Person In-Environment Perspective Case Study

Cournoyer’s person-in-environment perspective focuses on the importance of understanding the client’s situation better in addition to the client’s behaviour and the environmental setting the client lives. An important concept of the person-in-environment perspective is to look for life lessons. When listening to a client and demonstrating social work skills of empathy and empowerment of self-determination, we must ask the question of what the clients have learned from the struggles they faced in their lives. The importance of this question is that it gives the clients a chance to notice their resilience during their struggle and that even though it was a challenge they still are standing. Asking what the clients learned from their struggles in life must also include the things the client may want to improve on. Questions such as these can motivate clients to set goals for themselves to carve a path for their future. With that in mind, what we learn from the person-in-environment perspective helps in understanding the biological, psychological, sociological and physical/ecological aspects of the client’s situation.
By understanding the client’s biological aspects such as their health/physical ability, any illnesses, diseases or injuries they have sustained, as well as any substance abuse they suffered from paints a clearer picture of the client’s

Through this realization that they are not alone, clients can work to combat their issues and find better supports to motivate them forward. Additionally, anti-oppressive practices can help identify a client’s experiences of social and power relations through the use of certain skills. These skills are assessment skills, reframing/empathy skills, communication skills spiritual sensitivity skills, and advocacy