Nonverbal Communication In Social Work

A vital element of social work is to be able to engage and communicate effectively with others. Communication can be defined as an event of giving and receiving information. Interpersonal skills, ability to develop a positive and trusting relationship and being able to show empathy determines the quality and effectiveness of interaction with others. Through Communication we engage with service users and be able to form assessments, conduct interviews, take up decision making and problem solving activities, draw and implement care plans and evaluate our effectiveness (Trevithick:2005). Communication skills support us to obtain required information and allow others to express their feelings and emotions with confidence and without fear. Forming
His body language and tone of verbal communication made it apparent that he felt threatened by our presence. Thompson (2003) recognises that body language has as much importance as the words. Body language and unintentional signals given by the speaker reach persons subconscious and people take more account of body language than words. Trevithick (2005) also supports the significance of non-verbal communication during social workers interaction with service users. Understanding and recognising emotional states and their possible consequences also help to assess anxiety and stress felt by the service users. For instance, clenching fists, shouting, crying or withdrawal are behavioural consequences of different emotions (Megele: 2011). He believed that this visit was instructed by her sister as an attempt to prevent him from carrying out their plans. Better initial communication regarding the purpose of our visit would have avoided this misunderstanding. Clarity should be established from the beginning (Lishman: 2009) to eliminate misunderstanding, which can be one of the major factors affecting outcomes. Communication malfunction prevented to create a positive relationship, however this was corrected immediately
Emotional intelligence is an awareness of your emotions and emotions of others, ability to understand, regulate and analyse emotions in a relationship. Mrs D had recently moved from her daughter’s house to live with her son and now she is moving town. All these changes, in a very short period of time, had an emotional impact on her. She did not want to be restricted with her choices and plans. She was assured that our aim was to ascertain that she was not being unfairly treated and enable her to make informed choices and give her information about accessing the services after the move. As the service user and the carer perceived our involvement to be an interruption to their plans initially they were reluctant to interact and refused to engage. Communication and engagement with involuntary service users is challenging and requires acknowledging their circumstances and life experiences. People labelled as involuntary service users, often do not trust professionals. They often begin with a negative approach towards social workers; however a positive relationship with a worker or a constructive intervention can contribute to change their opinion. The experience of intense emotions or the past connection with the services can be a factor for the people being sceptical of the services (Wilkinson et al: no date). The son presented this