Self Awareness In Social Work

Though self-awareness is a critical component of engaging with a client, rapport building is first foremost. This includes active listening, defining boundaries and setting up goals or expectations (Birkenmaier & Berg-Weger, 2013). When engaging a couple, the social worker would aim to create connection and improve communication as a general goal. The social worker must also consider cross-cultural communication. Diller (2007) suggests looking less at differences and attempting to relate on a basic human-level. Additionally, Diller (2007) highlights the importance of the first session in building rapport with the client. The first session should begin with understanding the nature of the client’s issue, exploring the client’s expectations,

73), prompting Mika to explain the reason for meeting. Assuming the couple has completed an intake form, the social worker would add that she got some information from the form, but she would like to know the reason for meeting in the couple’s “own words” (Diller, 2007, p. 167). The social worker would assure the couple that she wants to understand exactly what is going on (Diller, 2007). Since Mika is a voluntary client, she might be able to identify areas of concern more readily. Once she establishes the reason for the visit, the social worker could invoke an affirmation, another technique suggested by MI (Phillips et al., 2012). She might offer words of encouragement, such as—“it is good that you came in today”. Further, the social worker would suggest to Mika that they work on setting goals (Diller, 2007). The social worker would follow-up with Joe, asking how he feels about the goals and if there is anything he wants to add. The social worker could help the couple weigh pros and cons, in attempt to promote self-determination, another component of the NASW Code of Ethics (n.d.). Using MI, the social worker would continue with a series of open-ended questions, reflections and summarizations to explore the client’s ambivalence (Phillips et al., 2012). The overall goal of the social worker would be to assert equal curiosity about both Mika and Joe. Diller (2007) suggests the session should end with a discussion regarding a treatment plan. As the relationship builds, EFT (in conjunction with MI) could be a good intervention, since infertility manifests as a de facto “attachment injury” (Wiebe & Johnson, 2016, p.