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The importance of active listening
The importance of active listening
Principals of interviewing for social work
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In applying the skills to a case scenario, I found it difficult to focus and use my active listening skills. I do know that in an ideal situation, I will more than likely be one on one with my client and will generally conduct the interview in a quieter atmosphere, allowing me to focus better on what the client discloses. However, with continuous practice I believe I will be able to overcome becoming distracted by background noises. What skills do you feel you performed well? Overall I feel I preformed most of the skills well considering I interview caregivers of sexual assault survivors daily. The tone of voice exercise was one I feel I did extremely well. With my current job, I learned early on that tone of voice is very important. As …show more content…
One of the social work principles is that social workers should “behave in a trustworthy manner” (National Association of Social Workers, 2008). How can clients trust a social worker to help them work through their challenges if they are not providing them with their undivided attention by demonstrating appropriate eye contact, which is based on the culture of each client, by not presenting themselves with a caring demeanor, and asking open-ended and closed-ended questions in order to get a clear understanding of what brought the client into the office. Also important to helping clients feel comfortable is the social worker being aware of their body posture, being fully present and practicing active listening, and presenting themselves as …show more content…
I must remember to stay away from the double barrel questions. I also need to avoid utilizing questions that begin with “have you” and “are you”. When interviewing clients, I should focus on using open-ended questions to allow the client to tell their story in their own way, and minimize the use of close-ended questions, unless they are necessary to gain specific information. Another skill that needs improvement is my use of active listening. Every client and every situation is different, and even though we practiced our skills in a conference room with other students and I found it difficult to concentrate, there may be times as a social worker when I may be in a noisy atmosphere and I have to practice tuning out background noise in order to hear what my client is disclosing. The use of professional language presented somewhat of a challenge to me as well. It was difficult attempting to retrain my brain to say the term sexual assault survivor when I have referred to them as victims of sexual abuse. However, I am eager to provide my colleagues with updated knowledge about professional terminology and incorporate it in my daily
This method is grounded in the strengths perspective, a perspective in which the worker center’s their sessions around the clients’ abilities, gifts, and strengths (Shulman, 2016). Instead of focusing on what is wrong with the client, the worker highlights what is right with the client building on their strengths instead of emphasizing their deficits: the client already has what they need to get better or solve their problem (Corcoran, 2008). The role of the worker in this model is to help the client recognize their potential, recognize what resources they already have, and discuss what is going well for the client and what they have been able to accomplish already (Shulman, 2016). Techniques commonly used in this model, although they are not exclusive to this model, include an emphasis on pre- and between-session change, exception questions, the miracle question, scaling questions, and coping questions (Shulman, 2016). These questions are used for many reasons: for example, the miracle question is used because “sometimes asking clients to envision a brighter future may help them be clearer on what they want or to see a path to problem-solving.” (Corcoran, 2008, p. 434) while coping questions are used to allow the client to see what they are already accomplishing, rather than what they are transgressing (Corcoran, 2008). All
The one skill that I used more of was empathy; I wanted the client to know that I understood her situation as well her feelings. At the end of our conversation, I summarized everything that we talked about, especially her want to open up to her parents and express herself to them. She mentioned that she wants them to fell empathy towards her, because the lack of parental empathy that she felt when she was younger, has even affected her in her adult life (Kilpatrick,2005).
Based on the competency clusters that were discussed by Kouzes, Posner, and Biech I am on my way of becoming a master coach in the following areas communication skills, interpersonal proficiency, and building relationships (2010). An example of my master of communication skills is that of listening. The art of listening involves active listening which focuses on what the client is saying as well as listening for things that are not being said for example talking more about the positives than the...
As a social worker it is important to have basic communication skills in order to connect with clients. There are six basic and four advanced skills that are used in direct practice to make communication more effective. The basic skills include reflection of feelings, paraphrasing, open ended questions, closed ended questions, clarification and attending behaviors. Advanced skills consist of summarization, information giving, interpretation and confrontation. Not only is it important to know what these skills are, it is also important to know what the appropriate and inappropriate uses are. It is also important to self-reflect on your use of these skills, and whether it is a strength or something to continue to work to improve on.
The skill of listening according to Dr. Robert Bolton (1979) extends beyond simply hearing sound as a physiological sensory process but instead requires and involves interpreting and understanding the sensory experience or what is being heard (p 32). It also is an active experience wherein the listener is fully engaged and has absorbed the information of the speaker while showing interest and providing feedback all while demonstrating that they have heard and understand the message. It is a fair assertion that most people in varying relationships and environments listen in what is considered a passive capacity or only digesting and processing bits and pieces of the speaker’s message. This type of listening lends itself to frequent miscommunication, mixed messages and overall misunderstandings. Effective listening on the other hand provides concise communication, decreases interpersonal conflict and mistakes and also...
