Hello! Welcome to part three of our helping process series.
This is the final part.
So if you're jumping in now and haven't watched videos one and two,
in video one, we talk about engagement and assessment,
in video two, we talk about planning and intervention,
and now we have finally made it to evaluation and termination.
So probably watch these videos in order.
But if not, if you're just jumping in now that's totally okay.
Hi, I'm Anna, I'm a social worker and I make YouTube videos,
both educational ones like this, and then also just lifestyle videos
giving a look into the life of a social worker.
The helping process gives a general framework
of a social worker-client interaction.
Not too much more introduction needed.
So we all start with evaluation.
This is a step that will look so super different
depending on if you are a micro or meso or macro social worker,
but this step happens after engagement, after assessment, after planning
and sometimes after intervention, but also kind of during intervention.
Evaluation is measuring the client's progress
and determining if there is progress being made toward the established goals.
If you determine, yes, there has been progress being made,
what is the progress that's being made? How do you know?
Are there areas of intervention that need to change?
Maybe progress isn't getting made in certain areas,
and so something needs to go different so that you can actually get an outcome.
Do any goals need to change
in order to better match the presenting problem?
Is the modality of intervention that was chosen for this client still working?
Is it still a good fit?
And if the intervention is working for the client,
how do you know?
Both in their own words and then also in your observations?
Evaluation is so super important because it ensures that treatment is effective.
It's not just playing around with the client and seeing,
"Okay, maybe this will help, maybe this won't.
Even if this isn't helping, it's kind of fun for me,
so I'm gonna keep doing it."
Evaluation is ensuring that what the client wants to work on,
what the client wants to be done, is progressing, is happening.
So some tips to do it well
is to have a flexible mindset through intervention.
Even though a program worked really well for one specific high school,
it does not necessarily mean
the same results will be shown in the high school you are working in,
and you could be really excited about the program
and think it would be really fun and really want to see it through.
But if the results aren't there, the results aren't there.
What are some confounding factors that may be affecting the process?
What are the differences between the high school you're working in
and the one that the program worked really well in?
And can the program be altered to
maybe better fit the high school that you're working in?
If something is not working after a standard amount of time, adjust it.
This doesn't mean, "Okay after two sessions,
if a client's presenting problem isn't better, it needs to be changed."
That's why I say the standard amount of time.
A reasonable amount of time to expect progress or expect change,
but progress isn't happening, adjust.
This will look different depending on where you're at,
but collect data continuously.
This can be formal or informal.
For example, some modalities of therapy
have a client rate and monitor symptoms throughout each week.
Or maybe just rate and do a mood check at the beginning of a session.
If that's what you're doing, then you can see over time,
"Okay, what's changing?
How many times are panic attacks occurring during the week
or whatever you're working on?
Maybe it's a survey given to community members.
Maybe it's collecting collateral information
from parents and teachers about behavior that you're working on with a child.
Are there observable differences in the classroom
since I began work with this child?
Pulling from our handy-dandy code of ethics, 5.02,
"Social workers should monitor and evaluate policies,
the implementation of programs, and practice interventions.
Social workers should promote and facilitate evaluation and research
to contribute to the development of knowledge.
Social workers should critically examine
and keep current with emerging knowledge relevant to social work
and fully use evaluation and research evidence
in their professional practice."
So, in the code of ethics, it says you need to be doing some sort of evaluation.
Now for everyone, that's not going to mean working in a research lab
conducting research studies.
But even if it is just your personal, one to one therapy client.
Evaluating intervention.
I also think this is an important time to point out
that some social workers specialize in one part of this helping process.
Maybe I should've mentioned this in the previous videos.
Some social workers, their job is assessment,
and then the client moves on deeper into the agency
to actually get the intervention.
Or some social workers, and this is why I bring it up now,
specialize in evaluation.
You can work in program evaluation as a social worker.
Sometimes this could be in-house at a certain community agency.
Or sometimes there's even consultants
who will come in whenever a company asks them to
and evaluate programs that they have going on
related to some social issue.
So social workers can, like, specialize in the evaluation.
Or social workers can be researchers.
This is common, especially if you see social workers with PhDs.
PhDs have research components in them.
Research in social work can cover
so many broad, various topics and subjects and points of the process.
Sometimes it might be defining a social problem,
sometimes it might be evaluating an existing program.
