Unit Introduction and What You Will Learn

Week twelve we look to develop strategies for how to impact change with our clients. Students will read Chapters 17 and 18 from Hepworth et al. (2023) to explore key strategies for helping clients change. In class, we will engage in interactive activities to better understand empathy, assertive confrontation and discuss what facilitates recovery. Students also will submit their Interviewing Skills Role-Play, due on Monday morning. The agenda for the class session includes:

• Engaging in empathy-building activity
• Practicing additive empathy and interpretation with client examples
• Role-playing structured confrontation techniques
• Discussing transference, countertransference, and resistance
• Reviewing the 10 principles of the SAMHSA Recovery Model

Learning Objectives for the Week

• Practice empathy through stepping into others’ perspectives.
• Identify and apply the components of additive empathy and interpretive responses in client interactions.
• Demonstrate assertive confrontation techniques using structured sentence frames and client-centered feedback.
• Analyze the principles of the SAMHSA Recovery Model.

Unit Assignments

A-01: Class Engagement and Participation

Attend class

A–02: Reading Quiz

Read chapters 17 and 18 and complete a reading quiz before class via My Heritage

Assignment 04: Interviewing Skills Video Role-Play and Reflection Paper

Worth 200 points, or 50% of the student’s final grade, the assignment has two parts, each worth 100 points. The Interviewing Skills Video Role-Play is a key assignment¹ for the social work program. This assignment allows you to view yourself as a social worker conducting an interview. The Interviewing Skills Reflection Paper provides a space to self-critique your engagement and interviewing skills.

A-04a: Interviewing Skills Video Role-Play

Meta: Points 100 pts (25% of student’s final grade); Deadline Monday 11/17/25 by 08:00 AM; Completion Students submit through Anthology Portfolio (My Heritage Assignments); Locations See the Handout Compress a Video to Reduce the File Size (Desktop Computer), MyHeritage Assignment, Syllabus Assignment Handout;

Purpose: The Interviewing Skills Video Role-Play supports students in confirming the acquisition of interviewing skills through the application of person in the environment, empathetic responding, reflective responding, and other interpersonal skills.

Task: Students will work with a partner to record a 15 to 20-minute interview. The interview should be a role-play of an initial meeting between a social worker and a fictional client. Students have the freedom to develop their settings for the interview. This assignment is designed to offer the student the opportunity to demonstrate engagement, the sixth competency described by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). The following is the language used in the 2022 education and policy standards (EPAS):

Competency 6: Engage with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Social workers understand that engagement is an ongoing component of the dynamic and interactive process of social work practice with and on behalf of individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

Social workers value the importance of human relationships. Social workers understand theories of human behavior and person-in-environment and critically evaluate and apply this knowledge to facilitate engagement with clients and constituencies, including individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Social workers are self-reflective and understand how bias, power, and privilege as well as their personal values and personal experiences may affect their ability to engage effectively with diverse clients and constituencies. Social workers use the principles of interprofessional collaboration to facilitate engagement with clients, constituencies, and other professionals as appropriate.

Social workers:

a. apply knowledge of human behavior and person-in-environment, as well as interprofessional conceptual frameworks, to engage with clients and constituencies; and b. use empathy, reflection, and interpersonal skills to engage in culturally responsive practice with clients and constituencies. (p. 11)

The following are the instructions for this assignment:

• Students will record a 15 to 20-minute role-play with a classmate. To complete this, students should use a tripod or stable surface to record the role-play with a cell phone or other recording device.
• Each student’s role-play will have three parts: (1) introduce the role-play setting, (2) complete the client interview using listening and attending skills discussed and practiced in class, and (3) debrief the role-play with your partner.
• The intention is to demonstrate your ability to use attentive listening, open-ended questions, empathetic responding, and other skills. The focus is not on solving the person’s problem or difficulties.
• Students can do each of the three parts with the camera rolling. During the debrief with your partner, discuss (a) the things that you said/did that helped the other person feel comfortable and open up, (b) the things that you could have improved, and (c) any suggestions or feedback from your partner.
• After completing the first interview, switch roles and do another 15 to 20-minute role play following the same format.
• Each student should upload their final video of them as the interviewer to Anthology Portfolio for the instructor’s assessment.
• Your video may be too large to upload to Anthology Portfolio and needs to be compressed. Appendix D provides step-by-step directions with screenshots for reducing the file size of your video.

