0826669 Social Work Theory and Practice – Level

Reflection of Social Work Practice Role Play

This reflection will consider my role play as a social worker using the skills of
clarification, to see how the role play developed, how the client responded to me and
what different theories and values I was using when undertaking it. I will then
proceed to evaluate my role play taking in to consideration the feedback I received
from my peers, tutor and my own views. Finally I shall refer to the placement to
illustrate how clarification is used in the workplace.

The skill that I was focusing on for this role play was clarification, which Egan
1982:36 (Cited in University of York 1999) described as:

a judicious mixture of empathy and probes…can help clients speak more

concretely about themselves, that is talk about specific experiences,
behaviours and feelings related to specific situations.

Another term that is often used, in addition to clarification is concrete. Sutton &
Stewart (2002) also recognise that while this is quite a hard skill it is also essential.

Within the role play my client was an unemployed, single father who had just moved
to the area and was struggling with the behaviour of his three year old son, John. I
presumed that English was his first language as he spoke it well, but on reflection I
feel I should have confirmed this and his nationality, (although he was living in Wales
I did not ascertain if he was Welsh or not). The reason this is so important is that it
could make the client feel that I am disinterested in them as an individual and their
background and culture, this could impact upon the relationship and their willingness
to open up to me.

I felt the role play started off slightly formally. We discussed his son’s behaviour and
as the relationship relaxed he opened up more. He started to discuss his financial
struggles and lack of support which had resulted from his move of home. The
person playing my client said he felt that I helped him open up about a situation he
was not overly eager to discuss. He also said that he felt I was very professional,

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non judgemental and supportive. Comments from peers saying that they felt that I
showed attentive listening skills could explain why he felt this was the case. I was
very aware of how I may be coming across to him during the role play and how the
interview would progress. It is important to make the right first impressions and to
form an effective working alliance (Koprowska 2008). It is a fundamental value of
social work that we are non judgemental Biestek 1961(Cited in University of York
1999) and the Code of Practice highlights the importance of this in 1.1 – 1.6 (Code
of Practice). This is often described as ‘unconditional positive regard’ or ‘warmth’ and
is highlighted as ‘central to effective helping’ (Parker & Bradley 2003:89). Carl
Rogers coined the term ‘unconditional positive regard’ as part of his person centred
theory (Rogers 1992:832). It is this way of working which I tried to emulate while
undertaking this role play.

When evaluating the skills that I used during the role play there were many aspects
of my verbal communication that I was not satisfied with. I asked long wordy
questions and on occasions interrupted the client. It was not until we watched the
video later as a group, that it was pointed out to me that part of the reason that I was
doing this appeared to be because of the speed at which I speak. The importance
of communication is highlighted in the Code of Practice 2.2 (Care Council) showing
how integral to the social work role communication is. Speaking fast will make it
more difficult for clients to understand me and could indicate to a client a state of
arousal, either positive or negative and subsequently cause a similar reaction in the
client. A final problem with talking fast is that it could be frustrating or annoying to
the client, which could impact on the relationship (Thompson 2002). While there
were negatives in my verbal communication there were also strengths which were
pointed out in the feedback I received. Such as that I asked some good clarification
questions for example ‘does he sleep at night?’ and using good paraphrasing ‘ok so
he is screaming a lot?’. This being said, because the skill I was focusing on was
clarifying it was suggested by some that I should have asked more of these
questions.

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Communication as explained by Watson and West (2006:46) is not just about the
spoken word,

Communication is not just confined to the spoken word. Non-verbal and

Paraverbal communication are also important. Non-verbal communication is
contained in our posture, gestures, expressions and actions. Paraverbal
communication could be described as the short vocal interjections

Non-verbal and paraverbal communications (Watson and West 2006) appear to

have been one of my strengths within the role play. I was worried that I had been
moving my leg too much and been fidgeting. Interestingly the feedback that I
received was that I was quite still and had a good sitting position. It was also said
that I showed attentive listening in my non-verbal communication, by leaning
forward, kept good eye contact and even at times mirrored the client’s body
language. The client said that he felt that I had open body language, which is
obviously important as this can help the client to relax and feel able to open up.
Although this being said, it is important to realise that non-verbal communication can
vary between cultures (Koprowska 2008).

