Week 2: Engagement—Part 2

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Analyze potential challenges for engagement in field education experience
• Analyze personal action plans for engagement in field education experience
• Analyze engagement in relation to social work practice
• Apply social work practice skills

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings

Garthwait, C. L. (2017). The social work practicum: A guide and workbook for students (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Chapter 2, “Implementing a Learning Plan” (pp. 12-27)

Gerdes, K. E., & Segal, E. (2011). Importance of empathy for social work practice: Integrating new science. Social Work, 56(2), 141–148.

Murdach, A. D. (2011). What happened to self-determination? Social Work, 56(4), 371–373.

Optional Resources

Click this link to access the MSW home page, which provides resources for your social work program:
MSW home page

Assignment 1: Week 2 Blog

Refer to the topics covered in this week’s resources, and incorporate them into your blog.

By Day 3

Post a blog post that includes:

• An explanation of potential challenges for engagement in your field education experience
• An explanation of personal action plans you might take to address engagement in your field education experience

By Day 4

Respond to the blog post of three colleagues in one or more of the following ways:

• Make a suggestion to your colleague’s post.
• Share an insight from having read your colleague’s posting.

Assignment 2: Process Recordings

A process recording is a written tool used by field education experience students, field instructors, and faculty to examine the dynamics of social work interactions in time. Process recordings can help in developing and refining interviewing and intervention skills. By conceptualizing and organizing ongoing activities with social work clients, you are able to clarify the purpose of interviews and interventions, identify personal and professional strengths and weaknesses, and improve self-awareness. The process recording is also a useful tool in exploring the interpersonal dynamics and values operating between you and the client system through an analysis of filtering the process used in recording a session.

For this Assignment, you will submit a process recording of your field education experiences specific to this week.

The Assignment: (2–4 pages)

• Provide a transcript of what happened during your field education experience, including a dialogue of interaction with a client.
• Explain your interpretation of what occurred in the dialogue, including social work practice or theories, and explain how it might relate to engagement covered this week.
• Describe your reactions and/or any issues related to your interaction with a client during your field education experience.
• Explain how you applied social work practice skills when performing the activities during your process recording.

By Day 7

Submit your Assignment.

Note: You should also share your process recordings with your field instructor during your individual supervision.

Note: Adherence to confidentiality is required in your process recordings. Do not include real names of clients, supervisors, or social workers with whom you may come into contact during your social work field education experience. Omit any personal identifiers when detailing the interaction with your social work clients

Responses

 Surnita Warner  at Tuesday, December 3, 2019 11:59:56 PM

An explanation of potential challenges for engagement in your field education experience

Challenges for engagement in the field education experience, is a lack of preparedness. When initiating conversations with callers, I feel unprepared at times. At the agency, hotline specialist answer three different lines, which Callers speak about critical concerns. As I engage, I introduce myself, build rapport, and develop an understanding of the crisis the caller has contacted  the hotline in reference too. Occasionally, the hotline receives callers that speak about surprising crises and I feel unprepared. For example, Callers have expressed that they do not want to kill themselves but they have a desire to drink bleach. Although, it may sound shocking, the hotline specialists have to treat it as though it is going to occur. In this case, I sometimes feel that I do not know how to engage and I feel uncomfortable terminating the call. 

An explanation of personal action plans you might take to address engagement in your field education experience

Personal action plans, I might take to address engagement in the field education experience is to utilize effective attending skills. Kirst-Ashman and Hull (2017) assert that a common problem in novice workers is the tendency to be thinking about their next question rather than listening attentively to the client. (p. 177 ) Therefore, I will plan to remain focus on the call and note the significant reasons why the caller has contacted the hotline. Kirst- Ashman and Hull (2017) note that other attending skills include making eye contact with the client, leaning forward to communicate interest, and nodding or otherwise encouraging the client to continue.(p.178) While conversing via phone, I will make sure to encourage the Caller to continue with interest in the conversation. Lastly, I plan to focus on the thoughts and feelings of the client by responding appropriately.

References

Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hull, G. H. (2018). Empowerment Series:Understanding 

Generalist Practice. Boston, MA:Cengage Learning. (177-178).

Noelia Antonio  at Tuesday, December 3, 2019 10:55:57 AM

In my field education experience, a potential challenge for engagement would arise during moments where the clients we serve are hostile. My field education works with individuals who for the most part, are involved in the child welfare system involuntarily. For this reason, these clients can present as hostile and would not want to engage with me. However, a way to address this challenge is to incorporate empathy at all times. Empathy has been proven to result in positive outcomes (Gerdes & Segal, 2011). By demonstrating that we are empathetic to the plight of our clients, we can build a better rapport with them which ultimately improves not only the professional relationship, but the overall outcomes. 

Another way to address this challenge is by incorporating self-determination. Murdach (2011) describes self-determination as “the view that individuals should ideally be self-governing and able to abide by freely self-chosen plans and goals (p. 371). During the setting of goals and objectives, instead of being told what to do, clients should be able to have full participation in the setting of goals. Clients deserve autonomy as it is their life that is being affected. 

References:

Gerdes, K. E., & Segal, E. (2011). Importance of empathy for social work practice: Integrating new science. Social Work, 56(2), 141–148.

Murdach, A. D. (2011). What happened to self-determination? Social Work, 56(4), 371–373.