When working in an internship capacity in a local organization to help people with alcohol and drug addiction, I was assigned to work with a 28-year-old male from an African American community. Since it was my third involvement in a direct practice, I was confident of providing the best care possible to help the client by addressing the internal and external factors contributing to the behavior. However, our first encounter was not only devastating but also discouraging. The program supervisor called me to meet the client that I would be working with for the next three months of my internship. After the introduction, the client asked strategic questions that questioned my abilities, the reputation of the agency, and expressed his doubt in the success of the intervention. The meeting left me distressed and wondering about the best approach to handle the client and ensure a productive intervention. Accordingly, I sought counsel from a friend who is a social worker in the medical field who has practiced for five years. Feelings Before, During, and After the Experience Before seeking for help, I felt vulnerable and incapable of helping the client solve the problem. Although I had successfully assisted two clients before, the client questioning my skills and perception of the program as a waste of time was discouraging. In addition, his racial comments and stereotypes amplified the feeling of hopelessness. I felt a significant barrier between us, and a feeling of withdrawal
I observed many things from the interview with Ms. Pressley, such as body language, eye contact, organization, and the general love for her job and role as a supervisor. I was observing her facial expressions throughout the interview. I have never seen so much excitement from a person in a supervisory role. She truly enjoys being the person others can come to and learn from. One of the specifics that stood out to me was when she said, “Really get to know your people.” (C. Pressley, personal communication. October 23, 2017). I believe this is something all supervisors should do. Along with observing her expressions, I noticed her demeanor. She made me feel welcomed and comfortable by meeting me upon arrival and being present during our
The book called “Of Good and Ill Repute: Gender and Social Control in Medieval England” is a collection of essays, investigating medieval society. The name of the author of this book is Barbara Hanawalt, who is a specialist in English medieval social history. Hanawalt has received a PhD from the University of Michigan and has made a career of both teaching and writing. In regards to Hanawalt’s book titled “Of Good and Ill Repute: Gender and Social Control in Medieval England”, each chapter explores and discusses different aspects of medieval society in England. Hanawalt discuss a range of material, which she tries to connect and prove her thesis.
Imagine being in the year 1989 and reluctantly having to attend a highly prestigious school with you and your family's reputation on the line. For Todd Anderson that’s exactly what happened to him when he attended St. Andrew's School in the movie Dead Poets Society directed by Peter Weir. We watch the main character Todd face many challenges that eventually led to him learning something new about himself. In the novel How to Read Literature like a Professor the author Thomas C. Foster goes in depth to explain how to analyze literature and many of his topics are presented in Dead Poets Society during Todd’s journey at St.Andrew's.
I was among three therapists sent to New Hope Corps transitional home for quarterly face-to-face contact with client. Client has been at the transitional home for three months and all reports are that he is doing well. I met with transition home counselor at the home prior to meeting with client. The transitional home counselor reported that the client had made much progress in his therapy group this quarter. She had reported at previous meeting that client had not wanted to share any of his issues with the group and just sat there until the time was up in group and then left with no remarks. During this quarter, he has begun to open up about his feelings regarding his birth father and his anger toward him. He has talked about his drug use. The transition home counselor began meeting with him individually two months ago and that one-on-one counseling has given him the encouragement to share with the group. The transition home counselor warned me that client would want to discuss his desire to return home as soon as possible. I met with client alone to discuss his progress over the last quarter. He reported that he is feeling good about
This case study is on client, Harold, referred to Greenbrier Behavioral Health Center, an intensive outpatient program (IOP), from Greenbrier Behavioral Health Hospital. The client is a 43 year old, retired, white male, living in Slidell, Louisiana. His highest level of education is a GED. He is married with two children ages 8 and 12. He recently retired after more than 20 years from the police force. Harold is overweight, wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, appears clean and groomed. He is sitting, calm and quiet with arms resting on his legs.