Success: Each student will submit a video of themselves that demonstrates their use of interviewing skills. Grades will be based on the Engagement Practice Behaviors Rubric, which evaluates students based on the CSWE competency six. Feedback from the instructor will be completed by final Grades, due Wednesday, 12/17/25, at 5:00 PM.

Practice Behaviors Rubric

The practice behaviors rubric assesses the CSWE competency six for the interviewing skills video role-play.

Description	Initial	Emerging	Developed	Highly Developed
Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment [HBSE] and practice context to engage the client	Demonstrates lack of knowledge of HBSE and practice context through the use of inappropriate strategies or questions.	Demonstrates some HBSE and practice knowledge, but the interviewer also shows some misunderstandings.	Demonstrates a basic fundamental understanding of HBSE and practice context knowledge but may have some gaps in applying appropriate strategies.	Utilizes strategies, including choice of language, level of assertiveness, etc., that is appropriate for the individual client based on knowledge of HBSE and practice context
Use empathy to engage the client effectively.	Communicates judgmental statements during the interview and does not help the client to feel understood.	Demonstrates beginning skills at empathy but has lapses that communicate judgment of the client or create an atmosphere that is too formal to build trust.	Demonstrates a sufficient amount of empathy and understanding. There are very few statements that might be perceived as judgmental.	Demonstrates empathy and understanding throughout the entire client interaction. Refrains from statements that might be perceived as judgmental.
Use reflection to engage the client effectively.	Does not create a flow from one question to the next. Asks primarily closed questions. Jumps from topic to topic without regard for themes.	Asks several closed questions but includes some open-ended questions. The student begins to address the client’s feelings. Has at least some ability to direct the conversation.	Utilizes primarily open-ended questions. Acknowledges client’s feelings and encourages the client to share thoughts.	Utilizes well-planned, open-ended questions that allow the client to expand on thoughts and feelings. Reflects on the main ideas the client shares and gently directs the interview toward those themes.
Use interpersonal skills to engage the client effectively.	Communicates discomfort or disinterest through verbal and nonverbal behavior.	Demonstrates some basic verbal and nonverbal communication skills but is not yet able to communicate warmth and genuineness to the client.	Elements of the interview clearly communicate warmth and genuineness, although there may be lapses. A few attending and communications techniques are included. The conversation flows fairly well.	Communicates basic helping skills to the client from the greeting and throughout verbally and nonverbally. Demonstrates a combination of attending skills. Has the ability to keep momentum in the conversation and uses silence appropriately.

Unit Resources

There are different lenses people see and understand the process of change through. Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) provides many helpful and valuable resources. The 2012 working definition of recovery is a practical framework for considering change in clients. Go to the brochure and read through it. Then, consider which aspect of the ten principles for recovery you find to be the most important and how you see implementing that into your practice.

This week, I also include two other readings I’d like you to look at around motivational interviewing. If you get the chance in graduate school to take a course in motivational interviewing, I’d highly recommend it. As a practitioner, I find the strategies immensely useful. Miller and Rollnick (2013) are the basis of the therapeutic intervention. In 2002, Moyers and Rollnick published a paper attempting to put into perspective client resistance and is a foundational aspect of motivational interviewing. It is also much more approachable, and I’ve provided a link in the reference list entry to read it if you would like. Interconnected with motivational interviewing is understanding if your client is ready for change. We have talked some about this in class, but Littell and Girvin (2004) offers a helpful analysis of how we can consider the stages of change and the complex interactions that often are related to child welfare. Reactance Theory is also highly connected with motivating clients for change, Steindl et al. (2015) provides a good overview and understanding of reactance theory. Students are encouraged to read through it.

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 12 - Effecting Change - Empathy, Confrontation, & Barriers.

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 12]().

To-Do List

• A-01: Class Engagement and Participation Attend class
• A–02: Reading Quiz for chapters 17 and 18 is due at 5:30 PM before class via My Heritage
• Consider reading Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (2012), Littell and Girvin (2004), Steindl et al. (2015), and Moyers and Rollnick (2002)