Hope you are all doing well. I’ll see you Wednesday!
Unit Introduction and What You Will Learn
The focus of week six for SOWK 486 is continuing our growth and engagement with communication skills. Last week we went deeper on empathy and authenticity. We also started some focus on empathic responding. I share an article Stepien and Baernstein (2006), that provides an overview of how we can teach empathy to clients. Week six is described as a lab day, because the intention is focusing on activities to help develop skills. The activities we will be doing this week include:
- Check in about learning so far
- Teaching empathy to clients
- Following skills and practice implementing them
- Sharing following skills
Learning Objectives this week
- Reflect on personal experiences with empathic communication
- Develop strategies for teaching empathy to clients in diverse practice settings
- Apply verbal following skills in a dynamic practice exercise
- Deepen your connection with the skills associated with following skills
Unit Assignments
Content
- Read Stepien and Baernstein (2006)
- Watch Core Processes of Restorative Justice Circles
A–01: In-Class Engagement and Participation
Attend class.
Unit Resources
In our discussion about what we have been learning, we are going to loosely follow a restorative practices format of having discussions in circles. If you are interested in some of what this entails you can watch Core Processes of Restorative Justice Circles. We won’t be implementing every part, but it is a good primer.
We will be talking about teaching empathy to our clients. Stepien and Baernstein (2006) provide a meta-analysis of research which could be helpful. You will be doing a role-play with a partner and observer. I will have copies of the Initial Session Checklist.
All of the presentations for this class can be found at https://presentations.jacobrcampbell.com. This week’s slides are Fall 2025 SOWK 486w Week 06 - Communication Skills Day 02 - Lab Day.
The Lecture Videos tab in the MyHeritage course is where you will be able to find class recordings. The video this week is at [Fall 2025 SOWK 486w Week 06]().
Reference
Stepien, K. A., & Baernstein, A. (2006). Educating for empathy. A review. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 21(5), 524-530. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2006.00443.x
To-Do List
- A–01: Class Attendance and Participation: Attend class
- Consider reading and watching extra/supportive materials