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Developing Your Communication Skills in Social Work
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Developing Your Communication Skills in Social Work

First Edition


September 2017 | 200 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd

What is communication and why is it important? Our ability to communicate is central to everyday life and an essential skill in social work. This easy-to-read book offers a step-by-step guide to developing effective communication skills with a diverse range of service users and professionals. It is the perfect guide to help manage different communication skills in different settings, and more importantly, encourage students to continually reflect and develop these skills.

Key features:

-          Wide range of case studies from an array of service areas and user groups

-          Reflective tasks and questions to stimulate critical thinking and discussion

-          Skills audits to test where your strengths are and areas for development

This book is designed to guide readers in developing their own communication style that best suits them to become an effective social worker, whilst meeting the needs of their service user group and individual service user.

 
Introduction
 
Chapter One - Reflection and Emotional Intelligence
 
Chapter Two - Initial Engagement
 
Chapter Three - Listening
 
Chapter Four - Clarification
 
Chapter Five - Empathy
 
Chapter Six - Challenging Holding Sensitive Conversations
 
Chapter Seven - Working with Resistance
 
Chapter Eight - Barriers to Effective Communication
 
Chapter Nine - Written Communication: Case Recording, Letters, Texts, Social Media
 
Chapter Ten - Assessment and Report Writing: Critical Analysis
 
Chapter Eleven - Inter-Professional Communication
 
Chapter Twelve - Managing Endings
 
Conclusion

This accessible and practical guide incorporates a structured way to build knowledge and develop effective communication skills across a spectrum of social work scenarios. Social work students are likely to find this a valuable resource throughout their studies and beyond

Mandy Hagan
Senior Lecturer, Manchester Metropolitan

The book in as much there are some sections that need to be re-written to be more inclusive.
It offers essential components of communication skills relevant for professional social workers. complimented with another book it covers more areas.

Mr Mayaka Bernard
Social Work, HAN University of Applied Sciences
March 14, 2024

I already have intercultural communication and this one is an addition

Miss Shukri Omar Abdillahi
Faculty of Health and Social Studies, HAN University - Nijmegen
November 16, 2020

Useful book for students to consider communication skills. Some of the practical elements have also been valuable

Mr Simon Hall
Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences, Birmingham City University
April 2, 2020

Comprehensive and hands-on. Valuable for ESL social work students. Well structured and easy to follow. Interesting activities and facilitates high-level reflection about the use of communication tools in group work.

Ms Sharon du Plessis-Schneider
Department Sozial- und Organisationswissenschaften, University of Applied Science Vorarlberg
November 9, 2019

So refreshing to find a book covering one of the essential skills in working with people and especially for our context of students working with children and families in a variety of settings whilst studying part-time for their foundation degree.
I intend 'Developing your communication skills' to be a core book on a new module - working with children and families at times of crisis, change and conflict. It is both an accessible read and full of useful exercises to engage and help students develop their own self awareness as well as their communication skills in working with people at times of potentially heightened emotion and crisis.

Ms sue mills
The Lifelong Learning Institute, University of Leeds
November 15, 2017

A practical text book that supports students to link theory to practice. The focus is on communication skills and so this can be used on a variety of module areas including professional development, work based learning, assessment and care planning.

Angela Woods
Dept of Education, Accrington And Rossendale College
May 9, 2018