An area I believe I need to improve on is my communication skills; looking for opportunities to interact with patients, family members, nurses and doctors. I need to practice professional communication skills, with all these people, adjusting the terminology and level of detail to be right for the person I am communicating with, and asking more questions to get more information about my
Since interviewing is a communication skill, some mention should be made of listening habits of the interviewer and some pitfalls one may face. Lets look at some poor listening habits and what we can do about them.
While in high school I had to have very good listening skills while working within the choir, band, and in the theatre department. These different extracurricular activities had many in leadership positions where I often had to listen to what the director was telling me needed to happen and then I personally would have to go lead the group in doing so. Along with this I always the one people had to go to then with any concerns over what is going on. This led me to build a very strong listening skill to be able to mediate between the adults and students. As a nurse, I believe that listening is one of the largest aspects to the career. Without a nurse who listens properly, details are missed which can lead to harm upon the patient. When I work at my nursing home, my residents often compliment my communication skills because unlike most other workers, when cleaning people up and getting them ready for bed, I have full conversations with them. They are all very appreciative of me taking time out of my hectic work night in order to listen to how there day is going or on how their children are
Body language in a session is important because it allows the skilled helper to understand what the client is feeling by observing their body movements; this can help the communication in the session. This could help the skilled helper as they could note when the client is feeling discomfort which can lead to the session progressing because the skilled helper would ask them why they are feeling this way. It is important that the skilled helper had good eye contact in the session because it shows the client that the skilled helper is respecting what they are saying and it shows that they value what the client is saying. It is important that the skilled helper has good body language and good eye contact in the session so that the client knows that the skilled helper is there to help them and cares about what their problem is. The client should feel as though the skilled helper cares and by having good body language and good eye contact the client would know this because the skilled helper would be paying attention and listening to what they are saying. In the same way, it is important that the client has good body language and is not slouching so that the skilled helper knows that they want help. Good eye contact can show the skilled helper that the client is respecting what they have to say and is listening to what the counsellor is asking so that they can answer the question
The textbook defines hearing as “physiological process of decoding sounds.” With that being said, when I do listen, I am a “task oriented listener”. While listening to others, task oriented listeners focus on achieving a task. They like to get straight to the point so they can fix the task at hand. This listening is not good for all conversation because not all conversations focus on an outcome. Sometimes we “task oriented listeners” can be so focused on the outcome that we might miss the emotional context of a conversation. However, this listening style comes in handy while at work, school, of someplace that requires a
I was not playing with my pen or smiling during the interview. I was able to look at my client and be professional about the situation that my client was trying to explain to me. The other things that I had notice about myself during the video was, I had lead forward toward my client and was actively listening to him. I was able to give him empathy not sympathy toward his issues. The whole time I did not feels that I was not able to speak freely because the client is my family member. During the first session I was trying so hard and I was thinking that I have to have all the solution to my client. Moreover, I was able to see make my client feel comfortable and share the issue that he had with his co-worker in dept. In the end my client feels that sometime it is okay to talk about things or topic that he is not interested in as long as he feels comfortable enough to have a conversation with other on the topic. The last thing that I have notice that I did that was not okay was touching or you say playing with my hair. I did not realized it until I saw myself on the
When reading the opening lecture I cringed at the thought of dealing with communication. Sort of that belly ache feeling you get when you had to do an oral presentation in front of the class in elementary school. I understand have a number of strong qualities but self-image and my perception are still traits I long to improve.
Verbal and written communication skills are important competencies in the workplace, as much as 33 percent of the day is spent listening (Walker, R., 2015). Although a significant amount of our time is spent listening, this is a misunderstood skill often overlooked by professionals. “The ability to listen effectively can have a big impact on our ability to communicate well with others. Effective listening can help us build relationships, be more productive, and determine whether others are being deceptive” (Walker, R., 2015). To be an effective manager, teacher, collaborator, or leader one must be an effective listener. Effective listening is processing the information given to you by a speaker, showing that you are listening and attentive.
During this time, I gave the client enough time to talk about the problem without interrupting. This time gave me an opportunity to undertake reflective listening through active listening which ac...
A skill, according the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, is a learned power of doing something competently: a developed aptitude or ability. The skill of listening is a skill that I believe everyone should have but most people lack. Many people do not realize that listening is not merely the act of hearing a sound but of paying close attention to what someone is saying and trying to understand the message that they are trying to relate to you. Most times people say they are listening when in all actuality they are merely hearing you but not even attempting to understand what is being spoken of. The advantages of being a good listener are vast. This skill can positively affect many parts of our everyday life and interaction with people. Nevertheless, it is a skilled that is overlooked in today’s unmindful society. The reason I believe that listening is of such importance is because nowadays people have developed the mentality of “every man for himself.” People are not concerned about their fellows anymore. We are only concerned about our own issues and problems. Listening is a skill that is acquired throughout a lifetime. It is an important virtue when it comes to communication.People should be taught from childhood the importance of learning how to listen. If we realized how much we would benefit from being good listeners, I believe that things would change. Lack of listening skills affects marriages, parents and children, teachers and students, employers and employees, foreign affairs, and the list goes on.