Human Services Helping Process
Human service workers work with individuals to help them deal through physical, emotional, and mental difficulties. The delivery of human services involves both the client-facing the problem and the helper assisting the client with the help. The helping process is client-based, and the human services worker focuses on getting the client through the process and making them better.
An example of a challenging client in the human service profession is one with mental illness. In most cases, the client feels isolated by society and thinks that he/she does not fit in any societal forum. Dealing with such a client may pose various barriers. The client may express a negative attitude towards the human services professional (Banks & Woodside 2016). For instance, the client with mental illness may perceive the helper as a stranger and feel uncomfortable to open up about their issue. The client may also be unable to trust the helper and hinder them from establishing a working relationship with the helper. Clients may pose a challenge to the helper when he/she views the human service worker as a person who is unable to understand them since the helper as little in common with the client. In that case of assuming the helper as nothing familiar with the clients makes the client express doubts about the expert and their help.
To help a client with mental illness requires an effective strategy with several steps to go through. The helper has to incorporate different professional skills to ensure that the healing process helps the client deal with their problem appropriately. Firstly, the helper should establish a relationship with the client. In this stage, the helper is required to gather information about the client. The information is gathered by questioning the client and actively listening to them while demonstrating empathy. The helper should let the client know that he/she understands how they feel and show no judgment. The stage allows the client to trust the helper and the helper to understand the client’s perspective about the problem. Encouraging the client to talk about themselves gives the client the assurance that the helper cares and builds trust.
The second step is to identify the client’s problem. In this stage, the helper tries to show the client that he/she can relate to what the client is going through. The helper clears the client doubts about professional expertise. The human service worker here keenly identifies the client’s concerns through summarizing the information offered by the client. Observation is also included in determining the exact cause of the client problem. The helper practices human services skills to translate the behavior of the client and relate it to the problem. Therefore, this stage mainly shows the client that the helper is capable of giving an effective solution to the problem.
The last stage of the strategy involves solving the client’s problem. In this stage, the helper assists the client to be aware of their strengths and limitations. The client gives compliments to the clients and draws mutually agreed objectives of the healing process. Also, the helper assists the client with problem-solving skills, which the client can use in the future if faced with similar or the same problem. At the end of this stage, the helper healing process should have cleared the client’s engagement barriers and help the client to heal as well.
In conclusion, human services professionals are concerned with helping clients undergoing difficulties in their lives. The helper should be able to clear up the barriers posed by the client and help the client become better. The helper can do that by firstly building trust with the client. Then identifying the client problem and engaging in the problem-solving process.
References
Banks, B., Burch, T., & Woodside, M. (2016). Introducing Mindfulness and Contemplative Pedagogy as an Approach to Building Helping Skills in Human Services Students. Journal of Human Services, 36(1).
Miller, K. I., Stiff, J. B., & Ellis, B. H. (1988). Communication and empathy as precursors to burnout among human service workers. Communications Monographs, 55(3), 250-265.