A Key Function of Entry-Level Social Work Counseling

Image Credit: Donna Garcia Associates, Inc.

One of the questions that frequently comes up in class is this: "On the one hand, social workers are expected to respect the self-determination of the client, but on the other hand, what clients want for themselves may not be things that are in their best interest -- such as a tendency to satisfy short-term gratification at the expense of long-term growth and stability, or the inability to remove oneself from psychologically abusive relationships."

One of the most essential functions that social workers have, in their professional practice, is the function of being a good listener. Being a good listener does not just involve an activity of the ear, it also involves the activity of the mind. The social worker should not just be passive listener, but an active one; a listener who asks open-ended questions, and picks up on phrases, non-verbal facial expressions and gestures, and other clues that help to emphasize what is most important about what the client has said, and help to reveal what is often left unspoken.

There are several reasons why it is essential that the social worker learn to be a good listener. For one thing, we live in an age where everyone wants to be heard, and few people want to listen. Few of us get the chance to sound out the situations we are struggling with before we are interrupted by the person we are talking to as they smother us with their "advice."

Even if the advice is sound, and, perhaps, "research-based", we won't really know whether or not the advice is appropriate if we haven't taken the time to thoroughly hear the client out so that we can grasp the essence of the situation, and the contextual issues that are related to it -- making the situation, and its solutions, unique to the client.

But even more to the point, part of the process of honoring the right of the client to self-determination is to create space, and create an environment, in which clients can discover constructive conclusions for themselves. It is important to give the client a chance to do the very thing that they frequently do not have the opportunity to do -- which is to transform vague thoughts and feelings into specific and concrete words, and to turn fragments of assorted impressions into recognizable patterns and identifiable relationships.

Part of our role, in consulting with a client, is not to give the client the answer, but to listen, ask probing follow-up questions, and create an opportunity for them to make discoveries -- to have epiphanies -- and, from there, to work out solutions for themselves. You want them to discover patterns and solutions that cannot just be handed to them.

"But", some students may object, "what if you work for a government agency where you are not paid to have the client sound out their situation, and you don't have the time to work with them toward an epiphany? What then?"

Basically, you're screwed in that situation.

But seriously, even when there are legal or administrative mandates for what must come out of the session, an effective practitioner will take the time to give something in order to get something from the client. The practitioner cannot expect the client to listen to, or respect what the practitioner is saying, if the practitioner does not first demonstrate the willingness to listen to, and respect what the client is saying.

The interaction has to go both ways.

In order for the governmental or institutional mandate to be understood, the representative of that government or institution -- which would be you, the social worker -- must engage the client and establish trust. The representative of that government or institution must demonstrate the capacity to understand the client, his or her perspective on things, and his or her situation.

So whether your interaction with the client is the result of the client coming to you voluntarily or involuntarily, active listening is an indispensable part of your role as a social worker, in order to be an effective practitioner.

The social worker has to hear the client out; understand how the client sees the world and why the client's perspective makes sense to the client -- and the social worker must probe for insights into the client's formal and informal social networks and overall situation -- in order for the social worker to effective as a "helping professional."

C. Matthew Hawkins