Client Systems Role-Play Analysis

Client Systems Role-Play Analysis

Reflect on Your Experience in Doing the Role-Play Video

A role-play scenario is indeed a useful tool for practicing useful social work skills; an individual is able to identify his or her strengths and areas that need improvement by reviewing the role-playing video and getting constructive feedback from peers and the instructor (Kirst- Ashman & Hull, 2018). The role-playing video I recorded was mainly used to test my engagement skills, which is the first step in the Generalist Intervention Model (GIM) when interacting with a vulnerable client that needs the help of a social worker.

I took the role of a social work intern working for an agency that helps people address issues related to drug abuse. My client, Amanda, a 20-year-old-year-old high school dropout, had challenges with alcoholism. Therefore, I carried out Micro-social work practice as I did engage the client on an individual basis in an attempt to help her manage their alcoholism which was ruining her life.

Working on the role play helped me gain first-hand experience in a real-life social worker-to-client interaction. Creating rapport with Amanda helped her open up about the issues affecting her, despite it being her first encounter with me. I did apply a range of skills, mainly on the choice of words and the accompanying nonverbal cues, to engage her in the helping process; using facial expressions and various body postures helped me show concern and the need to help Amanda. This, in turn, alongside depicting warmth, empathy, and concern, helped alleviate the confusion and mixed feelings of worry and despair that Amanda had at the start of the interview. Overall, I think I did well in the role-play.

Insights Gained from the Experience & How They Affect Personal Approach to Practice

Conducting the role-play helped me gain a deep understanding of the importance of effective micro-skills, namely developing an initial relationship and seeking alternative courses of action. Kirst-Ashman & Hull (2018) notes that a social worker needs to establish rapport with the client or groups of individuals. It is necessary that the social worker builds a good relationship in order to make the change needed, whether in a micro, macro, or mezzo intervention (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2018). Building a rapport with the client from the onset helps them feel at ease, releasing any fears or anxiety they might have had and therefore opening up easily. For example, I noted that my client was holding mixed feelings during our first encounter; she was looking rather confused, unhappy, and embarrassed and grinned from time to time, depicting that she had anxiety and fear. As a social worker intern, I greeted Amanda warmly, shook her hand firmly, and showed her that I completely understood that she had something she wanted to share with me. In addition, I put a smiling face to show her that I was friendly and calmly showed her where to sit, which further showed that I was welcoming. As the interview process proceeded, the client felt comfortable and had no objections to talking to me about various issues affecting her, as she could translate both my verbal and non-verbal communication in a positive way.

Based on those insights, I did learn that establishing a good initial relationship and offering alternative actions with an individual(s) affect the change process, irrespective of the client level (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2018). Therefore, my approach to practice will entail focusing more on micro-skills while focusing on the strengths and acting on areas that need improvement, which is what the role-play scenario seeks to achieve.

Challenges Experienced in Planning and Executing the Role-play Scenario

Planning and executing the role-play scenario was by all means a very complex and rigorous affair. During the planning phase, the main considerations were perfecting the art of demonstrating and engaging a client as a professional social worker would do. Therefore, the main challenge was grasping all the verbal and non-verbal behavior, including the application of empathy, genuineness, and warmth during the interviewing process (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2018). I overcame this barrier by engaging family members in performing mock role plays that helped me gauge my competency based on each scenario. With each consecutive mock trial of the role-play, I noticed an improvement in my verbal and non-verbal communication. I also had the challenge of being tense before the interview, which I overcame by increasing the consistency of practicing and taking heed of the feedback I got.

During the execution phase, the challenge emanated from the need to showcase mastery in all the micro-skills alongside worker-client relationship techniques that I had learned and practiced so far. Therefore, on the day of recording the role play, I decided to look professional and stayed relaxed in a manner that was able to diffuse the tense atmosphere that ensued at the start of the interview. That way, I was able to conduct the role-play in the best way possible and did my best to emulate a professional social worker.

Specific Engagement Skills Used & Why I Used Them

Engagement helps build a good relationship between the client and the social worker and involves utilizing both verbal and non-verbal skills. During the role-play, I did employ a number of engagement techniques, including warmth, genuineness, eye contact, and the use of facial expressions (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2018).

Warmth is one of the relationship-enhancing traits that help show the client that a social worker is concerned about their plight, happy to see them, and respectful of their position (Kirst- Ashman & Hull, 2018). It helps diffuse tense situations through appropriate verbal and non-verbal cues. During the initial contact, the client looked rather confused, with mixed feelings of worry and anxiety. I greeted her firmly and calmly with a smiling face, maintained relatively reasonable eye contact, and made her aware that I was expecting her. By doing so, she felt relaxed, and we were able to carry out the interview effectively.

