections. I plan to continue learning how to engage with people from different cultures, religions, languages, and backgrounds.

Evidence 1 (Class): During Interviewing Skills (SOCW-213), I had the chance to learn how to engage with clients and ask appropriate questions. During the class, we needed to record video interviews with pseudo clients to demonstrate the skills that we were learning in class. For the ten minute interview, we were required to transcribe the entire interview, then list the skills demonstrated and critique how we did. The first two pages of the process recording help to demonstrate the ability to engage with the client by using small talk. To view the process recording, please click here.

Evidence 2 (Field): For many of our clients, the first few months they are very dependant on Bridge for assistance with appointments, follow-ups, and other necessary resources. One of the services that Bridge provides is contacting to hospital/clinic that clients visited and then following up with the client to see if they had any more questions that the doctor may not have covered during the visit. For one of our Arabic-speaking clients, I was asked to help translate the call between him and the case manager. During the phone call, the client was expressing frustration and annoyance based on his current situation and I was able to empathize with the client to help deescalate the situation. To learn more about this event, you can read the journal entry here and see week 3.

Evidence 3 (Additional): For Practice with Groups and Families (SOCW-321), we created a flyer to advertise the psychoeducational group that we were going to be leading at Morning Pointe. When my classmate and I went to Morning Pointe for your introductory visit and to see if we could meet some of the residents, we handed out bookmarks that had all the information about the group. It had the dates and times we were meeting and a quick summary of the main topics we were going to discuss. In relation to engagement, this was a way for us to reach out to the population we wanted to work with and share a bit of what we were going to do. To view this flyer/bookmark, click here.

Skills Used: Active listening is a skill that I utilized on multiple occasions when engaging with clients. By being attentive to what the clients were saying and giving them the non-verbal confirmation, I was able to engage with the client much more.  I also used a lot of positive non-verbal body language, such as SOLER, and an appropriate amount of eye contact. SOLER is an acronym that stands for: Sit straight, Open posture, Lean forward, Eye contact, and Relax.

Knowledge Used: In Social Work Practice with Individuals (SOCW-309), Interviewing Skills (SOCW-213), and Network and Career Development (SOCW-413) all helped to teach me how to engage with individuals. For example, from Network and Career Development, I learned how to conduct myself in a professional interview. Some of these skills were dressing professionally, and having talking points ready when meeting the interviewer. During Practice I and Interviewing Skills, I learned how to formulate and ask open-ended questions, closed-ended questions, and strength-based questions.

Values Presented: One of the key values from the NASW Code of Ethics is the importance of human relationships. In order to be able to engage with individuals, you need to value the connection with others and invest time in connecting with people.

Cognitive Processes Used: I was able to demonstrate the understanding of how to engage with individuals by utilizing small talk in my ten-minute process recording as well as when I was able to connect with my client at my practicum.

Affective Processes Used: When engaging with pseudo-clients and actual clients, I was able to respect the person for who they were and listen to the needs and wants of the individual. I would also attend to what was said and carefully formulate an appropriate response.

Theoretical Foundation: A theoretical foundation that could accurately describe this competency would be the Illusion of Asymmetric Insight. This theory focuses on the idea that we assume that we understand others more than they understand us. When engaging clients or constituents as a practitioner, it is easy to assume that with your knowledge and expertise, that you would know and understand more of the client. However, the whole point of engaging with a client is to become a learner and connect with them as an equal. For me, when a client chooses to make one decision over another, and as a practitioner, I need to take a step back and let the client lead their own decisions. Even if I feel that the client would benefit through a different choice, their right to self-determination and being the expert of their own life is much more important.