Generalist Practice Examples

For this assignment, two different theoretical approaches will be discussed, Bowenian family therapy and structural family therapy, and they will be used individually to construct a treatment plan to help clients reach their goals. Within each treatment plan discussed, short-term and long-term goals of therapy will be established and the family’s presenting problems will be defined. Two techniques that will be assigned to help them reach their therapeutic goals and any expected outcome from using those techniques will be discussed.

Your client Sue is a Social Work Assistant. In your last session she disclosed that she is concerned that on a recent home visit, herself and a senior colleague did not follow the necessary policies and procedures. They had visited a family with a history of neglect and domestic violence and did not ask to see the child or enter the home, both these actions are prescribed as appropriate as part of their work.

In this paper, I discuss my experience with observing a group counseling session with the purpose of evaluating it in terms of how it is set up, how it is run, interventions used, culturally sensitivity, and the contribution toward my professional development as a social worker. The group setting plays a critical role in social work outside of the individual session and can be largely beneficial for clients in the forms of therapy, counseling, self-help, and support. By attempting to better understand group interventions, I will learn how to apply this strategy in aiding clients for whom this method is appropriate by increasing their social supports.

Social workers must strive “for a full understanding of the complex interactions between the client and all levels of the social and physical system as well as meaning that the client assigns to each of these interactions” (Andreae, 1996, p. 605).

Allowing for our ethical codes of conduct, if the client is someone we feel we can proceed with, then as always, the first stage would be to develop a good rapport and gain the clients trust to develop an honest and open relationship with them. The client centred approach as always is the best method for this – to put the client at ease in a non-judgemental space where they can express their emotions and explore what it is they want to achieve with therapy. In giving the therapist an

The first guest speaker to present was Doreen Lesane, an Advocate against Domestic Violence. She gave a general power point presentation on what domestic violence is and how to properly assist a client in that predicament. She goes on to explain that domestic abuse and domestic violence are consider two different forms under the law. The law does not recognize domestic abuse as a criminal act and is categorize as nonphysical form of abuse. As a social worker our goals is not to get the client to flea an abuse relationship but to provided serveries to better Accommodate client by helping them create safety nets. Prof. Elaine Reid makes a startling claim, woman are more likely to be murder when they are trying to leave an abuse spouse, and this is also refer as separation violence. Nevertheless it is important not to judge these individual and to handle the case in a professional matter. As social workers it is essential that we safety guide our client with their approval, out of domestic situation by providing resource, support, understanding and professional services.

The Generalist Model is having a broad range of knowledge on professional values and ethics and a broad range of skills, basically eclectic-based. By being eclectic, the social worker is able to help the client in any situation from at least a basic level. It allows them to work in different environments, whether it is considered to be micro, mezzo, or macro. There are seven stages of the generalist model; engagement, assessment, planning, implementation, evaluation, termination, and follow up. Each stage will be discussed below and how it helps change the client for the better. It is important that the social worker and client go through each stage and successfully complete the stage before moving onto the next.

These principles ensure that social work interventions are in accordance with core social work principles, surrounding respect, autonomy, and ethical social work practice (Hick, 2010). The defence practice ensures that clients are aware of their rights and how to advocate for themselves (Hick, 2010). This is particularly important in this case, as the client’s voice must be heard in order to understand her story and how her past has affected her present. The collectivization process would ensure that individuals that are in a similar situation as our client, are grouped together, in order to create a support group and a safe place to discuss their situations (Hick 2010). This process is important within this case, as the client must not feel as though she is alone in her struggle, and must understand that the problems that she faces are not due to her individual shortcomings. Furthermore, the collectivization process is intrinsically linked to the structural approach, as this process includes advocating for your client, and also for others that face similar social injustices. The materialization process is concerned with gathering information on the client,

Many people come to social workers with a victim mentality, feeling helpless and without a future based on their past. They have been discouraged, beat down and made to feel broken. Being a victim of abuse, trauma, toxic relationships or a victim of assault are all unfortunate circumstances, but they can be overcome. It may seem like a challenge, but it is possible with assistance and God. As social workers we are to provide client’s who have experienced repeated trauma with support and resources to assist them in their journey to a hopeful life. Painful experiences seem to get the best of us at times, but focusing on the client’s ability to survive these horrific events can give the client just the push they need to see that they are a survivor. Helping the client to realize their own strengths and skills used to overcome their trauma, instead of focusing on the trauma itself, is a powerful way to help clients achieve a positive outcome. Kisthardt (1992) states “intervention will work best when there is “an orientation to, and appreciation of, the uniqueness, skills, interests, hopes, and desires of each consumer, rather than a categorical litany of deficits” (p. 60-61). Kaplan and Girard (1994) state “people will be motivated to change and grow when their strengths are