If I were to undertake this role play again having had the feedback, I would try and
change several things in an attempt to improve my performance. The main action
that I would try to change is to slow down my speech and make sure that I did not
speak at the same time as the client. I would also pursue certain topics that came to
light in more detail, because I felt as did the client, that I did not clarify some topics
in enough detail and moved on to other topics too quickly. Equally I would make
sure that I attained more information from the client as to his background and
culture. These things can be vital in helping social workers to communicate
effectively with clients. Clarification is important in all aspects of life but particularly
in social work settings as not understanding clients properly could lead to not fulfilling
their needs and wishes. Also if you are unable to clarify your own position clearly
then the client may miss vital information that you are giving them.

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For my level one placement I was at a garden centre which provided hands on
education and training for adults with various degrees of learning difficulties. Some
of the clients had speech problems which made the importance of clarification even
more integral to communication. As it was an educational environment there were
lessons most afternoons when the centre manager/instructor would explain a new
skill. It was very important that he made sure everybody understood clearly as they
would be using this skill later to undertake tasks in the garden centre, which would
have financial implications. He would make sure that he was very clear with his
instructions and would use language that everyone was able to understand. While
explaining the task he would also demonstrate so that the clients could see what he
meant. Sometimes he would do this two or three times. Finally to try and ensure
that he had clarified properly he would ask every client if they understood and if
he/she had any questions. If he found that one or more clients were struggling he
would bring the group back together and go over the process again. If there was just
the one client struggling he would show him/her again on a one to one basis. I tried
to use some of these skills when I was talking to the clients, especially in asking
them if they had understood me and trying wherever possible to demonstrate what I
was trying to explain. When clients were talking to me I would always ask them to
clarify if I was not able understand or was unclear of the context of what they were
telling me.

The verbal communication problems that some of the clients had lead me to
consider other things that could cause problems when trying to clarify. One thing
that I particularly noted was that if the client’s first language may not be the same as
mine. This would be particularly relevant in Cardiff, where I am doing my
placements. Cardiff is a multi-cultural city and there is also a range of other first
languages that clients may have.

In undertaking this role play I feel that I have gained a better understanding how to
ask clarifying questions and have become more confident in my attentive listening
abilities, including my non-verbal communication. I have also now gained a better
understanding of which skills I am less proficient with and feel I am now more able to

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work towards improving these for my future practice. I also in undertaking this have
gained a better understanding with regards to the importance of establishing
personal information in order to get a full and complete understanding of the client.

Work count 1555

Reference

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Biestek, F.P. (1961). Cited in. The Interviewing Skills and Direct Observation Project
Team (1999) Moving Images; Teaching Interviewing Skills in a Social Work
Department. York: Department of Social Policy and Social Work.
Care council. www.ccwales.org.uk/eng/conduct/pdf/final_codes_workers.pdf
(22/01/09)
Egan (1982). Cited in. The Interviewing Skills and Direct Observation Project Team
(1999) Moving Images; Teaching Interviewing Skills in a Social Work Department.
York: Department of Social Policy and Social Work.
Koprowska, J. (2008) Communication and Interpersonal Skills in Social Work (2nd
ed.) Exeter: Learning Matters
Parker, J. & Bradley, G. (2003). Social work practice: Assessment, Planning,
Intervention and Review. Exeter: Learning Matters
Rogers, C. 1992. The Necessary and Sufficient Conditions of Therapeutic
Personality Change. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 60 (6), pp. 827 -
832

Sutton, J. & Steward,W. (2002). Learning to counsel. Oxford: How to Books LTD.
Thompson, N. (2002). People Skills( 2nd ed. ). Hampshire: Palgrave McMillian.
Watson, D. & West, J. (2006). Social Work Process and Practice: Approaches,
Knowledge and Skills. Hampshire: Palgrave McMillian.