Social Work Helping Process � Engagement & Assessment (1 of 3)

Hello, I'm Anna.
I'm a social worker and also a YouTuber,

and I'm so, so excited
for today's video series

where we will be going over
the social work helping process.

This is also following the social work
Generalist Intervention Model,

which you might also hear it talked about,

but really it's the steps,
the basic framework

that every social worker uses
in their form of intervention.

This is applicable on a micro level,
on a meso level, and on a macro level,

and we'll talk about
not only what each step is,

but also how to do it well,

what it includes,
and how to do it ethically.

If you haven't seen me before,
hi, like I said, I'm Anna

and I have a lot of videos covering
lots of different topics of social work

and then also give a look into
my authentic life as a social worker.

I graduated with my MSW
about a year ago

and have had a postgrad journey since then

that I would love for you
to subscribe and join along for.

In today's video, we will be talking specifically about

the engagement and assessment
steps of the helping process.

The second video in this series
will cover planning and intervention

and the final video in this series
will cover evaluation and termination,

which gave a spoiler into
the steps of the helping process.

But that's okay,
you're gonna learn them anyways.

Without too much further introduction,
let's get into the helping process.

Like I said, these steps are going to be

a basic framework
that social workers follow.

Obviously, each social worker's way
that they do each step of this process

and the little caveats and tools
they use in between

will look different depending on
what area of the field you work within

and also what your scope of practice is,

whether it's one on one,
whether it's with groups, with communities,

with states, with countries,
whatever you're doing.

But no matter
where you work in social work,

the code of ethics is always applicable.

And so, I think it's really important to
begin with the principles of social work

so we can see how those apply

as we go into
the steps of the helping process.

The principles
of the social work profession

are that social workers' primary goal

is to help people in need
and address social problems.

Both of those two, help people in need
and address social problems.

Social workers challenge social injustice,

social workers respect the inherent
worth and dignity of the person.

Social workers recognize the
central importance of human relationships.

Social workers behave
in a trustworthy manner.

And social workers practice
within their area of competence

and develop and enhance
their professional expertise.

That applies to every social worker.

The helping process contains six steps–

sometimes seven, we'll kind of
talk a little bit about that one–

engagement, assessment, planning,
intervention, evaluation, termination,

and then the seventh one is follow up.

No matter what social worker you are,

no matter which
area of the field you work in,

you are always, always
going to begin with engagement.

When does engagement happen?

As soon as you meet the client.

It is the very first impression

and it can also last
way beyond the first session

as you continue to establish
a therapeutic rapport

and build trust with the client.

Whenever I say the client,
all throughout these videos,

I can mean an individual,
I can mean a family,

I can mean a group,
I can mean a community.

So with establishing rapport,

it can be one to one
with an individual in front of you,

or it can be with a community as a whole,

establishing rapport with a neighborhood
or with a school, with a city.

What is engagement?

'Building rapport'
is a super common phrase in social work,

but it really just means establishing
a trusting working relationship

between yourself and the client.

Do they know you? Do they trust you?
Do they understand who you are?

Ultimately, rapport is built over time,
but starting off

focusing in on establishing that rapport
is so super crucial

because it sets the foundation
of how your working relationship

will develop over time
as you work with your client.

Engagement is the first impression
that the client will have of you.

Are you focused on them
and ready to assist them?

Or are you frazzled and distracted
and acting as if

they're just another thing in your day
that you have to do.

As I've already mentioned,

and as I'm sure I'll continue to mention
throughout these videos,

the steps and what they include
will vary based on what you're doing.

However, some aspects of engagement
that are pretty much always included,

number one is an introduction,

letting the client know who you are,
what you do, what your role is,

and also letting the client
introduce themselves, listening to them.

What's their name? Why are they there?

Engagement will include explaining
confidentiality and confidentiality limits.

This is super important because
before you do anything with a client,

they need to know where the
information that they disclose will go,

who it will go to,
when it is protected, and when it is not

because then they can be informed
as they talk with you.

Reading from the social work
Code of Ethics, this is 1.01,

"But social workers primary responsibility
is to promote the well being of clients.