Sometimes it might be evaluating an existing policy.
Sometimes it might be testing for the effectiveness of an intervention.
Research and evaluation is a huge part of social work
that sometimes isn't talked about as much, because it's not always client facing.
It can be, but it's not always client facing.
Pulling back from our handy-dandy code of ethics, still 5.02,
"Social workers engaged in evaluation or research
should carefully consider possible consequences
and should follow guidelines
developed for the protection of evaluation and research participants.
Social workers should inform participants of their right to
withdraw from evaluation and research at any time without penalty.
Social workers should take appropriate steps
to ensure that participants in evaluation and research
have access to appropriate supportive services.
Social workers engaged in evaluation or research should protect participants
from unwarranted physical and mental distress, harm, danger or deprivation.
Social workers should report evaluation and research findings accurately."
So that section is specific to
the people who specifically work in research and evaluation,
because there is ethics involved in that, too.
Because there are research participants involved.
Even if it's not necessarily client facing in the same way that micro one to one is,
or even that macro is, working with communities,
it is still so important to be ethical
as a social worker in evaluation and in research.
But anytime you hear about, "Oh, use evidence-based practices."
The evidence comes from social workers working in research.
It's like they're laying the foundation for the field.
An evaluation of your intervention or your practice
might be something that's regulated at the agency work in.
For example, it could be like every three months or so,
you check in on treatment plans,
see what the progress is, see if anything needs to be adjusted.
But and this is the big one, what happens whenever services are done?
I feel like termination is such a big word.
It does remind of like the Terminator, I'm going to terminate a client,
but it just means ending services.
Termination is the step of the helping process that–
I mean, all of them need to be treated with so much care,
but termination especially needs to be treated with so much care.
Termination starts to occur throughout the entire therapeutic relationship.
And what I mean by that is that
through the entire time you're interacting with the client,
you're preparing them to not need you anymore.
Termination is not just one session,
and failure to terminate well could be abandonment of a client.
There is a podcast episode from the podcast Very Bad Therapy.
Where they go into termination
and I think it could be interesting for you to listen to
because it goes deeper into specific perspectives and theoretical backgrounds
that I'm not necessarily going to touch on today,
so I'll link it down in the description below.
The podcast hosts have backgrounds in marriage and family therapy,
but they do bring in the ASWB code of ethics,
and they discuss in individual therapy settings more about termination.
So that could be interesting for you.
But for our purposes today, just thinking about termination
when treatment is no longer serving the client's needs
or is no longer necessary for the client, services should be ended.
If the presenting problem has been addressed
and treatment goals have been met with no new presenting problems coming up,
treatment should be ended.
Now, if a new presenting problem arises,
then a new helping process can kind of begin
where you assess and figure out and plan.
As social workers,
honestly our goal is for our clients to no longer need our services
because we are promoting empowerment, we're promoting independence.
In a perfect world, the end of a therapeutic relationship
would never come as a surprise to a client.
But obviously we don't live in a perfect world.
So instead, it is important to always be ethical whenever services are ending.
And we have a responsibility to do our due diligence
to treat termination with so much care.
That's coming from whenever a social worker ends services.
A client is free to terminate services at any time that they would like.
Termination can hold many different emotions for both client and social worker,
and our job is to support clients
however they're experiencing it and however they need it.
Some people may feel joy and pride because,
"Woohoo! I finished my treatment goals,
I have all these new skills, I'm ready to take on the world."
Other people may feel more fear and anxiety because,
"Uh-oh, I have to rely on my own self and my own support
to keep up the progress I've made."
So some tips to do it well,
these are coming straight from the code of ethics
because it gives very pointed guidelines on how to terminate well.
"Social workers should terminate services To clients and professional. Relationships with them when such services and relationships are no longer required or no longer serve the client's needs or interests.
Social workers should take reasonable steps to avoid abandoning. Clients. Who are still in need of services."
Abandoning means no preparation, no referrals outwards
so that they can continue service if they need it.
"Social workers should withdraw services precipitously only under unusual circumstances, giving careful consideration to all factors in the situation and taking care to minimize possible adverse effects."
I think you can tell from that language there is a lot of.
Responsibility on a social worker to terminate.
Well, and this. Means not leaving client hanging if.
They are mid intervention.
You have not finished up treatment goals have not been met.
There's a big. Responsibility. On you.
