This assessment measures your ability to describe the importance of empathy and interpersonal skills when engaging with clients.
Social workers must demonstrate empathy and interpersonal skills to build relational rapport with diverse individuals. When working with clients, social workers will regularly discuss their approaches with supervisors to improve their self-awareness and refine their strategies for engaging with others.
For this assessment, you will make a report to a supervisor in which you analyze a client’s situation and explain your strategy for using empathy and culturally responsive interpersonal skills to engage the client and family in the example case.
Select a case study and client to use as an example for this assessment. You may use the case study you used in Week 3, or you may select a different scenario from the Client Case Studies in Week 1.
Create a report in which you describe the importance of empathy and culturally responsive practice when engaging with clients in a case report. Approach the report as if you were a social worker reporting to your supervisor your strategy for building relational rapport with the family in the selected case study scenario.
Address the following in your report:
Summarize the benefits of using mapping activities (such as the ecomap you completed in Week 3) and explain how using maps can engage clients to build rapport. Describe the importance of understanding cultural factors and of using interpersonal skills to show empathy and cultural responsiveness to support clients with compassion.
Describe the cultural and situational factors you would consider when deciding how to show empathy to the example family. Describe how you might use interpersonal skills with the client and each family member. Explain how you would adapt your approach to showing empathy with each individual based on an awareness of family cultural factors and their developmental stages.
Explain why you may or may not feel personally challenged by the situation in the case. Summarize NASW standards and expectations for social workers’ interpersonal skills and showing empathy while engaging with clients in this situation. Describe how a supervisor could show empathy to support you in serving this family as their social worker.
Refer to the NASW Code of Ethics to read the ethical standards expected of professional social workers.
Select a format for your assessment:
A written report in 700- to 1,050-words,
Cite any sources that you used to support your responses.
Format citations according to APA guidelines.
