First time meeting with HV was interesting because by the end of our visit I was able to rule out my assumptions. Prior to meeting with clients I like to read up on their files. Having access to a file gives workers a glimpse into a client’s life. However, it is important to still explore a client because fully understanding someone involves communication but also physical interaction (face to face). Since HV was a new client, access to his file was not an option. There was only a name with no face. I was told to explore the client and reach out immediately. Not only did I not have file access to the client I was also informed of a possible language barrier. Before meeting this client he was already perceived as a “difficult” client. I was concerned about the communication level. I also had knowledge that he was a Hispanic male. There are many stereotypes based on the Hispanic male population. The term “macho man” is commonly used phrased to describe the pride and the toughness of a Hispanic male. I automatically linked the term and stereotype to the client and assumed he would give me a hard time while receiving my services because receiving help lessens a form of strength and integrity for some individuals. As I engaged with the client he was able to give me insight about himself. Everything I thought was not exactly true and I was able to start assessing and building a rapport with the client.
HV seemed flustered and down the first time we met. He hardly gave contact and
Although with having differences between the client, and myself we also had a few similarities. The client and I are both female, which seemed to help facilitate in the building of rapport. The client appeared to feel comfortable disclosing information following the initial rapport building stage.
Building rapport will Eowyn will be particularly difficult because she will not want to be in a vulnerable position as the client, and she may also perceive a stigma to asking for help. The key to building rapport will be found in respect of the client, respecting client autonomy, and the use of the client 's relationships. The strict use of confidentiality will be especially important for client comfort due to her political and social statues.
My goals for the session were to introduce myself to the client, understand the client’s concerns, learn her background and current situation for several areas relevant to her life and her concerns, such as medical, family, legal, educational, and vocational. I
Milten Erikson emphasized the vital need to enter the client’s world and not to drag them into ‘your’ way of thinking. We need to learn their language, their perspectives and
In appointments, I usually helped her with her taxes, provided emotional support, helped with benefit applications, and sometimes helped her with technology. She has a fairly short attention span because of her pain, medications, and depression and needed help with critical thinking in regards to filing her years of tax paperwork. When I was first passed this client, it seemed to come with an attitude of "I am sorry I have to pass this client off to you, she is kind of a pain." After I met with her the first time I was really shocked because I saw her situation from a completely differently. I recognized that she needed help, and even though her concerns were a bit unconventional, we had the resources available to help her. We had months of productive work together, and towards the end of the placement, our receptionist was very forward in telling me that I needed to discontinue working with her because "we did not provide the services she needed help with" and that she was essentially draining our resources. The first time it happened I explained to the receptionist that we have students and volunteers sitting
During the initial sessions, I think it is important to learn why the client is there from the client’s perspective. I use a not-knowing approach to learn more about why Pat is there from his perspective and what his goals are. This would allow for me to learn about the client’s wants, goals, strengths, and successes from their perspective (De Jong & Berg, 2001). Once I know what his goals are, I can partner with him to figure out a plan and interventions to achieve his goal or ways to modify them. Learning what he considers the goal of seeing a social worker allows me to know what skills we could work on building or improving. It is important to learn what the client wants to accomplish and how they plan to do so. Letting Pat tell me about himself also allows for me to see what his strengths are without me guiding him too much. This may also allow for the client to realize his own strengths and feel more empowered. Doing this would allow me to learn what stage of change Pat is in. It is important to know what stage of change a client is in so I do not push them too much on certain issues before they are aware and ready to deal with these issues. I also provide Pat with affirmation, reassurance, and reliability to make him feel more secure in the social worker/client relationship.
I interviewed Mrs. “Bright” for this assignment. She is currently assigned to one of our three high schools within the Harrison County School District (HCSD). This incident happened a few years ago when she was an assistant principal at a different high school in the HCSD. A white 10th grader had a daily 30 minute wait after school for his ride home. By this time, the other students, faculty, and staff had mostly all left the campus. A series of bullying by four black upper-classman soon started on an almost daily basis. The upper-classman were staying after school for football practice that was being held across the school campus. On one occasion the boys chased “Ryan” across campus telling him “run white boy” and “run cracker”. Ryan
In working with a client like Nate McCall it would first be necessary to address our ethnic differences. I'm not sure that he would be willing to open up to me since I am white, but he definitely would not if the issue of race was not talked about. I think it would be necessary to talk about oppression as well. The pervasiveness, restricting, hierarchical, and internalized features of oppression would definitely need to be discussed. Institutional oppression would also need to be addressed. I would try to empathize with Nate and really understand his worldview. I think I would probably try to do some existential work with him and help him to discover meaning in his life. I think that learning to choose what
The importance of respecting the client’s dignity and worth is so that he/she can have their concerns attended to and understood. This attention to their concerns assures the client’s well-being by feeling respected allowing an easier way to
There had been some moments where I have noticed that other workers and clients made judgments towards this specific client. There have been a few incidents where this client had fallen and was unable to get up, or defecated all over himself because of something they had served for lunch in the nursing home. None of the nurses responded quickly enough when these
The client for the first videotape was a 21-year-old man named Juan. The client I interviewed is my employer. Juan graduated from Lincoln Tech as an automotive technician. The situation that he brought up during the session was that he has difficulty expressing himself verbally and emotionally to both his parents and girlfriend. This inability to express himself has caused some issues in his romantic relationships and his family life. Juan has tried to deal with his situation internally and has not discussed this issue with anyone else. However, he has failed to solve this issue on his own.
It was important to me that a working alliance had been established before approaching my client with this request. We had gelled right at the start, and I knew then that our work together would be significant due to his receptivity and willingness to engage with the therapeutic process. Though I was aware of not wanting him to think he was a ‘student practice piece’, it mattered to me that I approached him in a considered manner. At the time of asking the client if I could make notes of our sessions, we had been working together on three occasions. Although the client agreed, at the time I did not have a document putting this in writing. I approached the client again four months
The client (Mary Raymond) was referred to me on a volunteer basis after that she entered the Resource Center looking to speak with me. I had previously met Mary at last week’s SOGBLTQ event during which I was panelist talking about my experiences as a Pansexual individual and had invited her to come and visit my office if she ever wanted to talk about anything. I agreed to speak to Mary and brought her into my office to talk. After showing her my Case
for deciding not to treat the client should be explained carefully. This will let the client know that
Find out what is similar and common between you as the worker and the person as the client and affirm the similarities and commonalities.