In general, clients interests are primary.

However, social workers'
responsibility to the larger society

or specific legal obligations

may, on limited occasions,
supersede the loyalty owed clients

and clients should be so advised.

Examples include when a social worker

is required by law to report
that a client has abused a child

or has threatened to harm themselves
or others."

So sometimes in a therapeutic room,

that could look like,
"Everything you say here is confidential,

meaning that I'm not going to
go and tell other people about it,

but the limits to that will be

if you let me know that
you are planning to hurt yourself

or if there are allegations of abuse.

Which in those cases, I'm legally obligated
to make sure that everyone is safe."

It doesn't have to be that exact line,
maybe that exact line isn't perfect,

but something like that so they know,

"Okay, if I tell the social worker
that I am a harm to myself,

that social worker then has an obligation
to do something about it."

Lets them know what's gonna happen

based on what they disclose
or what they don't disclose.

So introduction,
confidentiality and limits to it.

You'll also discuss the agency's services
and what your role is within that.

Maybe this agency offers
assistance in connecting clients

to resources to obtain
housing, food, employment,

and what I'm here to do is assess if
what we offer fits what your needs are.

I totally made that up,
but something like that

where it explains what we offer
and who you are so they know,

"Okay, this is the situation,
this is what we're doing."

Engagement will also include
setting boundaries.

Again, this will look different
depending on where you're at.

Sometimes boundaries
will be explicitly stated.

Maybe if you are in a therapy setting
in a private practice

and you explicitly state,

"I am not able to be reached
outside of business hours,

but if you do have a crisis in which you
need help outside of business hours,

here is a resource or line you can call."
Something like that.

If there are boundaries
that need to be set,

sometimes they can be explicitly stated.

Or if a client misunderstands what

the services are
that you're offering them like,

"Oh, perfect, I can't wait for
you to pick me up each week

and we can go get groceries together
and you'll pay for them,"

you need to explicitly state,

"Actually, the services
that we provide are [blank]

and I'm so excited to be able to
connect you with resources."

Kind of clearing up what the role is,
that's setting boundaries.

Another part of engagement is
talking through expectations for treatment.

Say that you are in a therapy setting

and you have a client coming in
for the first time and they say,

"I just can't wait for you to fix me.

I can't wait to be happy every single day.

Probably by next week, right?
I'll never feel sad again."

But talking through a realistic trajectory
of what may happen in therapy,

what to expect,
not promising any outcomes

because we can never
guarantee any outcomes, saying,

"I would love to work with you to identify
what the stressors are in your life

and what steps
you can take to lessen them."

Something like that.

Engagement will also include
obtaining informed consent.

This is very important because after
you discuss expectations for treatment,

what your role is,
what the boundaries are.

Clients get to decide if

your services are something
they want to go through with.

You don't get to
force your services onto a client.

Self determination is key.

Obviously, there are some settings where

informed consent
will look a little bit different.

For example, if things are
court mandated, court ordered,

but in those cases where you can
promote self determination in a client,

you should still do so.

But as far as
obtaining informed consent goes,

we can go back to our code of ethics
because it talks about it explicitly,

1.03, "Social workers should use
clear and understandable language

to inform clients of
the purpose of services,

risks related to the services,

limits to the services,

relevant costs, reasonable alternatives,

clients right to refuse
or withdraw consent,

and the time frame covered by the consent.

Social workers should provide clients
with an opportunity to ask questions."

This doesn't mean just do
a real quick spiel that you have memorized

so super fast the client
doesn't actually understand it

and you're like, "Okay, cool? Cool."
And then you're done.

That's not really what consent is.

The client needs to have the fullest
understanding that they can possible

of what the process will look like

because there shouldn't be surprises
that come up along the way.

For example, you get five sessions in
and then you're like,

"Actually, you owe $1,500
and I didn't tell you about that till now."

Hopefully, no social worker is doing that.

But that's a drastic example of

a lack of information given upfront
that the client can consent to

and say, "Okay, I understand
the risks of what I'm getting into."

