I hope that you are all doing great. I’m looking forward to class on Saturday. I’ve gone through and added all of the quizzes to MyHeritage.
Unit Introduction and What You Will Learn
Week four is synchronous, with a class session on Saturday (09/20/25). The reading in Hepworth et al. (2023) continues the focus on developing effective communication patterns with our clients. There are forums for students to share how they have developed complex skills, discuss the impact of counterproductive patterns on involuntary clients, and consider their own communication patterns. During the in-person class session, we will practice the following skills and examine our verbal and non-verbal communication patterns. My presentation slides are still forthcoming and will be added to MyHeritage later this week, along with the proposed agenda and learning objectives.
Learning Objectives for this week include:
- Reflect on the process of learning complex interpersonal and communication skills relevant to social work practice.
- Identify and evaluate counterproductive communication patterns that may emerge in interactions with clients, particularly those who are non-voluntary.
- Analyze the ethical and relational implications of counterproductive communication patterns.
Unit Assignments
Content
- Read Hepworth et al. (2023) Chapter 7 Eliminating Counterproductive Communication Patterns and Substituting Positive Alternatives
A-02 W-04 Asynchronous Engagement
The expectation is that each of your replies will be substantive and provide meaningful perspectives, contributing to the forum’s conversation and scholarship. They can be related to the prompts or building on conversations shared by peers. There are three forums for this week, and you are expected to make at least three replies across any of the forums. These forums include the following:
- Developing behaviors that enhance is a form of developing a complex skill. The forum Process of Developing Complex Skills I ask you to connect it to other skills you have developed.
- The Non-Voluntary Clients and Counterproductive Patterns provides discussion about power imbalances and what we might do to understand this and address it.
- Through the Examples of Counterproductive Communication Patterns forum, I have student reflect on potential examples of counterproductive communication patterns.
A-03 Reading Quiz
Complete W-04 Hepworth et al. (2023) Chapter 07 due by Saturday 9/20, 8:00 AM.
Unit Resources
I will update this section later this week. I will likely have at least one handout to share that will be used during class to help us in our dynamic practice. We have enough textbooks for everybody to get one on Campus now. If you need this weeks chapter because you won’t be able to get your book before class, let me know and I’ll upload chapter seven for you.
slides
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 530 Week 04]().
Reference
Hepworth, D. H., Vang, P. D., Blakey, J. M., Schwalbe, C., Evans, C., Rooney, R. H., Rooney, G. D., & Strom, K. (2023). Direct social work practice: Theory and skills (11th ed.). Cengage Learning, Inc.
To-Do List
- Read chapter 7 and do the reading quiz
- Attend class on Saturday
- Complete at least three replies across any of the forums