If services are going to have to end from your end from
for some sort of reason, for you to connect them with services,
for you to end the relationship while taking care to minimize.
Possible adverse effects.
Social workers should assist in making appropriate arrangements
for continuation of services when necessary.
That's kind of how I was mentioning the referrals outward.
I can no.
Longer provide you services, but here are people who realistically can.
Social workers who anticipate the termination or interruption of.
Services to clients should notify clients promptly.
And seek the transfer, referral or continuation of services in relation.
To the client's needs and preferences. I was trying to.
Keep these videos mostly educational.
Because that's.
What they are, but I think sometimes examples are helpful.
So for.
Example, I just recently left a position I had seven clients
that I was seeing at the time, and I. Gave three weeks notice to my employer.
So I had three. Weeks to notify and prepare.
Clients for termination of services with me.
Now they are going to continue their services.
They are going to do so with different people.
And so in those three weeks, we discussed feelings.
That may have come up due to my leaving.
We discussed plans for going forward,
specifically, which clinician were they going to go to for each client?
It was different of how to transfer clinicians best.
Some wanted me to just.
Meet by.
Myself with their new person and kind of give
an overview of their chart and what's been.
Going on in their present day problems, because then they felt empowered to just.
Hit the ground running with the new person.
For some clients, they.
Felt most comfortable doing joint sessions with me, their new
clinician and themselves just to kind of pass the.
Baton.
Get to transition into a new person more comfortably.
Some clients who.
Felt very confident with the change was like,
no big deal, I'll just pick up where I.
Left off. With you. With them. You don't have to do anything.
This is all good.
So it just it depends on the person and it depends on what you're working on
in treatment.
But what would have been unethical.
For me in that time was to not tell my clients before.
I was leaving and just on the day off, maybe.
Like, okay, by the way, this our last session.
You're going to this person. By.
Not would have been unethical and could have led to.
Adverse effects, adverse.
Reactions, and would be closer to.
Client.
Abandonment than putting in the front effort
to ensure a smooth continuation of services for the.
Client. Back to our code of ethics.
Social workers who are leaving an employment setting should.
Inform clients of appropriate options.
For continuation of services, and that the benefits
and risks of the options so similar to the previous point.
That we just talked about.
In this case, thinking of my personal experience
as well recently, this meant that.
All of my clients had the option.
To discontinue mental health services
if they didn't want to start with a new person.
Termination is social work.
Guided by a client led in that how the client.
Felt determined how I proceeded.
But it's not on the client to lay out.
Steps for how they are going to continue.
Because. It is the clinician's. Job and.
Responsibility to terminate services.
Well, with that, social workers may have a motion that rises due
to the end of therapeutic relationship. With the client as. Well.
It is important to seek support, maybe from.
Colleagues, and to process these.
Feelings in a safe space like supervision, because they're not feelings
that should be ignored.
But also as a social worker, it.
Is not a client's job to process your.
Feelings, so there are safe spaces. For you outside of the client.
But it's okay.
To have.
Some emotional responses to ending therapeutic relationships.
So even though termination is the end, ethical principles are just as important
and just as.
Applicable as the very beginning of the helping process in the middle of the.
Helping process.
If you are in a situation where you're going to begin termination.
With client, ask.
Questions and supervision, or ask questions in your field seminar,
depending on which point of your career you're at.
Because it is. A loaded part.
Of the social work process.
But obviously is a necessary.
Part because you're not going to have any client. Forever.
Now, just like with the other two videos, I have your reflection questions for you.
We didn't go over the social work principles
at the beginning of this video, but it's because I'm assuming
you just remembered them from the previous two videos.
What does it look like to help people in need and address
social problems through evaluation and termination?
How can. Social injustice be.
Challenged through evaluation. And termination?
How can you respect the inherent worth and dignity of a person through evaluation
and termination?
How can.
You centralize the importance of human relationships.
Through. Evaluation and termination?
How can you be trustworthy through evaluation and termination?
And how can you ensure that you are practicing
within your competence, through evaluation and termination?
That is it for me for the helping process.
I hope that these three videos were beneficial to you or helpful to you,
caused you to think a little bit, maybe learn a little bit.
The best way that you can thank me if you did
is by liking this video and subscribing to the channel,
so you can see all future ones that are to come.
Great job social workers! I'll see you next time.
I do better things with my time.
Try to make your daily.