Unit Introduction and What You Will Learn
Week 12 focuses on advancing clinical insight and client change through the use of additive empathy, interpretation, and confrontation. It is an asynchronous week. The reading from Hepworth et al. (2023) and the lecture content guide students in understanding when and how to use these tools effectively and ethically. The agenda for the lecture video includes:
- Week 12 expectations
- Additive empathy and interpretation
Some of the learning objectives for the week include
- Identify and apply the components of additive empathy and interpretive responses in client interactions.
- Define and differentiate surface empathy, additive empathy, and interpretation in the context of direct social work practice.
- Apply additive empathic responses and interpretive skills to client narratives, demonstrating increased clinical insight.
- Analyze the role of ethical confrontation in client change and practice assertive confrontation using a structured four-part model.
- Create visual or written tools (e.g., handouts, infographics) to communicate core concepts for peer and client education.
Unit Assignments
Content
- Read Hepworth et al. (2023) Chapter 17 Additive Empathy, Interpretation, and Confrontation
- Watch my lecture video
W-12 A-02 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 five forums for this week, and you are expected to make at least six replies across any of the forums. These forums include the following:
- In the Chapter 17 Discussion, students explore the concepts of additive empathy and interpretation applying content from the textbook.
- For the Develop a Handout or Information Sheet About Content in the Chapter forum, students translate textbook content into creative visual formats.
- The forum Exploring the Meaning and Use of Confrontation in Practice challenges students to reconsider what confrontation means in social work, brainstorm ethical applications, and reflect on real-world scenarios where it might be necessary and constructive.
- In Practice Effective Assertive Confrontation, students practice framing real conversations using the four part model for assertive confrontation.
- Students engage in applied empathy practice using real online narratives in Using Reddit to Practice Surface and Additive Empathetic Responses, where they compare basic and more nuanced reflective responses to anonymously posted personal stories.
A-03 Reading Quiz
W-12 Hepworth et al. (2023) Chapter 17 due no later than Saturday 11/15, 8:00 AM.
Unit Resources
All of the presentations for this class can be found at https://presentations.jacobrcampbell.com. This week’s slides are Fall 2025 SOWK 530 Week 12 - Additive Empathetic Responding.
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 12.
To-Do List
- Read chapter 17 and do the quiz
- Watch my lecture video
- Complete six replies across any of the five forums