Fall 2025 SOWK 486w Class 05 Weekly Email

MyHeritage Syllabus Presentations Emails

See you all on Wednesday!

Unit Introduction and What You Will Learn

The focus of week five for SOWK 486 is on communication skills. There are many that Hepworth et al. (2023) term as verbal following skills. Rogers (1957), who developed the concept of person-centered counseling, described what he called the facilitative condition. This includes empathy, unconditional positive regard, and congruence. He proposed that when clinicians can maintain these aspects, they can support and help promote positive changes in their clients. The plan for today is to talk about the core skills that help clinicians help their clients. The plan is as follows:

• The Facilitative Conditions
• Empathy
• Authenticity
• Praise

Learning Objectives This Week Include:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the facilitative conditions (empathy, respect, authenticity) and their application in helping relationships.
• Practice recognizing and responding to client emotions using levels of empathic communication and reciprocal empathy strategies.
• Apply principles of authenticity to build trust and connection.

Unit Assignments

Read

• Hepworth et al. (2023) Chapters 5 and 6

A–01: In-Class Engagement and Participation

Attend class.

A–03: Reading Quiz

Complete W-05 A-02 Hepworth et al. (2022) Chapter(s) 05 and 06 reading quiz before class on Wednesday.

Unit Resources

Cultural humility is an important aspect of communication. I value the concept of cultural humility. Chavez (2013) offers a 30-minute documentation, Cultural Humility: People, Principles, and Practices, helps understand this concept.

We listen to a short excerpt from Brené Brown’s TED talk, The Power of Vulnerability during class. The whole thing is great, and I would recommend it if you are interested. It also gives a good example of qualitative research. It is about 20 minutes.

In the excerpt we use, Brown discusses Wiseman (2007) and her definition of empathy. Wiseman’s paper is related to nursing practice, but the general concepts in her Toward a Holistic Conceptualization of Empathy for Nursing Practice are beneficial, and I’ve attached it if you are interested in reviewing 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 05 - Communication Skills Day 01.

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 05]().

Reference

Brown, B. (2010). The power of vulnerability [Video]. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_the_power_of_vulnerability

Chavez, V. (2012). Cultural humility: People, principles and practices [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/SaSHLbS1V4w

Wiseman, T. (2007). Toward a holistic conceptualization of empathy for nursing practice. Advances in Nursing Science, 30(3), E61–E72. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.ANS.0000286630.00011.e3

To-Do List

• In-Class Engagement and Participation: Attend class.
• Read Hepworth (2023) chapters five and six.
• Consider reading Wiseman, T. (2007), and watching Brown (2010) and Chavez (2012)
• The reading quiz W-05 A-02 Hepworth et al. (2022) Chapter(s) 05 and 06 is due at 5:30 PM before class via My Heritage