RESPONSE 1

· Respond to at least two colleagues who selected a different social issue than yours and identify two possible areas of strength of that population. Explain one way clinical social workers can empower their clients.

Colleague 1: Tiffany

It is important that theory is used in clinical social work practice because it helps to guide the social worker in their practice. The use of theories also help make the social worker feel safe and competent in their practices and also reduces the fear of the unknown. Theory also helps the social worker develop their own personal styles.

Theory is used in my practice to help change some target behaviors client's might have. Working with mentally ill patients social workers have to take into count what causes those target behaviors, questions arise like is it family, environmental, social influences, etc. Also, the fact that this client has a serious mental illness which plays the biggest part of their behaviors.

In order to change the target behaviors it is important to first identify what has triggered this behavior if your client was doing good and all of a sudden things go south for them. For instance a client who has been doing good all and is taking his medication all of a sudden starts negative behaviors like drinking, doing drugs, not coming to group sessions.

The holidays play a significant role in someone's behavior or the anniversary date of a loved one's death and so on can trigger behaviors. The idea is to find out what is causing this behavior, what has changed in their life. Social workers may find a clients family member may be sick, moved away, or dies.

This would be the Q to the client to start negative behaviors. Social workers would then find a theory that would help guide their direction into helping the client get back on the right path. It often can be easier said than done. As a case manager it can be a challenge because you have a lot of things to take into consideration. Case managers do assessments on their clients to find out their needs and then do an ISP which is their goals. Some clients are easier than others and some can be a challenge. However, at the end of the day you have to realize you are there to help this individual live a better quality of life.

Holosko, M. J., Dulmus, C. N., & Sowers, K. M. (Eds.). (2013). Social work practice with individuals and families: Evidence-informed assessments and interventions. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Colleague 2: Gradnette

Theories used in social work practice are well known for its accountability to be a helpful tool. Throughout the years social workers have taken advantage of theories by applying them to help client meet their needs. Before a professional social worker start their assessment with their client they must first be knowledgeable towards using the appropriate theory.

Social workers should also be knowledgeable enough to apply the theory or theories towards their client situations which will help predict their behavior and provide them with an accurate intervention which can help cease the problem.

If there was not any theories to help social workers within their practice many social workers will easily be affected by their own personal problems which may lead to a result of harming their client (Walsh, 2010).

Describe how the use of theory relates to the social issues you will present in your Introductory Video for this week's Assignment.

When a theory is applied to the behavior of emotional disturbed teens; social workers should be able to identify what caused the youth behavior and afterwards do research for applying the appropriate theory.

In this view, social workers must be prepared to face certain difficulties within the youth population along with realizing the struggles youth in today's society face; especially, when dealing with peer pressure.

In order to help this particular population; social workers must be able to identify, understand, and use the appropriate theories when working with the youth. In fact, when working with the youth more than one theory will probably not understand or apply to the youth situation. Therefore, when this happens social workers must highly be aware of applying multiple theories to help meet the youth need.

Reference

Walsh. J. (2010). Theories for direct social work practice (2nd.ed.) Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Each response needs to be at least ½ page