A demonstration of warmth, genuineness, and empathy will help the new client become motivated to move toward positive change even when there is a gap in formal training. These qualities are projected with words, body language, and actions. For example, warmth can be shown to the new client with a friendly greeting accompanied by a sincere smile, the offering of a chair and a beverage, and a display of sincere interest while listening to the presenting problem (Marini, 2015). It has been said that employers decide within the first two minutes of a job interview whether to hire the candidate. A counselor would do well to regard the initial client meeting as a job interview of sorts and strive to make a good first impression. Skillful interviewing techniques will project empathy as the counselor allows the client to relate his or her past helping experiences and showcase strong qualities (McClam & Woodside, 2012). There should be a genuine effort to see the presenting problem from the client’s viewpoint, which is the essence of empathy. These methods set the client at ease and more inclined to share openly and honestly, which facilitates better recall while he or she relates past experiences. Most importantly, this approach emphasizes that the client has something to offer in the therapeutic
Since the previous meeting, the client has made some changes. The client is not apprehensive or hesitant to speak with writer and reported that: “[he] did not trust writer with [his] problems during [their] first encounter”. The client has been cooperative, maintaining eye contact, and presenting organized thoughts, and appropriate insight and judgements. The client has set a short term goal of sustaining sobriety and a long term goal of managing his anger. The client continues to present symptoms of major depressive disorder with alcohol dependence (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Both of these goals are great to work on with the client because they may have a positive effect on the client’s
"It was in discussion twelve how we talked about this subject, the chapter highlights some fundamentals for working with individuals from diverse cultural/racial background groups; individuals from diverse religious backgrounds; women; men; gays, bisexuals, and lesbians; the homeless and the poor; older persons; children; individuals who are HIV positive; the chronically mentally ill; and individuals with disabilities." 2015, p. 234). I think it helped me better understand this subject when we talked about real life situations and how to handle this problem in the work field. Clients will be able to sense when you are putting off negative energy toward them, you are not there to judge them but help them with their problems. By doing so it can affect the connection you are trying to build with the client, and the trust could be broken. When a client does not feel that you are understanding them, this can lead to them not wanting to work with you or discourage them from seeking help from anyone in your profession, especially when it comes to drug addicts, we do not want to discourage them from getting help.
Since I presented approximately one month ago, the client and I have had four more sessions. Two of those sessions focused on crisis management when the client reported suicidal ideation. She stated cutting ideation comes in “waves” and psychoeducation was provided about endorphins and cutting. Client reports she is able to use her coping skills such as grounding, snapping a rubber band, or drawing. Sleep hygiene has improved and the client reported the medications are helping with her nightmares. She has received visits from her two children for overnight visits. The client displays a lot of all or nothing thinking such as how one child is “the devil” and one is “angelic.” Upon clarification, she described her older child as “the
his the client has met his treatment plan goal regarding completing his second step. the client shared about the insanity of his drinking and the people that he had hurt in the course of his drinking, getting DUI's and being force to retire from his broker business , the huge financial cost of getting these dui's , and being selfish in his addiction. The client mention that he is 65 years of age and it's time to get a grip on this thing called addiction. The client also completed a list of triggers which were stress , and social gathering. The client has yet to come up with ways of dealing with this triggers. Client at this time seemed to genuine open and honest during his 1x1 session. However, the client needs to be connected to what
The client had a troubled childhood growing up in Los Angeles California. He grew up poor, eating out of trash cans, moving from hotel to hotel. After his parent’s divorce, his father abandoned the family for several years. This has caused the client to feel abandoned and worthless. The Japanese community did not accept John because “ I was of mixed race,” which also made the client feel worthless and unwanted. The client did not have many friends in his neighborhood because “ I was different” in appearance compared to the other kids in the community. The client felt like an outcast and would keep to himself. In high school, the client reconnected with his father and moved into his home. The client reported, “ I would lay in the bed for days,
This week in the field was productive. The tasks completed this week were some tasks I have completed throughout the semester interning at the Department of Social Services (DSS). Throughout this week I had the opportunity to complete more home visits outside of the clients I am familiar with on my supervisor’s caseload. This is that I was able to complete a home visit with one of her coworkers to experience working with different populations the agency works with. During the home visit with my supervisor’s coworker, she and I sat with the client to discuss information pertaining to her court orders. With the client’s children being classified as medically fragile, the client has been ordered by the court to report for parenting classes and
Learning from each client and handling cases differently requires skills, even if they appear to have the same commonality. Some of your clients may appear to be functionally better than others but, that does not mean that they don’t share the same characteristics. Learning is an essential element that is used based on experience and the information received from the client. In order to be an effective counselor, it is vitally important to learn from each of your clients. I learned not to be judgmental or prejudicial towards
If you are looking for an exciting and meaningful career working with people, social work could be the career for you. Social workers are people who care about people and who work to make things better in their environment. Social work as a profession is about helping people find solutions that enable them to function as best they can in the environment in which they live.
A helping profession is one that nurtures the growth of or addresses the problems of a person's physical, psychological, intellectual, emotional or spiritual well-being.