The Skilled Communicator in Social Work

Book excerpt: A vital part of a social worker's role is to build strong relationships based on confidence and trust, with people across all stages of the life course and from a broad range of backgrounds, in what can be extremely challenging circumstances. In this, her latest collaboration with Palgrave, bestselling social work author Karen Healy turns her attention to the key topic of communication and the importance of developing into a skilled communicator across all areas of professional practice. Split into two distinct sections, the text provides a thorough exploration of: - The foundations of effective communication in social work practice, focusing on the basic knowledge and skills that are essential to forming working alliances with service users in a broad range of practice situations; and - The specialised communication skills required to work with people with specific capacities and needs – from children, young people and older adults to people from diverse cultures and linguistic groups, those who experience trouble with verbal communication and those with mental health challenges. With helpful learning features such as practice exercises and chapter summary questions to enable you to review and reflect on what you have learned, this is an essential resource for social work students new to this complex area of practice.