While doing the role play video, I was at first nervous about the entire exercise, which explains why I fumbled with words at the beginning. However, as I continued, I regained my confidence, and my roles in the video became a little easier to accomplish. In addition, I regained composure, and my words came out with clarity. Social work professional requires composure as the career involves frequent interaction with clients experiencing different situations ( Parker, 2017). In the end, I was quite happy to have helped a family that was going through a distressing time to restore their normal lives. I felt fulfilled after my role play in the video and realized that I was ready to put my social work skills to practice.
Notably, I gained many insights from the role-play in the video. For instance, I realized that bullying has far-reaching consequences on the individual more than what I had imagined. Ideally, the bullying that Amy was experiencing at school made her develop hatred not only towards her bullies but also to the entire school. Bullying causes psychological problems to the victims, which affect their perception of things or people ( Parker, 2017). Indeed, the experiences that individuals go through change their perception of things and, if not addressed, could lead to more damage. Remarkably, from my role-play in the video, I realized that bullying cuts across both sexes and it is not a boys’ issue as it had been made to appear. Amy is a girl, and other girls were bullying her. Therefore, it must be emphasized that bullying affects both boys and girls equally even though many people think it affects only boys ( Knott & Scragg, 2016). The realization that bullying affects both boys and girls and the fact that both could be victims or perpetrators of bullying has emboldened my resolve to talk to both sexes about the issue of bullying. I will encourage both boys and girls to speak out whenever they are bullied so that the case is addressed before it escalates. Importantly, my focus will not only be on the victims of bullying but also the perpetrators. In summary, the role-play in the video has made me understand that both victims and perpetrators of bullying need counseling if the vice is to be brought to an end in learning institutions.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
While taking part in the role-playing video, I had difficulties demonstrating empathy that a social worker is supposed to show while interacting with the clients. My lack of empathy was partly due to the fact that I knew it was acting and not the real situation. Connecting with the client emotionally makes it easy for a social worker to get information ( Knott & Scragg, 2016). However, to overcome the lack of empathy, I will be engaging my mind entirely in what the client says while maintaining eye contact and reading the body language of the person. I believe such concentration will enable me to connect emotionally with my clients and demonstrate empathy.
Noteworthy, I experienced difficulties gaining the trust of my clients, possibly because I did not appear trustworthy. Amy did not want to talk about the issue of bullying since she was not sure whether I would keep the information confidential. In this regard, assuring a client of confidentiality enhances trust and disclosure ( Knott & Scragg, 2016). Moving forward, I will be explaining to my clients my professional responsibilities, such as maintaining client confidentiality before engaging on the issue at hand. Ideally, developing an atmosphere of trust makes it easier for the clients to trust and provide information about issues in their lives.
I used patience as one of my engagement techniques. I listened to Amy patiently as she narrated her ordeal at school. Additionally, I was very patient with Mrs. Bargas as she explained her problems and made her requests. I applied the technique to allow my clients to divulge more information regarding their situations. According to Parker (2017), for a social worker to assist a client effectively, he or she must understand the problem that the client faces. Following the issue requires information, and to get that information, one must be patient. Moreover, patience enables the client to speak uninterrupted, which makes it possible for the individual to explain her situation without interjections. I also utilized the probing technique to extract information from both Amy and Mrs. Bargar. Probing techniques enabled me to seek clarification on subjects that I did not understand. Moreover, I used the probing technique to make the client know that I was following the conversation keenly. Parker (2017) asserts that p robing enables one to take charge of the discussion by way of providing direction whenever the client digresses. Generally, the use of the probing technique helped me to gather information and control the conversation.
My colleague’s role-play was not that good as she chose a script on drugs, which involved many actors, leading to role confusion. In essence, this made it difficult to get the plot of the video. However, the topic of drugs was spot on, and despite the hitches in the acting part, the video was informative. The issue of drug abuse continues to pose a challenge in many learning institutions ( Parker, 2017). Overall, the role-play provided opportunities for one to demonstrate social work skills in practice.
My colleagues did well in demonstrating engagement techniques such as listening, adapting, empathy, and patience. However, they need to improve on their probing techniques, since they failed to ask clients many questions that would have helped them understand their situation better. Probing helps a social worker to extract information from the client. Ultimately, this informs the type of advice one renders ( Parker, 2017). Importantly, improving on their probing technique will enable them to take control of the conversation with clients instead of letting them say what they think is right.
References
Knott, C., & Scragg, T. (Eds.). (2016). Reflective practice in social work . Learning Matters.
Parker, J. (2017). Social work practice: Assessment, planning, intervention and review . Learning Matters.
