Consider the primary issues this particular client encounters

Consider the primary issues this particular client encounters

Getting Started

At this point in your social work education, you have been exposed to many strategies and models for effective interventions with individual clients, such as strengths-based approaches, narrative approaches, solution-focused approaches, and cognitive behavioral approaches (there are many others you might have learned about and be using in your field agency).

In this activity, you will reflect on your work with a specific client at your field agency and their experiences of oppression and injustice. Then you will consider what interventions could be integrated to help the client counter those experiences. You are encouraged to discuss your reflections with your field supervisor to garner feedback, to deepen your knowledge, skills, and values in this area. You can also discuss your client and analysis with classmates, but you must preserve confidentiality as described below.

Resources

• Textbook: The Social Work Practicum
• File: APA Template for Assignments.docx
• File: APA 6e Guide.pdf

Background Information

In the last several workshops, you have continued to develop your empathy toward client populations that experience oppression and social injustice. Your effective use of empathy to intervene with and empower clients will set you apart in your future role as a social worker. Before intervening, it is important that you always effectively listen to your clients about their own experiences and consider them as unique individuals (instead of making assumptions about their experiences based on how they look or the social groups to which they belong). It is equally important that you customize interventions to the clients’ own needs and strengths. You will have the opportunity to practice this process in this activity.

Instructions

1. In your textbook The Social Work Practicum: A Guide and Workbook for Students, review Chapter 14, “Planned Change Process.”
2. Identify one client you work with at your field placement (alternatively, discuss with your supervisor another social worker’s client or client group who can be observed).
   1. Protect this client’s confidentiality by changing his or her name and any other identifying information for the purposes of this assignment and any subsequent conversations about the case with your instructor or classmates.
3. Consider the primary issues this particular client encounters and how you can build your competence and ability to intervene on those particular issues through individual interventions.
4. Locate at least one journal article about the particular issues encountered by this client. Specifically, look for resources that identify key strategies or resources for helping an individual.
5. In a two- to three-page, APA-formatted paper, reflect on best social work practice for using individual interventions related to issues of oppression or injustice. Use this APA Template for Assignments.docx to complete your assignment.
   1. In your introductory paragraph, provide a brief (three- or four-sentence) summary of the client’s demographic information, treatment needs, strengths, and risks.
   2. Summarize information that the client has provided or that you have obtained about his/her experiences of oppression and social injustice, including in the past, current life, and future plans (such as in their family, school, work life, and system involvement).
      1. Depending on the client, you might have specific examples, or you might have to infer information if the client is not aware of or transparent about his/her own experiences. Be specific about the source of information.
   3. Discuss specific skills, strategies, and interventions could be used to help this client counter these experiences of oppression and injustice and explain why they are appropriate. Cite at least one theoretical framework that aligns with the interventions provided to support your choices of intervention.
      1. For example, if you are discussing a client who has encountered racism and you are proposing to help him address his distortions about how others perceive him, you might discuss using a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy model. If your client has encountered a long history of economic disparity, you might discuss the use of a Narrative model to help her create a new, empowering story about survival.
      2. Consider any and all theoretical approaches that have been discussed in previous coursework and be sure to identify the specific theories by name. Please note that you do not have to be implementing the intervention you discuss in this paper at your field agency (you should consider this only with your supervisor’s approval).
6. Your writing should be well developed, providing clear answers with evidence of critical thinking, and incorporate course materials using proper in-text citations and references that support your ideas.
   1. As you write your responses to the prompts in Step 4, review the APA guidelines on how to cite sources properly in the APA 6e Guide.pdf file.
7. Before finalizing your work, ensure that you:
   1. 12-point, double-spaced Times New Roman font
   2. One-inch margins on all sides
   3. Normal character spacing
   4. In-text citations
   5. Title page and reference page (not included in page count)
   6. Properly formatted headings (Introduction, Body, Conclusion, References)
   1. Respond to each question in the activity.
   2. Use the computer’s spelling and grammar check.
   3. Use APA format for organization, style, and source credits, including:
8. Assess your assignment using the rubric for this activity and make improvements as needed to meet expectations and ensure that your work fulfills all the requirements.