AnabelleM
How does the relationship between clients and social workers change over time?
I'm a senior in highschool and I've been interested in social work for quite some time. So far, I understand the general idea about what social workers do: help people with their emotional, familial, or even physical dilemmas. Also, I have the impression that social workers remain in an office all day and conduct their work there. However, I've been very curious about the initial reaction clients have towards their social worker when they begin to share their "personal stories." Are they hesitant or even unwilling to communicate with their social worker? How does the relationship change over time? I would appreciate your feedback and insight about this question.
Thanks!
#social-work
2 answers
Hannah
Hannah’s Answer
Hi Anabelle -
A very good question! The first thing to know, is that not all social workers stay in an office all day seeing clients. There are many social workers who work 'in the field,' doing home visits, working in schools, hospitals, or other settings. And of course, there are many social workers who do different kinds of work altogether - leading groups, running programs or agencies, advocating in Washington, and more.
That being said, what you're asking about is the process of building rapport. Rapport is the trusting, non-judging relationship that is built between workers and clients. It generally takes time to build rapport, much like it takes time to develop trust in any new relationship. Social workers facilitate this process by modeling warmth, empathy, and listening.
While many clients choose to come see social workers, not all do - and when someone isn't there by their own choice (we often call these people 'mandated clients') building rapport is more difficult, but not impossible. The professional relationship changes over time - and sometimes clients hold things back until they feel ready or comfortable in telling their worker. This is normal.
Social work school (and internships) teaches these skills and allows you to practice them with real people. No one is amazing the first time - so getting comfortable building a professional helping relationship is a process as well!
Chonya
Chonya’s Answer
The change agent does not become a permanent, integral part of the client, target or action systems, discuss.plz help me to answer this questions
<html><head></head><body>Hi <a href="/users/1095/chonya/" rel="nofollow"></a><a href="/users/1095/chonya/" rel="nofollow">@chonya</a>. This doesn't seem like an answer to the question above. If you're trying to ask a new question, you should do that on a separate question page. It's also not clear what your question is, so make sure you explain why this is important for your personal research for career or college.</body></html>
Jared Chung, Admin