For example, the fact that therapy
might not always be comfortable.

Okay, I understand that and I'm
still willing to go through with it.

I understand the pay scale,
I understand when payment is due,

I understand the expectations of me,
I understand your role,

and this is something that
I'm willing to do.

And notice that it says
clear and understandable language.

If there is a language barrier
between you and your client,

they can't give informed consent if you

haven't presented information to them
in a way that they can understand.

Then it also goes on to say,

"In instances when clients
are receiving services involuntarily–"

like what we mentioned,
maybe it's court ordered,

maybe it's an involuntary hospitalization.

"–social workers should
provide information

about the nature
and the extent of services

and about the extent of client's
right to refuse service."

Quick overview of what we discussed.

Engagement includes introductions,

explaining confidentiality
and the limits to it,

discussing agency services
and the social worker's role,

setting boundaries,
talking through expectations of services,

and obtaining informed consent.

Some tips to do engagement well.

I think number one is just remember
that it's a human to human interaction.

Treat your client how you would want
your loved one to be treated

if they walked into your agency.

If you have an imaginary uncle who's out there

and was gonna walk through
the front doors of your agency,

be kind, be welcoming,
don't be judgmental.

It's a human to human interaction.

I think lots of times social workers
can put pressure on themselves, are like,

"Okay, it's time to be
the superhero social worker."

It's okay to laugh, to chat a little bit,

to do a little bit of small talk,
really establish that rapport.

Whether you need to talk about the weather

or if there's a sports game
that just happened,

being able to build a working relationship

will ultimately lead to a beneficial
social worker-client relationship.

A buzz phrase in social work
is to meet the client where they are at.

And that just means
however the client is arriving to you,

maybe they're not super ready or
not super comfortable to enter services,

meeting them there instead of assuming

that they're so gung ho
about something they're not.

If they have reservations,
meeting them there,

it's okay if a client doesn't
immediately warm up to you.

Just because you do social work every day
doesn't mean that a client

is used to participating in
social work services every day.

If there is resistance there,
you can acknowledge that.

Like, "I know it's hard to get up
and show up here,

but I'm so glad you did

and I'm looking forward to seeing
what we can do together."

Part of this too is to be aware of

any cultural differences
that might be present

or any power imbalances
that might be present.

Maybe a client has only ever had

negative experiences
with previous social workers.

You can't get personally offended

if they come in reserved
and not really wanting to talk to you.

Meeting them where they're at
is understanding, like,

"Okay, they haven't had
great experiences in the past.

I'm gonna do what I can to make sure that
this experience doesn't match those."

But understand that
they're coming in reserved,

they're coming in hesitant
and that's okay.

One size does not fit all for engagement.

Every person is different, so you're
going to engage every person differently.

I think that can seem pretty obvious
when you're just sitting here saying it,

but it's important to remember

as you are a social worker
engaging with clients.

Using your soft skills that you've learned

through the engagement process
is so important.

Find empathy for your client,
maintain eye contact when appropriate.

Show your client that you're
focused on them, you're listening to them.

It means actively listening.

Pay attention to your posture.

Are you just sitting and typing

and looking away from them
while they're talking to you?

They're not going to feel as engaged.

As if you turn to face them,

have an open posture,

maybe nod along as they're talking.

You don't have to overdo it,

but just show signs that you are
actively listening to them.

Focus on and be receptive
to the client's thoughts and feelings.

Social work is client centered
and so that includes

you being client centered
whenever a client comes in.

A lot of those soft skills
you'll use anytime,

especially when you're
doing micro social work,

when you're working
one on one with a person.

It can begin to look
a little bit different

once you move into
meso and macro social work,

which if you don't know
the differences between those levels,

I do have a video that talks all about
micro versus meso versus macro,

but say you're doing meso social work,

all the soft skills that I just mentioned

are still so important
when you're meeting with people,

but if you're trying to establish rapport
with the community,

maybe attending community events,
being present,

getting to know who the stakeholders are
in the community, who holds power,

who has influence in the community,
getting to know them,

meeting different people with
various different roles in the community,

or if you're working more macro focused,

meeting people who are
personally affected by

the macro social issue
or macro problem that you're working with,

meeting with people
who hold the power to change,

and meeting with the people who care
and who identified the social problem

and brought you in
to do something about it.

