Mastering Communication In Social Work

Communication skills are fundamental to effective social work practice. Accessible and easy-to-read, Mastering Communication in Social Work is designed to help you develop these essential skills. It explores the basics of how communication works, the factors that influence how effectively you attend to and convey information, and how you can improve your communication. Particular attention is given to the challenges posed by difficult clients and the cultural dimensions of communication. Gast and Bailey put forward a reflective model for practice designed help you break bad habits and develop a wider repertoire of communication behaviours. Practice vignettes and exercises for the reader are included throughout. This book is essential reading for social work students, practitioners, managers, practice teachers and assessors, and trainers, as well as those in allied professions.

A step-by-step guide to developing effective communication skills with a diverse range of service users and professionals.

Communication and Interpersonal Skills in Social Work are at the heart of effective social work practice. This book offers students a solid grounding in the core knowledge and skills of communication needed for effective practice. The book takes the key theories in communication and explains them in a systematic and practice-related way, essential for both undergraduate and postgraduate students to develop a critical understanding of the subject. This crucial fifth edition supports students with core communication skills by providing in-depth coverage closely interwoven with learning features that engage, stimulate and challenge. Working with children, adults and those with learning difficulties are all fundamental aspects of the book making it useful to students of all disciplines.

Effective communication is a vital part of the social worker's job. This welcome new edition of a classic text provides students and practitioners with essential advice and guidance about communicating and interacting in a range of social work settings. Based on the author's extensive personal and teaching experience, the text offers a succint introduction to a variety of communication techniques, including symbolic, non-verbal, verbal, written and electronic forms of communication. Importantly, it discusses the perspectives of service users and explores their experiences and interpretations of how a social worker looks, acts and speaks, thus giving a real insight into the implicit messages being conveyed. New to this edition are Putting it into Practice activities and further reading suggestions, designed to support learning and understanding and to enable readers to reflect critically for practice. Written in an appealing narrative style that cannot fail to draw the reader in, Communication in Social Work is an engaging and comprehensive book suitable both for social work and social care students and for newly qualified practitioners wanting to refresh their thinking and skills.

This is an accessible guide to diversity issues in health and social care. It considers the concept of diversity and how people differ, provides a model for understanding discrimination, and discusses cross-cultural communication, including the impact and use of language. Practice vignettes and exercises for the reader are included throughout.

Effective supervision helps to nurture confident social workers who are able to look after service users in the best possible way. Social work supervisors and managers need mastery of the relevant knowledge and skills in order to ensure successful social work practice. This book is an accessible guide to the essential skills of social work supervision. It covers the development of the supervisor–supervisee relationship, the assessment and management of risk, understanding and managing poor performance, and support for the supervisors themselves. The book follows a model which recognises the far reaching impact of supervision and provides a sound foundation for critical thinking and reflective practice. Practice vignettes and exercises for the reader are included throughout the book. This book is essential reading for social work students, social work supervisors and managers, practice teachers and assessors, and trainers, as well as those in allied professions.

So, you've passed your degree and have started your first job. But are you confident about translating the theory into practice? Are you prepared to juggle the workload of a busy social worker? Do you have a plan for your continuing professional development? This practical guide provides a wealth of suggestions to help you to hit the ground running in the early stages of your new career. Fully revised and updated with the latest national frameworks for NQSWs, this survival guide provides a range of strategies for managing your time and workload, and offers suggestions for finding support, coping with stress and maintaining job satisfaction. It addresses different ways of handling challenging and unfamiliar situations with colleagues, managers, other professionals and service users. Each chapter concludes with a checklist of key points as a ready reference for practitioners preparing to face the daily challenges of their new professional status. This invaluable guide will be an essential support for all students, post-qualification and returning practitioners who need to make a smooth transition to practice and be successful in the workplace.

This book is an accessible guide to the essential skills of social work supervision. It covers the development of the supervisor-supervisee relationship, the assessment and management of risk, understanding and managing poor performance, and support for the supervisors themselves.