Genuineness is another relationship-enhancing technique that simply entails maintaining your personality (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2018). It means that social worker needs to maintain a natural, honest, and open expression to their clients. During the role-play, I remained relaxed so that I could overcome the feelings of worry, tension, and fear, which could have affected my personality. Therefore, I maintained my personality, which made the client feel she could trust me and therefore opened up to the issues affecting her.

Facial expressions enhance both verbal communication and other types of non-verbal cues, such as body posture and gestures (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2018). During the interview, I did smile on various occasions to depict warmth and positive concern for the client’s issues. Smiling at the right instances enhanced the client’s mood and made me appear friendly. I also raised eyebrows in specific instances to show concern. Eye contact also made the client aware that I was actively listening to what she was saying, which gave her the morale to continue with the interview.

Describing a Colleague’s Role-play Video

My colleague’s ( Ineshia Addison) role-play video involved a scenario where she interviewed a client with a substance abuse problem. The setting was well done, and she demonstrated mastery of engagement skills, including active listening, the use of statements that depicted empathy, the use of various facial expressions, and the use of bodily gestures in various scenes to enhance verbal communication. Overall, I enjoyed watching the role-playing video.

Assessing What the Colleague did well and Recommending Areas for Improvement

After watching my colleague’s role-play video, I realized she did a very good introduction to the client and informed them of her position and role. I find this quite professional as it helps set the pace for the interview and orient the client on what to expect. During the interview process, I noted the use of relationship enhancement skills such as empathy and warmth, as depicted by Kirst-Ashman & Hull (2018). The social worker used leading statements in various instances to show concern and, at the same time, view the problem from the client’s perspective. As a consequence, the client in this role-play was able to express herself more comfortably. She also used effective body positioning, not too relaxed and not too rigid. Kirst-Ashman & Hull (2018) suggests that a practitioner should not appear too relaxed or too rigid during active sessions with their clients. My colleague was able to balance between these two extremes and therefore portray the right body language to the client. Another strength is that she was able to bring closure to the interview quite well by acknowledging the client, thanking her for her time, and scheduling the next meeting for the change process.

Despite the many strengths that my friend depicted during her role-play video, I do feel that she needs to improve on the aspect of empathy, facial expressions, and tonal variations. According to Kirst-Ashman & Hull (2018), using too many statements that show empathy may become monotonous to the extent the client might feel awkward and retract from disclosing all information related to his or her case. Also, adding facial expressions and not limiting them to smiling and raising eyebrows for instance would enhance communication much better. It is also recommendable to use a variety of tonal variations in various contexts during the interview process to enhance the aspect of genuineness (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2018). When a client feels that you are natural and genuine, she would be encouraged to open up and feel relaxed to express her feelings.

References

Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hull, G. H. (2018). Understanding generalist practice (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

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write a role-play that demonstrates engagement skills. You take on the role of the social worker, while a friend, family member, or colleague takes on the role of the client. Although this is a role-play scenario, you should demonstrate your professionalism in demeanor, appearance, and behavior. Please dress professionally; your role-play should include the following:

A demonstration of the interaction between you, as the social work intern, and the client based on the scenario you selected that reflects the Engagement step in the Generalist Intervention Model. The scene should include the following:

A demonstration of effective attending skills

A discussion of agency services and client expectations

A decision of whether or not the agency and worker can help

An offer of agency and worker services to the client

An orientation for the client to the helping process, including:

A discussion of confidentiality

A Discussion of a social work intern’s Role

(THIS IS THE CLIENT) Client David, a 12-year-old student in the seventh grade, has come to you as the school social worker to report a bullying incident. David has ADHD and struggles to connect with other students.

Student provides the client with an in-depth and detailed orientation to the helping process that includes:… 1) A discussion of confidentiality… 2) A discussion of a social work intern’s role … Discussion of confidentiality and social work intern’s role is complete and accurate information. The student confirms that the client understands confidentiality and the social work intern role.

The student provides a detailed and effective offer of agency and worker services to the client. The student provides the client with the opportunity to accept or reject services. If a client in involuntary, the student provides an explanation of the consequence if services are not completed.

The student provided a clear discussion about whether the agency can or cannot meet client expectations and what services can be provided to help the client. The student offers referrals for services not available and confirms the client understands what services are and what are not.

Student effectively discusses agency services and provides an in-depth explanation of how services may benefit the client. … Student clarifies and confirms the expectations of the client.

The student clearly demonstrates five or more of the following skills: … Listening skills… Appropriate eye contact… Body positioning… Non-verbal behavior… Focus on the client’s thoughts and feelings… Open-ended questions… Appropriate use of silence