All in all, engagement is the foundation.

It's what the rest of
your helping process,

the rest of your work with a client
will be based off of

and giving it the proper
time and energy that it deserves

is super, super important.

But once you do all of the steps
that we mentioned in engagement,

the second step of the helping process
is moving into assessment.

Assessment only happens
after you have obtained informed consent.

You've let them know
the limits of confidentiality.

They know your role,
they know what you're doing,

they know what services you can offer,

then it's time to assess.

In short, assessment is determining
what the presenting problem is.

Again, this can be micro, meso, or macro.

A problem must be known
in order to be solved.

If you go in blind, close your eyes
and shooting darts at the bull's eye,

don't do that.
No.

Additionally, assessment determines
what the client is seeking treatment for.

Your assessment isn't to see, okay,

I'm going to look at this client's life
and determine what I think are problems

and determine what I think
they need to work on.

No, you're figuring out
why did the client show up?

What's going on?
What do they want help with?

Also, why are they here now?

What changed in
the presenting problem where,

today's the day
where they showed up to you?

What has gone on leading up to them
taking the steps to take action now?

Depending on your agency,

there may be specific tools,
specific questionnaires,

specific templates
that you use for your assessment.

Depending on
what kind of information you need,

if you're in a school with children,
you're going to need different information

than if you're working with veterans
assisting them to get home loans.

Part of the way that social work
as a discipline

is different from some other
educational backgrounds in assessments

is that it takes account for multiple
different parts of the client's life

and how they all play together
to affect a presenting problem.

For example, in social work background,

a mental health struggle
is not just biologically based.

It may also be
exasperated by social pressures,

systemic oppression,
maladaptive cognitions.

There's more that goes into it.

You need to collect information
before you begin any kind of intervention,

or else, how do you know that
your intervention is a fit for the client

and a fit for the presenting problem
that they came in with?

Like I said, the exact information
that you're looking for

will vary based on where you are,

what you're doing, who you are,
what your role is.

But some elements that
will be included in the assessment

that you'll be asking people about
may include biological elements,

psychological elements,
sociological elements.

I don't know if you noticed,
but biopsychosocial.

Probably heard of
those types of assessments before.

In assessment, this is a great time for
you to use a strengths based perspective,

which I also have a video on
if you'd like to learn more about it.

But you're not looking at
what problems are in this client's life.

You're also looking at
what strengths does a client come in with,

what resources are available
for them to use.

Along with that,
you'll identify any gaps in services

or any barriers to services
that a client might be facing.

You'll be looking at
how does your client system

interact with other systems around them,

whether your client system is an
individual, family, a group, a community.

Also, sometimes in assessment,
you will obtain collateral information.

This means information from people
outside of your client system

that may be necessary to get
a holistic picture of an assessment.

Now, with collateral information,

ensure that you have
proper consent from your client

in order to talk about them
to anyone else,

whether it's another professional,

whether it's a family member,
a school teacher,

make sure that
the proper releases are given

for you to talk about your client.

That will be a question that whenever
you start working somewhere new,

you'll need to make sure you have clear,
"Okay, who can we talk to

and what is the process to
go about releasing information

or obtaining information from someone
outside of the client with their consent.

When working with children,

you do not need a release
to speak to their legal guardians

and their legal guardians
are generally the ones

that provide consent
for you to talk to anyone else.

However, once you begin
actually working with a child,

it is important that you also
respect their confidentiality.

This means not being a revolving door
straight back to the parents that,

"Well, they're having a problem
with this, this and this,

these are their exact thoughts.

They feel this way about you."

Obviously, you keep legal guardians involved and updated on progress

to the extent that it's
beneficial to the child

and to the client
and that it is required of you,

but children can have confidentiality
even while they're children.

Collateral information can also be
obtained from past documents

if a client
has been with your agency before.

Maybe someone else three years ago

did an assessment
similar to the one you're doing.

