First Phase

Abstract

The purpose of the essay is to explore different topics that help shape the social work field. We will explore five topics which are first phase of treatment, legal and ethical issues, practice theories and intervention, human diversity, and DSM IV IR review.  With knowing and understanding these following topics, it will give a sense of procedures that social workers must familiar and or aware of.  This paper will focus on the 1^st phase of treatment.

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1^st phase of treatment lays down a foundation for selecting and implementing interventions.  This is aimed at resolving the client’s problem and promoting his problem-solving skills.  Goals to be accomplished in the 1^st phase of treatment include: exploring the clients problems, establishing rapport and enhancing motivation, formulating a multi-dimensional assessment, mutually negotiation treatment goals and formulation contract, making referrals.  The helping process generally begins with your efforts to explore the clients presenting problem.  If you are legally mandated to work with a client, you must asset the legal the concern in addition to the client concerns.  Open ended question are effective for initiation the process of exploring a clients problem.  Open ended question are relatively unstructured and draw the client to respond in whatever way he chooses.  Such information as invaluable, but you need to use different skills to probe specific details required to understand the problem.  Closed ended question define a topic and limit the clients response to a few words and a simple yes or no answer as such they are useful for need factual information such as data omitted by the client.  Closed-ended question are used primarily in the portion of the session in order to obtain missing data. 

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Another critical skill of building rapport is being authentic.  Authentic behavior models openness which usually encourages the client to reciprocate and relate with more openly with you. Being Authentic involves relating a genuine person rather than as aloof professional being congruent and being non-defensive.  Your behavior and responses should match your inner experiencing and you should be willing to admit if you make an error to any lack of knowledge.  Finally, I went to say a few words about formulating treatment contract.  Although it is important to end the first phase of helping with a treatment contract all elements a contract are subject to revision as client situation or needs change.  You and the client should agree on aspect of the treatment contract. 

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Let’s review now social work establishes rapport with a client.  Exploring the problem and establishing rapport occur simultaneously.  You should show that you are an interested listener who is making an effort to understand the client as he relates his problem. This is the first step in engaging a client in treatment any beginning to develop a rapport with a client in the first meeting is vital for facilitating a productive assessment because it increases the client’s willingness to speak openly about himself, his problems and his situation.  So as the client relates his story, you should listen carefully and actively to what he is saying.

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Acknowledge his statements by responding in ways that demonstrate your efforts to understand him.  You should use both verbal and non verbal messages to convey your understanding and acceptance of the client perception, feelings, goals, needs, concerns, and attitudes including his attitudes about seeking professional help. To further facilitate the development of rapport it is also important to demonstrate respect for the clients uniqueness, worth, and compacity, to solve problems, demonstrate a commitment to confidentiality and to the clients need to self-determination, focus primarily on the client priorities and be genuine and authentic.

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Multi-dimensional assessment which you gather and formulate relevant information to develop a coherent picture of the client and his circumstances. Let’s look at how a social worker obtain his information.  Our sources of information about a client may include background sheets or forms that the client completes, the client’s verbal report, direct observation of nonverbal behavior, direct observations of interactions between multiple clients such as couples, or family members, information form collateral sources, test or assessment instruments and your personal experience based on direct interaction with the client.  Must observe the clients nonverbal functioning as well.

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These typically include the goals to be accomplished, in order of priority on agreement that helping is mutual, problem-solving process, intervention, techniques and modality to be used, duration of treatment frequency and length of session, means of monitoring clients progress, conditions for renegotiating the contract, and your office policy such as your cancellation procedures and fee related issues.