Chapt 7: Getting to know clients

1. CHAPTER 7:GETTING TO KNOW THE CLIENTS:
A CHAPTER OF SPECIAL RELEVANCE TO
HELPING & SERVICE PROFESSIONALS
Tara Lee Burke
HEA 497-Internship Seminar
March, 15, 2016

2. RECOGNIZING THE TRAPS:
ASSUMPTIONS & STEREOTYPES
•Uncovering the Roots
• Where do stereotypes come from?
• Media:
• Television
• Movies
• Books
•Engaging Your Stereotypes: Getting beyond the Traps
• Physical Appearance (Tweed Jacket vs. Harley Davidson Vest)
• Behavior (Unusual, bizarre, history of violent acts)
•Rethinking Client Success
• What does it mean to you?
• Help the client EMPOWER themselves through: attitudes, skills, values,
and knowledge

3. ENGAGING YOUR
STEREOTYPES:
CLASS EXERCISE
Meet Martin
 What assumptions
do you have about
“Slayer”?
• What does he do for a
living?
• What is his education
level?
• What is his personality
like?
• What is his family life
like?
Meet “Slayer”
• Investment Banker
• Lives in Manhattan Beach
• California Lutheran University
• Degrees:
• Major: Economics
• Minor: Business
• Great Friend 
• Husband: Married 45 years
• Father: 3 Boys
• Grandfather: 3 Girls, 2 Boys

4. ACCEPTANCE – THE FIRST STEP
 Being Accepted by Clients
•Tuning into the Clients’ World
 Think about the situation from their
perspective.
 Attempt to understand how their
experiences have shaped the WAY they
see the world.
• Meeting w/ Resistance
• Many frustrating and stressful
experiences.
• May be first time they are not able to
meet their own needs.
• Distrustful of healthcare industry.
•Clients’ Cultural Profiles
• Everyone has their own unique profile
• Look for strengths and weaknesses
•Putting Client Behavior in
Context
• Understanding why they behave the
way they do.
• Hidden agendas.
•Seeking Common Ground
• Not giving advice or telling them what
to do.
• Saying you know how your clients feel
can be alienating.
• Common ground ≠ Common Experience
 Cultural Competence:

5. ACCEPTANCE –
LEARNING TO ACCEPT CLIENTS
 Working w/Troubling
Behaviors
Cultural Competence:
Knowing Your Identities
•What kind of feelings do clients
evoke in you?
Mistrust
Prejudice
Sorrow
• Lie to you
• Manipulate: what they want but cant
have
• Never Satisfied: with what you have to
give-always need more
• Verbally abusive
• Physically threatening
• Blame everyone else
• One word answers or responses
• Refuse to see behavior as a problem
• Ask for suggestions-reject all solutions
• Make it clear they don’t like you
• Refuse to work with you
 Understanding Your
Reactions

6. ACCEPTANCE-
DEALING W/ SELF-DISCLOSURE
 Personal Information
•Natural for clients to want to get
to know you.
•They may ask your personal
questions.
•How comfortable are you
answering personal questions?
•Are the questions appropriate?
 A Word to the Wise
•Check to see if your agency has
policies about:
• How much personal information can
you disclose?
• Personal items in work space
• Divulging your last name
 The policies are there for a
reason:
 Personal Safety
 Establish client boundaries

7. ACCEPTANCE-
MANAGING VALUE DIFFERENCES
Examples of Values
•Honesty
•Straightforwardness
•Sexuality
•Family
There is a difference between
exposing & imposing your values
on a client.
Specific Client Issues
•Authority Issues
• Clients associate you as “Authority
Figure”
• “One-Down” Position
•Finding Equalizers
• Credentialing: find flaw using your own
experience.
• Normal part of building a relationship.
•Testing the Limits
• Attempt to determine your boundaries
• Whether and how you enforce agency
rules

8. PERSONAL SAFETY-
OF THE PROFESSIONAL
 During your Internship
•What department are you
working in?
•Are you working directly with the
public/patients?
•Are there perceived or real
threats?
“The number and lethality of
safety risks incidents on the job
has increased for social workers.”
 My Example of Personal
Safety: TMMC
I worked in the Emergency Room
 3rd Shift:10pm-6am
 Tuesday -Saturday
 Next door to Mental Health Facility:
 Del Amo
 They would send clients over to be medically
evaluated before admission.
 Local Police Departments:
 DUI suspects for blood draw.
 Medically clear detainees with health concerns prior
to incarceration.
 Types of Patients Seen: Potential Threats
 Homeless
 Psychological Evaluation
 Drug & Alcohol Detox

9. PERSONAL SAFETY-
ASSESSING & MINIMIZING LEVELS OF
RISK
 Assessing:
•Client Risk Levels
• Likelihood of being exposed to violence?
• Is your internship at:
• Residential setting,
• Locked facility,
• In the field of criminal justice
•Site Risk Levels
• Location and hours
• Is the site located in a dangerous
neighborhood?
• Unsafe for unsuspecting guests?
•Community Risk Levels
• Type of neighborhood
• Ex: Dangerous after dark?
 Minimizing:
•Client Risk Levels
• Perceived threat: Consult with others
immediately
•Site Risk Levels
• Consult trusted community servants
regarding conduct in site
neighborhood
•Community Risk Levels
 Only drive during daylight hours

10. PERSONAL SAFETY-
FACING FEARS
 Embracing your field
experience
•Be Proactive
•Fear=Powerful Emotion
•Example:
• Some persons w/ mental illness my
exhibit unusual behaviors
• BUT ≠ Dangerous
• Fears can be exaggerated because of:
• Prejudices
• Stereotypes
EX: Watts Power House Church on Grape Street
 How do we deal?
•Acknowledge
•Confront
•Who can you talk to:
• Supervisor
• Campus Instructor
• Classmates

11. THE END!