The Vital Essence of Listening Skills

Essay by kinkyangelCollege, UndergraduateA, January 2007

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Listening is a vital part of a career of a Social Service Worker because it assists clients in feeling appreciated and accepted. When conducting an interview with a client it is important to follow the five stages of an interview to ensure the client gets the best results out of a session. The first stage starts by initiating the session. While embracing the first stage, it is imperative to establish rapport with the client while structuring a relationship and situational concepts that lead the client to the assistance of a counselor. The purpose of initiating the session builds alliance and trust which will then benefit the interview as it progresses to additional stages. Some commonly used skills would consist of attending behavior, observation, information and instruction skills; such examples would involve maintaining eye contact and vocal tone with clients to provide them with a sense of comfort. The second stage is also known as the stage where data is gathered in regards to the situations on which the client has chosen to seek help.

Using a certain language with your clients could pose a weakness within the sessions. Due to language discrepancies, come clients may not feel comfortable with a certain form of language a Social Worker may be accustom to thus being a part of the cultural differences. The purpose of the data stage helps avoid aimless topic jumps and gives purpose and direction. A vital area of the second stage is conducting a positive asset search within the client and then identifying strengths that the client withholds to bring out positive interaction during the interview. The skills commonly used in gathering data consists of attending skills, use of the basic listening sequence and conducting a positive asset search. Collection of data is important because it makes both client...