Overview
Educational Nugget of Gold: This is covered in Chapter 5
- Empathic communication involves the ability of the social worker to perceive accurately and sensitively the inner feelings of the client and to communicate his or her understanding of those feelings in language attuned to the client’s experiencing the moment.
- The first dimension of empathy, empathic recognition, means demonstrating through the accurate reflection of feelings that the social worker comprehends the client’s inner experience.
- For social workers, it is not enough to grasp what the client is feeling and experiencing and reflect that understanding back.
- Social workers are also called on by their code of ethics to take empathic action.
- Empathic communication plays a vital role in nurturing and sustaining the helping relationship and in providing the vehicle through which the social worker becomes emotionally significant and influential in the client’s life.
Remember this is worth 30 points and must be 250 to 350 words to be considered substantive with at least one reference.
1. What is empathy?
2. Why is it important in the relationship with a client?
3. What is reciprocal empathy, and why is it important?
Do not forget to use references and cite accordingly.
Below is the citation for the attached book pages:
Hepworth, D. H., Vang, P. D., & Blakey, J. M. (2022). Empowerment Series: Direct Social Work Practice (11th ed.). Cengage Learning US. https://reader.yuzu.com/books/9780357630617