The Concept Of Acceptance And Empathy In The Social Worker-Client/Client System Relationship

The Impact of Domestic, Intimate Partner, And Other Violence On The Helping Relationship

A type of trauma is that resulting from intimate partner abuse, heterosexual, gay, lesbian, dating, married, cohabitating. The common thread in all abusive relationships is the abuser's need for power and control over his or her partner.

Guidelines for Interventions

According to most literature on domestic violence, traditional marital/couples therapy is not appropriate in addressing abuse in the family. It puts victims on greater danger of further abuse.

There are many verbal and nonverbal communication methods, including:

Active listening, in which social workers are sitting up straight and leaning toward clients in a relaxed and open manner. Attentive listening can involve commenting on client's statements, asking open-ended questions, and making statements that show listening is occurring.

One-on-One Feedback

An individual delivering feedback to another, face-to-face, is probably the most common form. Such feedback needs to be delivered sensitively and according to the principles of the profession.

Consultative Feedback:

An individual or group serves as a formal or informal consultant to another, usually to a group, but occasionally to an individual.

Consultative Feedback

An individual or group serves as a formal or informal consultant to another, usually to a group, but occasionally to an individual. The individual or group receiving the feedback may be more apt to accept and consider the feedback, given the expertise of the consultative entity, but has no obligation to do so.

Impact of Diversity in Styles of Communicating

Communication styles may be strongly influenced by culture, race, and/or ethnicity.

The Concept Of Congruence In Communication:

Congruence is the matching of awareness and experience with communication. It is essential that a client is able to express himself or herself and that this communication is reflective of his or her feelings.

Methods To Obtain And Provide Feedback

Feedback is essential in order to learn what work and what can be done better. There are some important principles that social worker should adhere to when obtaining or providing feedback.

A social worker should also display genuineness in order to build trust.

Genuineness is needed in order to establish a therapeutic relationship. It involves listening to an communicating with clients without distorting their messages, as well as being clear and concrete in communications.

Some of the reasons that clients stay in abusive relationships are:

Hope that the abuser will change. If the batterer is in a treatment program, the client hopes the behavior will change; leaving represents a loss of the committed relationships Fears that no one will believe the seriousness of abuse experienced

Verbal And Nonverbal Communication Techniques

In order to facilitate change through the problem-solving process, a social worker must use various verbal and nonverbal communication techniques to assist clients to understand their behavior and feelings.

Intragroup Feedback

Individuals in a group provide feedback to the group and/or to one or more individuals within the group. If the feedback is directed to the performance of the group, it can be particularly effective.

Cycle of Violence:

Phase One: Tension building Phase II: Battering incident--shortest period of the cycle, lasts a brief time. Phase III: "Loving--condition", absence of tension or "honeymoon" phase--batterer offers profuse apologies; assures attacks will never happen again and declares love and caring.

Empathic Communication: Establishes rapport with clients--empathic communication is one means of bridging the gap between a social worker and client.

Starts where a client is and stays attuned to a client throughout the encounter, being perceptive to changes in from of mind.

Signs of abuse are varied:

Suspicious injury, not consistent with history of injury, unusual locations, various stages of healing, bites, repeated minor injuries, delay in seeking treatment, and old scars or new injuries from weapons.

360 Feedback

This involves feedback from all directions--supervisors, peers, subordinates, the community, and so forth. The idea is that the feedback reflects multiple viewpoints and gives a complete picture.

Group-to-Group Feedback

This might take place between two groups that are working together. The feedback may go in one direction or both. The feedback might be directed at particular individuals or at the group as a whole.

Paraphrasing and clarifying

by social workers to rephrase what clients are saying in order to join together

Paraphrasing and clarifying

by social workers to rephrase what clients are saying in order to join together information. Clarification uses questioning, paraphrasing, and restating to ensure full understanding of clients' ideas and thoughts.

Silence

by social workers, which can show acceptance of clients' feelings and promotes introspection or time to think about what has been learned, very effective when used with a client who is displaying a high degree of emotion.

Reflecting or validating

to show empathetic understanding of clients' problems. These technique can also assist clients in understanding negative though patterns.

Questioning

using open-and closed-ended formats to get relevant information in a nonjudgmental manner.

Using desirable pastures or features,

which include appropriate arm movements and attentive gestures.

Exhibiting desirable facial expressions,

which include direct eye contact if culturally appropriate, warmth and concern reflected, and varied facial expressions.

Another method is the use of positive regard,

which is the ability to view a client as being worthy of caring about as someone who has strengths and achievement potential. It is build on respect and is usually communicated nonverbally.