Assignment: Client System Role-Play Scenario

Practicing your social work skills through role-play scenario is an essential part of a social work education. This is an opportunity to make mistakes and learn before interacting with vulnerable clients and unintentionally causing harm. Role-play assists you in identifying the areas where you are strong, as well as the areas where you might need improvement.

In this Assignment, you demonstrate skills related to engagement. You are encouraged to practice your engagement skills before recording yourself because practice encourages improvement. However, the video is not expected to be a perfect recording. Real life is not as polished as it may appear in film or television. Stumbling over a word or having to clarify a sentence is a place to demonstrate genuineness and warmth. The goal of recording yourself is to demonstrate current practice skills. You share your video with colleagues in order to have opportunities to learn from one another over the next few weeks. It is now time to record your role-play scenario!

By Day 7

Submit a client system role-play video and the Client Systems Role-Play Script Template. There are two parts to this Assignment.

PART A: Client System Role-Play Video

Role-Play Video (5–8 minutes)

Record a role-play video that demonstrates engagement skills. You take on the role of the social worker, while a friend, family member, or colleague takes on the role of the client. Although this is a role-play scenario, you should demonstrate your professionalism in demeanor, appearance, and behavior. Please dress professionally and ensure you have a quiet place to record without interruptions. Your video role-play should include:

• A demonstration of the interaction between you, as the social work intern, and the client system you selected that reflects the Engagement step in the Generalist Intervention Model. The scene should include the following:
  • Demonstrating effective attending skills
  • Discussing agency services and client expectations
  • Deciding if the agency and worker can help
  • Offering agency and worker services to the client
  • Orienting the client to the helping process, including:
    • A discussion of confidentiality
    • A discussion of a social work intern’s role

PART B: Client System Role-Play Transcript

Using the same Role-Play Script Template provided this week, provide a detailed script that includes verbatim dialogue, identifies non-verbal communication, and identifies practice skills/behaviors used. In the required transcript, include:

• A description of the fictional agency setting and types of services provided at this agency
• A description of the client system (depending on the client level you selected—micro, mezzo, or macro)
• An explanation of the presenting concern
• A description of the client session scene in which you implement the GIM step and practice skills you have selected for working with this client system
• A verbatim script of the dialogue, which depicts the techniques you would use to implement the GIM step and the practice skills you selected for the client interaction (column 1 in the template), that occurs between you, as the social work intern, and the client(s)
• A description of the visual cues or non-verbal communication that both the social worker and the client exhibited during the interaction that support the GIM step and practice skills you selected (column 2 in the template)
• An identification of specific practice techniques/skills demonstrated (column 3 in the template)