Discussion 2

Discussion

When working with clients it is important that we are aware of the different ways we send information to clients. It is also important to recognize what types of messages our clients are sending back to us during interactions. As a social worker we must be sure to speak slowly and clearly to our clients. In addition, we must avoid jargon, slang, using abbreviations or idioms (e.g. “This costs an arm and a leg!”)

There are two major components that work together when we are communicating with clients. Attending and Listening. Attending involves paying attention and focusing your thoughts and attention (psychological attending) on the client and what they are saying. In addition to being focused, attending also involves presenting ourselves as though we are paying attention (physical attending). This means using SOLER skills (Egan, 2014).

Listening is far more involved than simply hearing what the client is saying. Yes, we need to pay attention to what the client actually says (verbal communication) but a skilled social worker also makes note of how the client expresses their thoughts and feelings. This involves assessing paralinguistic cues. Paralinguistic cues provide information about the pitch, volume, tone, and speed (fast or slow) of a client’s speech. The major takeaway is that it is not just what a client says, but also how they say it. It is important for a worker to pay attention to all of the information (verbal and non-verbal) a client provides in order to get an accurate picture of what the client is expressing.

Egan, Gerard. (2014). The skilled helper: A problem management and opportunity development approach to helping (10th ed). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Sikorski, W. (2012). Paralinguistic communication in the therapeutic relationship. Archives of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, 14(1), 49–54

Consider This!

What are the non-verbals in the images below telling you? Try to identify the emotions conveyed and the information that helped you reach your conclusion.

What emotion do you see in the image below? Consider what information in the picture helped you make your decision?