One of the most useful models for social workers to implement is the generalist model. Since the goal of social work is to work with individuals and assist them in solving their problems, the generalist model seeks to create three levels of practice to better aide the individuals in direct practice service (Farley, Smith, & Boyle, 2011). These three levels are the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. The micro level refers to the systems that directly impact a single individual, whereas the mezzo level refers to the small groups (such as marriages and families) that impact the individual. Furthermore, the macro level refers to the large systems, such as cultures and large organizations, which can influence the person. With the establishment of the generalist model, the social worker can better aide the client and work directly with him to help him solve any problems or concerns he may have, and this model has become the most common operational model in social work, though it does have both advantages and disadvantages.

In the generalist social work practice, a social worker is a change agent due to the expansive and complex umbrella of social and human services and roles. A change agent works to promote positive changes for the well-being of an individual, family, group, organization or community. In order to fulfill the tasks of a social worker, one should be trained and equipped with a wide variety of skills: such as setting appropriate boundaries, possessing and utilizing self-awareness and the ability to counsel or advocate for clients. In addition to many skills, the generalist social work practice includes a surplus of methods to either prevent or intervene when necessary. A method often utilized by social workers is the person-in-environment conceptualization. The person-in-environment perspective considers factors, such as familial or economic, beyond the individual to better understand the client’s behaviors or situation. Another method is the strengths perspective. The strength-based perspective focuses on the client’s or client system’s positive qualities to build upon those capabilities. And the recognition of strengths helps to achieve goals in a more client-led approach. Generalist practitioners are professionals with a wide range of knowledge and a repertoire of diverse skills in order to enhance the social functioning of all within society.

By making society conscious of domestic violence against male victims, it has aided in creating and informing victims of help that is out there for them. This would include support groups. Being able to identify with peers that have similar situations, and discussing these issues, can help the healing begin.

Social work is very diverse, there is not one sole solution, or strength metaphor which can cover all fields. However, there are assessments which can be applied to certain situations, given the practitioners beliefs. “Accessing Clients Strengths: Clinical Assessment for Client Empowerment” is an article written by Charles D. Cowger, and is based on a mainstream contextual understanding that the primary goal of social work is to assist individuals with their relationship to others, and to institutions in a way to promote social and economic justice with regards to the importance of a client strengths perspective for assessment, which, proposes 12 practice guidelines to foster a strengths perspective(Cowger, 1994, p.262).Theory of strengths assessment focuses on two aspects of empowerment, personal empowerment and social empowerment. Personal empowerment dynamic recognizes the uniqueness of each client and their ability to take charge and control of their lives and their own betterment process. The social empowerment dynamic states that personal empowerment is related to opportunity and that individuals behaviors are derived from society. Through social empowerment, the individual plays a key role in shaping their surrounding and vise versa by having various opportunities and access to certain resources.

Therefore, this therapy can be used to help families with schizophrenic members, violent temperaments, uncontrolled substance or alcohol abuse, chronic problems (that affect all members), and those who want to improve relationship skills. Its goal is to build a supportive collaboration between counselor and the family and teaches skill-building techniques to help families gain control over their circumstances. Strength and resiliency are taught to families dealing with chronic problems (Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2013, p.415). Psychoeducation does follow some of the techniques used by traditional treatments, such as cooperating with the family, acquiring the trust of its members, remaining unbiased, and figuring out the best methods to have positive conclusions. In summary, the program helps families learn problem-solving approaches that will help them have prosperous marital or parent-child relationships (Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2013, p.416).

It means being able to handle all systems, including community, organization, individual, and group. Their job is broad and they do not focus on just one aspect. They must solve many problems and be attentive. It prepares them to be able to handle a situation, no matter how difficult. One thing that they are held accountable for the most is their client’s well-being. They are to make sure that their clients know that they can count on them no matter what it is. It is important for them to make sure that they do all they can to meet their client’s needs. The advanced generalist method is the generalist method, but as a master social work. They are to go even further beyond what they normally would do at an even higher rate. The ecosystems perspective is something that helped develop the generalist approach. It helps them realize that when they work on one level will help them get to other levels. The levels of intentions that the social workers are to focus on, like stated before are, the individual, the family, the group, the individual, the organization, and the community. It is important that they continue to focus on that, being that it will shape them the