Chapter 6 Communicating with Clients This chapter bought an entire different perspective on communication in my personal life and my professional

l career. No matter how much you know there is always room for improvement.
My experience thus far has been great! I have had the opportunity to work with my agency staff on all levels of management including the Wilmington police department, board members, and councilmen in the communities, with a concentration on families/children. In working with these groups I have enhanced my communication skills on all levels mentioned in chapter 6. I use to feel intimidated by people in management positions; but I am able now to get in there and rub shoulders with the best of them and get the job done or reach a reasonable agreement that will assist us in reaching our intended outcomes. During my internship experience, I deal with parents and children. I would say that the communication style I have had to use the most is active listening. In dealing with parents and their children, this is a very sensitive area and you have to be focused, eager to listen without the least negative body movement or facial expression as those communication components can immediately send mixed messages. You want to gain the trust of the individual through communication. Kiser (2012 p. 156), says active listening in its nonverbal aspects calls upon the communicator to be fully engaged and focused, concentrating on the speaker. Being nonverbal during a conversation use to be one of the hardest task for me, as I was always the one with the most mouth, talked

over individuals and knew everything about the topic; but through trial and error I have learned to be more sensitive to others. I had one parent share that her son was being labeled in school as having behavior problems and the administrators were suggesting administering an Individual Education Plan (IEP). I immediately use the communication action skill component suggesting as mentioned in the text, that she meet with the administrators to discuss the implications of placing her son on an individual education plan (IEP). I asked her have you talked with the administrators at your sons school? And keep in mind there is a process when placing a child on and individual education plan, she replied no I have not talked with anyone and I was not aware of such a process I shared that if she felt alone in this process, I would be happy to accompany her if she needed another voice, she appreciated my suggestion and the fact that I was willing to go with her. Now advising the parents of their rights is not a part of my internship, but it is my responsibility as a human service professional to plug individuals into resources that they are unaware of to give them hope, become self-sufficient while embracing a better quality of life. Brill, 2002:Woodside & McClam, 2006), notes that exploring with clients their feelings about requesting services from a particular organization or for a particular problem can help identify and minimize any barriers to the referral that might be present. During my internship process, I have had the least experience working with groups and communities; although, I would enjoy increasing my knowledge in working with groups within the communities. Working with groups gives everyone in the group a sense of inclusion, meaning that they are not the only one going through the

topic of discussion. Working with groups builds strong communities and at the same time increases awareness and knowledge through intervention. In working with my internship organization, I would definitely shadow my site supervisor in implementing and executing the four levels of intervention. Concentrating solely on the mentor program would be my number one priority and will give me the opportunity to encompass the four levels of intervention to ensure better outcomes while working towards meeting the goals and objectives of the mentor program. I would have more time to spend with the parents communicating with them via active listening regarding the needs of their children developing an action plan to ensure that the parents input is carried out during the mentor sessions. Linking community/groups, district councilmen, families and children would be the focus of the mentor program to promote strong communities, create a safe environment for our children, and give the children a different way of relating, setting, implementing and reaching their goals, eliminating the family generational false hope demonstrated in most families or the stigma that I have to do it this way because mom, grand mom and great grand mom did it this way. Enhancing my client interviewing skills would be first on my list, client interviewing skills are imperative to the aftereffect of the interview and in my case how the parent moves forward with their child in executing the mentor program action plan on a daily basis. Exploration skills would allow me to find out more about the client and his/her needs more thoroughly. Setting goals, exploring what interests the client, finding out what has worked in the past, identifying

possible role models for their child/children would have a positive outcome regarding the overall mentoring process. I am good at active listening and after listening to the client fully, I am able to give the best advice possible. I am also good in using active skills and exploration skills, getting the client to see the good in every negative situation. I will add that I must learn more about the human service agencies and organizations in our communities to better refer clients to the resources that are available to them. After learning of the different resources, I can better equip the client for success. Communication is one of the key components of any relationship whether personal or professional. As human service professionals communication is the key element in the relationship with the client. Over the course of my education, I have observed that my communication skills have enhance with my knowledge of theories and being able to apply theory to real life situations. My area of intervention is working with families and children, I find this area very rewarding and fulfilling. Being married for 33 years, raising two daughters, going through challenges and different seasons, empowering the family as a unit will promote great results. I feel that when you work with the entire unit everyone else will fall in place. During the initial stages of intervention building a strong foundation and setting some ground rules in place gives the family hope as a whole, and allows the family to grow together working out their challenges. My goal as a human service professional is to offer individuals the best resource possible; walking them through the different seasons in their life so they can become self-sufficient without fear of reverting back

to old habits. We have all be given level of faith the size of a mustard seed; I believe that as human service professionals we should share that level of faith through demonstration of our willingness to meet the clients needs on a daily basis. In my perspective human service is an ongoing lifelong learning process. We should continue to educate ourselves and consult with our colleagues to ensure the best possible case outcome. By executing these concepts we will be fluent in the four interventions and communication styles: active listening, client interviewing, exploration skills, and action skills.