The “Engage” Concept is a Popular Question on the Test

The concept of “engagement’ is very likely to be included in the ASWB’s license exam questions. The need to engage your client at the onset or beginning of a professional relationship is well understood and almost predictable. Yet, indicators of a need for engagement also may appear during any moment of your connection with a client. Below  are some tips on how to recognize this important concept.

For example: What do these three brief comments below have in common?

Mr. Smith complained that he has been through many, many drug programs and didn’t think this one would help him very much, either.

Mrs. Jones told her social worker that she was disappointed that they had assigned such a young person to help her. She wished she could work with a social worker who had more experience, and be better prepared to understand her situation.

Mrs. Brown described her recent conflict with her husband and said, “I know nothing you can say will make a difference, that’s just how he is.

They each express a strong feeling about their situation and may reveal a negative or discouraged point of view about the status quo. They are moments when your ears should perk up, alert to a changing dynamic shoving aside what you were discussing. They are each moments which can occur at the beginning, middle or end of a professional helping relationship, when a targeted response is required

This process of connecting with the client is called “engagement”. You have choices as to how you may do this: You might offer a clarifying statement, an acknowledgement of what you have just heard, a description of the emotions being expressed, or questions aimed at further exploring what was just said, all with the same goal, to come to a better mutual understanding of  what the client has just said.

Here’s the PassItPro Pointer:

Always, always be wary of the impulse to jump over the need to engage and assess, and leap to “fix’ the problem. Be alert for test questions that illustrate this concept, they are sure to be included.

Idelle Datlof, Founder, MSW, LISW