You can look at that and obviously
information has changed since then,

but some may be the same, so you can
review that information with the client,

but maybe you don't have to
start from exactly square one.

Examples of presenting problems
if you are in micro social work,

maybe someone is coming in
struggling with substance abuse

and that's what they would like help with.

Maybe someone has a missing resource,

whether that's food, housing,
employment, healthcare,

maybe someone is coming in
with a mental health struggle,

maybe that's depression, maybe
that's anxiety, maybe that's psychosis.

Those are examples of, on a micro level,

what an individual
may be coming in with to you.

On a meso level,
a presenting problem could be

an elementary school
with low attendance rates

and they're wanting you to
intervene to help that out.

A high school with low graduation rates,

a geriatric care facility with a high rate
of depression among its residents.

Those are more meso, community based.

It's not a group, but it's not country.

Or, zooming out to macro social work,

a city with a really high rate
of unhoused people,

a state with
a high proportion of residents

who are just living paycheck to paycheck
or experiencing financial insecurity,

a social work board with
disproportionate pass rates by race.

These are examples of more macro problems

that social workers
may attempt to intervene with.

Some tips to assess well.

Spending sufficient time and effort
in the engagement stage

will likely lead to a more honest
and complete assessment.

If someone just came in,
they don't know you,

they don't trust you,
they don't know what you're doing,

they don't know what your goal is.

They're probably not going to be as
honest and open as if they do trust you,

do understand who you are,
do understand what your goal is.

Being receptive to clients'
answers to your questions,

no matter what they are, is important.

Part of this is understanding
how your body language comes across.

Part of it is ensuring
your responses aren't judgmental.

You are not there to judge a client.

You're there assessing needs so that
you can help them break down those needs.

Part of assessing is being
comfortable with silence.

Some topics discussed in assessment
may be tough for a client to open up about

and tough for a client to speak about.

Holding space for that is important.

Just because this is
an everyday part of your life,

discussing
whichever topics you're discussing,

does not mean that it's
an everyday part of your client's life

and does not mean
that they are comfortable with it.

They may be very willing to talk about it,

but sometimes
there's discomfort that comes up

and being comfortable with just
letting them take a second

holding space for them,
letting them speak on their own terms.

Going back to our handy dandy
code of ethics, this is 1.07

"Social workers should respect
clients' right to privacy.

Social workers should not solicit
private information from or about clients

except for
compelling professional reasons.

Once private information is shared,
standards of confidentiality apply.

Social workers may disclose
confidential information when appropriate

with valid consent from a client

or a person legally authorized
to consent on behalf of a client.

Social workers should protect
the confidentiality

of all information obtained
in the course of professional service

except for
compelling professional reasons.

General expectation that social workers
will keep information confidential

does not apply
when disclosure is necessary

to prevent serious, foreseeable
and imminent harm to a client or others.

In all instances,
social workers should disclose

the least amount of
confidential information necessary

to achieve the desired purpose.

Only information that is directly relevant

to the purpose for which
the disclosure is made

should be revealed."

We've discussed the first two
steps of the helping process:

engagement and assessment,

and I think it's important
to circle back

to those principles
of the social work profession

to see how they can connect
in the first two steps.

These are kind of
reflection questions for you.

What does it look like
to help people in need

and address social problems
through engagement and assessment?

How can you do that?

How can social injustice be challenged
through engagement and assessment?

How can you respect the inherent
dignity and worth of the person

through engagement and assessment?

How can you centralize
the importance of human relationships

through engagement and assessment?

How can you be trustworthy
through engagement and assessment?

How can you ensure that you are
practicing within your area of competence

through both engagement and assessment?

If you are curious what happens
when you're a social worker,

after you engage a client
and after you assess,

then make sure to subscribe

so that you'll be around
and see whenever part two is posted,

where we will get into both
planning and intervention,

and then part three, where we will
get into evaluation and termination.

I hope this is helpful to you

no matter where you're at
in your social work journey,

and I hope that there are many
little reasons to smile in your day today.

I'll see you next time.

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