Essential Skills for Social Work Practice

Week 2: Micro Skills
The social work process can be accomplished in a series of steps described in the Generalist Intervention Model (GIM). While these steps are the same regardless of whether you are working with individuals, families, groups, organizations, or communities, social workers need to be prepared with specific skills to implement the GIM stages at the micro, mezzo, or macro level. Over the next 4 weeks, you will consider skills for each practice level, starting with micro skills. You then build skills related to culturally competent and ethical practice in Weeks 6 and 7. In Weeks 8–10, you apply these skills in the specific GIM stages. The course ends with a discussion of advocacy.
This week, you examine the challenges associated with micro practice skills in social work practice and the skills necessary to overcome them. In the Discussion, you practice interviewing techniques and analyze techniques used by colleagues. Then, you complete a video quiz in which you connect social work case portrayals with concepts and skills presented in the first 2 weeks of this course.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
Analyze use of specific micro skills to address challenges
Analyze skills for overcoming challenges in micro practice
Apply social work concepts to social work practice scenarios
Learning Resources
Required Readings
Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hull, G. H., Jr. (2018). Empowerment series: Understanding generalist practice (8th ed.). CENGAGE Learning.
Chapter 2, “Practice Skills for Working With Individuals” (pp. 59–101)
Szczygiel, P. (2019). Navigating student self-disclosure through a relational lens: Examples of increased self-awareness from a social work classroom. Clinical Social Work Journal, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-019-00714-2

Discussion: Challenges in Micro Work
Working effectively with individuals means building relationships. As a social worker, there are certain qualities, such as empathy, warmth, and genuineness, that help you develop rapport with clients. However, even when you appropriately utilize your micro skills, rapport building can be difficult with some clients. Challenges may include client hostility, silence, a request for self-disclosure, or the necessity of using confrontation. Social workers need to develop skills to appropriately work through these challenges.
For this Discussion, you begin developing these skills through practice and analysis of practice.
To Prepare
Watch the Parker video. In the video, the clients express hostility toward each other, as well as toward the social worker. In addition, Stephanie asks the social worker for self-disclosure when she asks, “Wouldn’t you?” and “You really think you can fix that?” The scene ends with the client and social worker falling into silence. Consider the challenges depicted in the video. How would you respond?
By Day 3
Post a reponse to the following:
Explain when it would be appropriate to use self-disclosure.
Provide a specific example of the type of self-disclosure you might use in this scenario.
Identify an interviewing technique you learned from this week’s resources that you would use when working with this client.
Provide a specific example of the interviewing technique.
For example, if you would use an empathetic statement or an open-ended question to elicit information, provide a specific example of the statement or question that you would use.
Explain why you would use this technique.
Support your post with examples from the course text to demonstrate that you have completed the required readings, understand the material, and are able to apply the concepts.
By Day 6
Respond to at least two colleagues:
Describe whether you agree or disagree with your colleague’s use of self-disclosure based on the guidelines to consider when using self-disclosure.
Provide an example of a third technique not previously recommended by you or your colleague and explain why you believe that technique might also be effective in this scenario.

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