Assertiveness

After reading chapter 5, there was one section that particularly helped me get ready for having clients: "Relating assertively to clients". Although I have not had any clients of my own, I have been observing the other case workers from my agency through shadowing opportunities. In the therapy session I attended, the counselor used very firm requests with her clients. As I stated in a previous blog, these clients are a set of foster parents in our program who are in the process of adopting 2 children. They have now decided to get a divorce and the husband is moving out in 2 weeks. The children have had a very difficult childhood in terms of reliable parents and healthy relationships, so this divorce is another blow for them. The therapy session focused on the most effective way to tell the children and help them through the divorce and their new dad's absence. I noticed that the clients tended to make the situation lighter than it was, saying things like, "the kids already know. They know. We both have mentioned it before and we don't think it is necessary for us to tell them together." The therapist did a great job using firm requests with them to get them back on topic and cooperate with what she was telling them. By the end of the session, they seemed more aware that although they were avoiding sitting down as a family and discussing the divorce, it was what was best for the children.

Using firm requests with clients is extremely important for social workers. It is especially key for us, as student interns, as people may see our "student" status in a negative way. We must demonstrate that we are confident and take charge of our interactions with clients so that we can be effective in helping them. I know that my personal experience so far with being an intern has not been what I expected. I have already had one client turn down my services, simply because I was an intern. I think if this particular client had met me and allowed me to work with her, she would have been surprised by my use of directives and assertiveness and would have taken me seriously. I am looking forward to meeting my first clients next week and trying out the helping methods discussed in chapter 5.