Presenting Problem: David, a 28-year-old Jewish male, seeks treatment for alcohol abuse. Reports drinking heavily daily for the past year, leading to job loss and relationship problems.
Substance Use History: Began drinking in college, escalated in the past year. No other drug use reported.
Mental Health: Symptoms of depression and anxiety, likely exacerbated by alcohol use. No prior mental health treatment.
Family History: Father struggled with alcohol abuse.
Social Functioning: Recently broke up with his girlfriend due to drinking. Unemployed for 3 months. Isolated from friends and family.
Strengths and Resources: Motivated to seek treatment, has a supportive older brother, interested in rebuilding career.
Treatment Goals: Develop a plan for alcohol abstinence, address underlying depression and anxiety, rebuild relationships, develop sober coping strategies, and set career goals.
Assignment Overview
In this assignment, you will conduct a client interview with the permission of the practice instructor. The purpose of this assignment is to promote a client-social work relationship, establish rapport with a client, identify with the social work profession, and apply advanced generalist practice skills in a real-world setting. The process of gathering this information will help you develop the skills needed for your final assignment, due in Week 9. In addition, if you are able to conduct the final assignment with the same client, the information you gather will inform your work on the final assignment.
By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following EPAS and specialized practices:
- Competency 1: Demonstrate ethical and professional behavior.
- C1.SP.A: Utilize best practices in ethical decision-making by applying leadership skills, technology, relevant laws and regulations, core values, and standards of the NASW Code of Ethics to an ethical problem-solving model to inform ethical decision making in the specialization of advanced generalist practice.
- Conduct a client interview in accordance with professional social work standards, including protecting the privacy of the client.
- C1.SP.B: Guided by best advanced generalist practice skills, apply professional behavior and leadership skills in oral, written, and electronic communication with diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities in the specialization of advanced generalist practice.
- Document client information gained in an interview in accordance with social work ethical principles.
- Competency 2: Advance human rights and social, racial, economic, and environmental justice.
- C2.SP.A: Critically evaluate theories of human behavior, person in environment, and interpersonal conceptual interpersonal conceptual frameworks to facilitate engagement with diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities in the specialization of advanced generalist practice.
- Apply critical thinking skills through a strengths-based perspective to examine the client’s family history and to explain the reasons the client is seeking services.
- Competency 3: Engage anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI) in practice.
- C3.SP.A: Demonstrate how diversity and intersectionality shape human experiences and apply anti-racist and anti-oppressive intervention techniques and technologies with diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities in the specialization of advanced generalized practice.
- Analyze the influence of the client’s family using cultural competence.
- Competency 4: Engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice.
- C4.SP.A: Apply leadership skills, ethical use of technology and research findings to inform and improve practice, policy, and programs in the specialization of advanced generalist practice settings. Competency 5: Engage in policy practice.
- Describe the use of technology to inform social work practices.
- Competency 5: Engage in policy practice.
- C5.SP.A: Use social justice, decision making, critical thinking, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive, strategies to assess how social welfare policies affect the delivery of and access to services with diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities at the local and global levels in the specialization of advanced generalist practice.
- Identify how collaboration with clients, colleagues, and identified stakeholders will impact the social and economic well-being of a client.
- Competency 6: Engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
- C6.SP.B: Apply leadership skills, emerging technologies, empathy, self-reflection, interpersonal skills, in culturally responsive engagement strategies with diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities in the specialization of advanced generalist practice.
- Describe the client’s work history using a strengths-based perspective.
- Describe how ecological perspective informed the client interview.
- Competency 7: Assess individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
- C7.SP.A: Apply and integrate leadership skills, technology, theories of human behavior, person in environment, and culturally responsive interpersonal conceptual frameworks when assessing clients and constituencies in the specialization of advanced generalist practice.
- Engage in reflective learning by discussing how the skills in the advanced generalist model were used in engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation with a client.
- Competency 9: Evaluate Practice With Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities.
- C9.SP.C: Apply leadership skills, critical thinking, decision-making, interpersonal skills, and emerging technologies in the specialization of advanced generalist social work practice to evaluate processes and outcomes to increase practice, policy, and service delivery effectiveness with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
- Describe the interview process, including at least one area of strength and one area of improvement for future interviews.
Assignment Description
You will gather background and historical information from the client. The interview should be conducted during the practicum hours at a time and location convenient for the client, practice instructor, and you. You will need to review the NASW Code of Ethics and the agency policies for client interviews and apply the skills and knowledge from the courseroom to complete this assignment.
Assignment Instructions
For this assignment:
- Discuss this assignment with your practice instructor to identify a client to interview.
- Ensure the interview lasts 30–45 minutes.
