Fall 2022 SOWK 486 Class 13 Weekly Email

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There is a lot of reading and work this week. The chapters are really good as well as the journal articles (you could read those after class if you haven’t gotten to it yet). I pushed back the due date for your video role play to be due on Sunday instead of this Friday. Make sure you read the handout about compressing your video, so you will be able to upload it. Each person will need to submit their own video.

Unit Introduction and What You Will Learn

In week 13, we look to develop strategies for how to impact change with our clients. This is generally the goal with most services we provide as social workers. To understand how we affect change, we will look at the following:

  • Additive Empathy & Interpretation
  • Confrontation
  • Barriers to change

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 serves as a key assignment1 for the social work program. This assignment allows you to view yourself in the role of a social worker conducting an interview. The Interviewing Skills Reflection Paper provides a space to self-critique your engagement and interviewing skills.

Assignment 04a: Interviewing Skills Video Role-Play

Meta: Points 100 pts (25% of student’s final grade); Deadline Friday 11/18/22 Sunday 11/20/22 by 11:55 PM; Completion Students submit through Anthology Portfolio (My Heritage Assignments). The instructions to Compress a Video to Reduce the File Size (Desktop Computer). A PDF version of this assignment can also be viewed.

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

Task: Students will work with a partner to record a 10 to 15-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 that allows them 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) de-brief 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.
  • Each of the three parts can be done 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 might need to be compressed. To do this, an instruction document is provided that gives step-by-step directions with screenshots for how to reduce 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. In addition, the Engagement and Micro Skills Role-Play Rubric evaluates students regarding the actual role-play video looking at content, organization, and skills. Feedback from the instructor will be completed no later than final Grades which are due Wednesday 12/14/22 at 5:00 PM.

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.

The slides for this week can be found at presentations.jacobrcampbell.com. This week is Fall 2022 SOWK 486w Week 12: Effecting Change

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Reference

Hepworth, D. H., Vang, P. D., Blakey, J. M., Schwalbe, C., & Evans, C. (2022). Empowerment Series: Direct Social Work Practice Theory and Skills (11th ed.). Cengage Learning, Inc.

Littell, J. H., & Girvin, H. (2004). Ready or not: Uses of the stages of change model in child welfare. Child Welfare Journal, 83(4), 341-366.

Miller, W. R., & Rollnick, S. (2013). Motivational interviewing: helping people change. Guilford Press.

Moyers, T. B., & Rollnick, S. (2002). A motivational interviewing perspective on resistance in psychotherapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58(2), 185-193. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.1142

Steindl, C., Jonas, E., Sittenthaler, S., Traut-Mattausch, E., & Greenberg, J. (2015). Understanding psychological reactance: New developments and findings. Zeitschrift für Psychologie, 223(4), 205-214. https://doi.org/10.1027/2151-2604/a000222

Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration. (2012). SAMHSA’s Working Definition of Recovery. https://store.samhsa.gov/product/SAMHSA-s-Working-Definition-of-Recovery/PEP12-RECDEF

To Do Lists

  1. Heritage University’s social work program selects assignments across the curriculum for students to demonstrate each of the practice behaviors defined by the CSWE to act as key assignments. These assignments are submitted to Heritage’s online portfolio, Anthology Portfolio, and given to all students at each site using the same grading rubric. Student scores help provide data for faculty to self-evaluate the program. 

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