A. Theoretical Basis for Communication and Helping Skills
Communication Skills – Using Communication Theory to Improve Your Success. ... Communication theory is a part of information theory that studies how information is transferred between two groups of humans. Like in any other scientific study, the process is simplified and includes only two actors (sender and receiver). Apr 13, 2017
1. Effective helping relationship and rapport.
2. Establishing trust
3. Nonverbal communication
4. Active listening, reflection, and empathy
5. Questioning and probing
6. The I message
7. Barriers to effective communication
1. Effective helping relationship and rapport
- 1.A - Conceptualising ‘The Relationship’ in Intensive Key Worker Support as a Therapeutic Medium.In this paper and using evidence from a number of studies, I look at how the key worker-client relationship is developed and maintained. I examine the skills, processes, and communication strategies that allow key workers to engage clients, build relationships and drive change.
- 1.B - The glue that holds our work together: the role and nature of relationships in youth workProfessional identity is an ongoing topic of discussion in the youth work literature. This paper looks at one of the key elements of the definition of youth work: the relationships that youth workers establish with young people. It presents research findings that suggest that youth workers have multidimensional relationships with young people that have an educative component and therapeutic value.
- 1.C - Counseling with Muslim Refugees: Building Rapport.Recent social work literature has stressed the importance of considering culture when working with individuals with mental health problems. This paper presents my personal experience, journaling, reflections, and research as a mental health social work practitioner and researcher working with refugee clients with mental health problems from a Muslim background. It also draws on my research experience in cross-cultural mental health. The paper emphasizes the significance of building rapport especially in the earlier stages of the professional relationship.
2. Establishing trust
- 2.A - 'Don't Even Get Us Started on Social Workers': Domestic Violence, Social Work and Trust—An Anecdote from ResearchThis paper explores the concept of trust in relation to social work, child protection, and work on domestic abuse. Trust is a complex notion. Borrowing from the arguments of Behnia that trust is the outcome of a process, the paper uses the talk of women who have experienced social work in the context of domestic abuse and child protection to consider the barriers to trust-building.
- 2.B - Trust is essential: Identifying trust building techniques from youth providers across the service arrayPast research has identified that a sense of mutual trust between providers and youths may be the most significant
component of a strong working relationship. Service providers who successfully develop trust with
the youths they serve may achieve more desirable outcomes than providers who are unable to create a trusting relationship. This study used Group Concept Mapping to solicit the techniques and skills real providers use to build trust with youth across a diverse service array.
3. Nonverbal communication
- 3.A - Nonverbal Communication in HumansNonverbal behavior includes all communicative acts except speech. Communication means conveying information through signals. We use body language without being aware of it, perceive and interpret other people's body language. Three classes of nonverbal behavior are verbal-vocal, nonverbal-vocal, and nonverbal-nonvocal
- 3.B - Beliefs about female and male nonverbal communication.Measures both genders' beliefs about female and male nonverbal communication and assesses the validity of these beliefs. Perceived gender differences; Effect of participant gender; Interaction of target gender and participant gender; Perception accuracy.
- 3.C - Review of Nonverbal Communication in Parent-Child Relationships: Assessment and Intervention.Nonverbal processes are crucial to parent-child communication but are seldom the focus of therapeutic intervention once a child is over 12 months of age. This paper reviews the literature on nonverbal communication in parent-child interaction. We outline assessment tools and interventions designed to measure and improve nonverbal communication, identify gaps in publications describing the existing practice, and discuss implications for further intervention research and development.
4. Active listening, reflection, and empathy
- 4.A - The Role of “Active Listening” in Informal Helping Conversations: Impact on Perceptions of Listener Helpfulness, Sensitivity, and Supportiveness and Discloser Emotional Improvement.Verbal and nonverbal active listening behaviors were rated as signaling more emotional awareness and promoting a greater degree of emotional improvement but did not affect perceptions of relational assurance or problem-solving utility.
- 4.B - Importance of empathy for social work practice: integrating new scienceNew research from social--cognitive neuroscience and related fields indicates that like language or eye-hand coordination, empathy is an innate human capability that can be greatly enhanced by purposeful and informed guidance. Empathy is particularly important to social work practice.