- Schedule a mutual time to conduct the interview in a safe environment with the supervision and permission of your practice instructor.
- Reflect on the generalist social work knowledge and skills applied in your foundation internship practicum.
- Review the agency policies for client interviews.
- Apply the NASW Standards for Social Work Case Management and the NASW Code of Ethics as a guide to conduct the interview and to ensure client confidentiality when developing this assignment.
- Apply the ecological and systems theory, along with the strengths-based perspective to inform the client interview.
Data and Information to Provide in Your Assignment Submission
Provide the following in your assignment:
- Name of client. (Assign a pseudonym.)
- Client’s age, gender, race, and ethnicity.
- Physical description of the client. (Gather this through your direct observation.)
- Contact information. Note: Do not use the actual client contact information for this assignment.
- Address, telephone number, and e-mail address.
- Client’s reason for seeking social services.
- Allow client to share his or her problem.
- Social engagement.
- What are the social interests of the client?
- Spiritual.
- What is the client’s spiritual affiliation?
- Client’s family history.
- Is there a family history of the problem?
- Does the client receive family support?
- How many members comprise the immediate or supportive family unit?
- Cultural Background.
- Race/Ethnicity.
- What is the client’s primary language? What is the client’s first language? What other languages does the client use?
- What is the significance of cultural identity to the client? To the client’s family?
- What are some of the cultural strengths?
- What are the experiences of discrimination or oppression experienced by the client or client’s family?
- Describe any migration experience and analyze the impact that the migration experience may have had on the client or client’s family.
- Client’s work history.
- What is the client’s current job and job title?
- What are the last five jobs and job titles the client has had?
- Social work theoretical concepts in practice.
- Explain how the client was selected. Discuss the exchange you had with the practice instructor.
- Describe the leadership skills you used to conduct the interview.
- Describe the research sources you used to prepare for the interview.
- Provide your perspective on the research conducted to best apply ecological systems theory in the client interview.
- Provide your perspective on the research conducted to best understand and apply strengths-based perspective in the client interview.
- Provide some ways in which technology might be used to enhance a client interview and advance social work practice. For example, would you be willing to use an online platform if the client is located in a different location than the social worker?
- Describe how you applied critical thinking, leadership, and interpersonal skills to engage, assess, intervene, and evaluate the client. Be specific.
- Identify how collaboration with clients, colleagues, and identified stakeholders will impact the social and economic well-being of the client.
- Engage in reflective practice and learning regarding the client interview process.
- Describe how you felt prior to, during, and after the client interview.
- Identify and explain one area of improvement you will employ in the next client interview.
- Identify and describe one area of strength you applied during the client interview.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
- Remember to apply ecological systems theory and the strengths-based perspective to inform the interview process.
- Include at least three scholarly references to support the use of the theory and perspective in the interview.
Additional Requirements
The assignment you submit is expected to meet the following requirements:
- Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
- Resources: Minimum of three scholarly resources to support the theories, perspectives, and interview methods used in the interview.
- APA style: Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and formatting standards. Visit Evidence and APA
- Links to an external site.
- for guidance.
- Length of paper: Minimum of five double-spaced pages.
- Document format: Number and title your responses to each item as they are listed in the assignment.
- Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and rubric criteria:
- Competency 10: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for members of the social work profession.
- Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for members of the social work profession.
- Competency 1: Demonstrate ethical and professional behavior. (Competency 1)
- Conduct a client interview in accordance with professional social work standards, including protecting the privacy of the client. (C1.SP.A)
- Document client information gained in an interview in accordance with social work ethical principles. (C1.SP.B)
- Competency 2: Advance human rights and social, racial, economic, and environmental justice. (Competency 2)
- Apply critical thinking skills through a strengths-based perspective to examine the client’s family history and to explain the reasons the client is seeking services. (C2.SP.A)
- Competency 3: Engage anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI) in practice. (Competency 3)
- Analyze the influence of the client’s family using cultural competence. (C3.SP.A)
- Competency 4: Engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice. (Competency 4)
- Describe a use of technology to inform social work practices. (C4.SP.A)
- Competency 5: Engage in policy practice. (Competency 5)
- Identify how collaboration with clients, colleagues, and identified stakeholders will impact the social and economic well-being of a client. (C5.SP.A)
- Competency 6: Engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. (Competency 6)
- Describe the client’s work history using a strengths-based perspective. (C6.SP.B)
- Describe how ecological perspective informed the client interview. (C6.SP.B)
- Competency 7: Assess individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. (Competency 7)
- Engage in reflective learning by discussing how the skills in the advanced generalist model were used in engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation with a client. (C7.SP.A)
- Competency 9: Evaluate practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. (Competency 9)
- Describe the interview process, including at least one area of strength and one area of improvement for future interviews. (C9.SP.C)