Clinical Interviewing Skills and Techniques in Social Work

Clinical Interviewing as a Social Worker
Part A
The importance of effective clinical interviewing revolves around being able to establish a certain level of trust with the client. Essentially, the goal of the social worker is to get to the heart of the problem and to elucidate truth. It’s very difficult to get people to share honestly if they feel guarded or feel as though they are being judged. A presentation given at Minnesota State University at Moorhead found that the following personality traits are most crucial to clients when it comes to having a social worker: understanding, compassionate, pleasant, and possessing the ability to put others at ease (Bitfocus.com, 2016). Being able to embody these traits means that one is able to convey very aptly how much one is interested in one’s client and that one has kind intentions, as a safe person.
Maintaining confidentiality consistently is another vital pillar of clinical interviewing, as clients need to know that they can trust you with the intimate details of their lives (Bitfocus.com, 2016). Likewise, when engaging in clinical interviewing, it’s important to adequately convey empathy and engage in practices that suspend one’s own judgments and critiques in order to better absorb what the client is saying and to understand their needs. In a similar manner, engaging in active listening is crucial so that the client feels like he or she is being heard. Showing that one is listening through eye contact, nodding and asking appropriate follow-up questions is crucial when indicating that one is listening fully and adequately (Cournoyer, 2016). All of these factors are crucial in order to ensure that the client continues to share.
Part B
The details of the case in the video begins with the social worker putting Ms. Smith at ease, and speaking to her in a gentle and pleasant manner. Ms. Smith expresses that she is nervous about the entire endeavor, and the social worker again puts her at ease. One of the major details that arise during the video is that the social worker brings our attention to the fact that Ms. Smith’s daughter is still using a bottle at four years old. Most child developmental experts believe that children should give up the bottle completely at 12 months, and drink from a cup exclusively. Furthermore, we discover that the child has been suffering from tooth decay, as a result of the fact that she has continued to use a bottle for so long. These are of course distressing details. What is even more distressing is that the social worker attempts to create a sliding scale to determine how concerned Ms. Smith is regarding the state of her child’s bottle usage: 0 represents not at all worried, and 10 represents extremely concerned and anxious regarding the situation. Ms. Smith answers that she’s about a 3 on the scale, and reasserts that the child will give up the bottle when she’s ready. The social worker attempts to determine what is working well in her home, what Ms. Smith’s worries are, and she engages in some client mapping. We also learn that Ms. Smith appears to not understand the concept of boundaries and the importance of “sticking to what she says” when it comes to her daughter, as the child’s behavior could get worse over time. Another major clinical detail that is revealed is that Ms. Smith’s ex-boyfriend has been given to violence, and has even made threats against their cat. We learn more about Ms. Smith’s familial background and that her family members, such as her grandmother and aunt help her financially. The social worker also goes through some things she can do to prepare for the birth of her twins, such as practical things like buying a bassinette. Furthermore, they discuss how to prepare Lauren for this transition, as it will probably be difficult for her.

Part C
Identifying the problem: the social worker is able to pinpoint the problem in this case right away, which is that Lauren, Ms. Smith’s daughter is allowed to use a bottle, long past when it is appropriate.
Asking appropriate questions: this skill helps the social worker to shed light on the core issues around a problem, and to get a sense of a the client’s immediate and deeper issues. In the video the social worker does this when she asks Ms. Smith about her personal level of comfort with her daughter’s bottle usage.
Listening, observing and clarifying: The social worker repeatedly shows signs that she is listening actively by leaning in, making clear eye contact, and nodding when it is appropriate. The social worker also asks relevant follow-up questions that demonstrate she was listening, interested and seeking more clarifying information.
Empathy, genuineness, warmth, and respect: These are all qualities that are harder to pinpoint within the exchange in the video, but the social worker does indeed demonstrate them. The social worker is able to always effectively convey these qualities through her demeanor and manner as is crucial for clinical interviewing success (Padgett, 2016). For example, her empathy and warmth are in her tone. The respect she convey is unquestioned: Ms. Smith at times can be infuriating, as she explains how she feel comfortable allowing her daughter to continue to use the bottle, even though it clearly is damaging her mental, emotional and physical development. The social worker remains calm and respectful in her tone and willing to work with her to budge from this rigidity.










































References

Bitfocus.com. (2016, October 25). 3 Principles for Effective Social Work Case Management. Retrieved from https://bitfocus.com/case-management/effective-social-work-case-management-principles/

Cournoyer, B. R. (2016). The social work skills workbook. Cengage Learning.

Padgett, D. K. (2016). Qualitative methods in social work research (Vol. 36). Sage Publications.