- 4.C - Integrating Mindfulness and Reflection in the Teaching and Learning of Listening Skills for Undergraduate Social Work Students in Singapore.This paper illustrates how mindfulness and reflection exercises can be integrated into the teaching and learning of active listening skills, an integral component of relationship skills training.
- 4. D - Life Story Reflection in Social Work Education: A Practical Model.Drawing from the practice-oriented conception of reflection in social work, its applications in social work education typically focus on students’ encounters with the field. Recognizing the value of practice-oriented reflection yet being aware of its limitations, complementing it with life story reflection (LSR) is urged
- 4.E - Gimme That Old-time Reflection: Process RecordingProcess recording is a time-honored vehicle for reflection in schools of social work, especially in the United States (Urdang, 1975). Process recording calls upon interns’ capacity for observation and recall, requiring verbatim reporting of an interview with a client or clients. It also encourages analysis: it begins with a description of the purpose and goals of the intervention, as well as the setting and participants; it allows for a description of the rationale for intervention and the skills utilized; and it ends with impressions, plans for the future, and questions for the student’s supervisors
5. Questioning and probing in terms of interviewer's and/or client's issues, needs, and wants
- 5.A - Probing Questions: Definition, Comparisons and ExamplesWhen attempting to understand new information, knowing how to ask the right questions is a valuable skill that can facilitate the process. Probing questions are designed to deepen the knowledge and understanding of information for the person asking the question as well as the person answering. The questions themselves provide depth and insight just as much as their answers.
B. Ethnographic Interviewing
The goal of ethnographic interviewing is to understand and appreciate the experiences and worldviews of people who are different from us. We do this by asking the client to be a cultural guide. The practitioner is no longer the expert, but a learner. The social worker assumes a position of “informed not-knowing,” in which the clients educate the practitioner about their lives. This information should come from the clients’ own words since they can offer the most accurate description of their experience. - Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare (CASCW) 2001
- The Contribution of Ethnographic Interviewing To Culturally Competent Practice - CASCW Practice NotesThis issue of Practice Notes provides an introduction to ethnographic interviewing
- Asking the Right Questions in the Right Ways: Strategies for Ethnographic InterviewingThe ultimate goal of ethnographic interviewing is for clients to provide a vivid description of their life experiences. To achieve this goal, one must ask the right kinds of questions in the right kinds of ways.
- Teaching Note—The Ethnographic Interview as a Method in Multicultural Social Work Education.The ever growing diversity poses challenges for social work educators, who are engaged in developing new pedagogical methods for enhancing multicultural practice. Within the framework of a diversity course, I have developed a pedagogical practice for training social workers to work in a diverse, multicultural reality. Students conduct an ethnographic interview with a person from a different, unfamiliar group, creating an encounter with the other. They then analyze the interview and complete a written reflective assignment. The interview and accompanying assignment allow students to reflect critically on how their image of the other is socially constructed and on the essential role of context and power relations in the construction of the other, the self, and the relationship between them.
B1 - Naturalistic Inquiry
What is Naturalistic Inquiry? Before digging in, and practicing, for your ethnographic interview it is important you know what naturalist inquiry is. Please read the following few chapters to gain more information on naturalist inquiry and how it can help you with your ethnographic interview.
Doing Qualitative Research: The Craft of Naturalistic Inquiry by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9789089647658Publication Date: 2014-11-26Naturalistic inquiry is about studying people in everyday circumstances by ordinary means. It strives to blend in, to respect people in their daily lives, to take their actions and experiences seriously, and to build on these carefully. Doing Qualitative Research: The Craft of Naturalistic Inquiry offers guidance, combining thoughtful reflection with practical tips. It is written for undergraduate and graduate students in social science; for practitioners in social work, healthcare, policy advice, and organizational consultancy; and for all who have a genuine interest in society and its members. A short animation of the Arc of Naturalistic Inquiry can be found here. You can read more about the view of the authors on the teaching of qualitative methods in higher education and its current threats here.
- Naturalistic Inquiry - International Encyclopedia of Human GeographyNaturalistic inquiry is an approach to understanding the social world in which the researcher observes, describes, and interprets the experiences and actions of specific people and groups in societal and cultural contexts.