Professional Practice and Generalist Social Work

Vocabulary flashcards covering professional social work practice, ecological and systems theories, the planned change model, mental status reports, clinical documentation, and helper characteristics.

Competence

The knowledge needed to effectively help people, characterized by knowing the limits and scope of one's ability, seeking consultation, pursuing ongoing professional development, and continuously seeking new treatment methods.

Gender Identity

The gender with which an individual identifies themselves.

Trans

Identifying as the opposite gender from the gender assigned at birth.

Cisgender

Identifying as the gender assigned at birth.

Implicit Bias

The bias an individual demonstrates without conscious awareness, which accounts for $95\%$ to $97\%$ of an individual's bias.

Explicit Bias

The bias an individual demonstrates and is consciously aware of, accounting for only $3\%$ to $5\%$ of bias.

"It" Factor

A helper's unique personality and distinctive personal traits brought into client sessions that make them stand out, such as the ability to speak Spanish.

Cultural Sensitivity

Understanding that individuals possess diverse needs based on their cultural backgrounds, recognizing societal 'isms, and being aware of one's own biases.

Body Positioning

A practitioner's physical posture during a session, ideally involving leaning slightly towards the client to demonstrate engagement and attentiveness.

Micro Level Practice

Social work practice directed at individuals, families, and small groups to help them overcome mental health or financial problems, focusing also on peer, school, and neighborhood environments.

Mezzo Level Practice

Practice directed at community organizing and groups within neighborhoods, schools, or churches, with examples including running a backpack program, using a therapy dog, or donating produce to a church food pantry.

Macro Level Practice

Practice aimed at policy implementation and getting to the systemic root of societal problems such as racism, sexism, and classism.

Mesosystem

An ecological systems level examining how different micro environments interact, such as the relationship between school and home life and its impact on performance.

Exosystem

An ecological system layer that does not directly contain or involve the child but nonetheless impacts them indirectly, such as a father bringing workplace frustration home and yelling at the child.

Chronosystem

The cumulative influence of time, historical periods, and life-changing events on children, such as the COVID-19 pandemic or family deaths.

Parentified Sibling

A family dynamic wherein an older sibling takes on parental responsibilities and assumes the mother's role by essentially raising their younger siblings.

Enmeshed Family Dynamics

A boundary pattern where family members are overly involved in each other's lives, illustrated by a mother brushing her high school son's hair or demanding constant knowledge of older children's whereabouts.

Family Genogram

A graphic assessment diagram spanning three or more generations that records lineage (oldest on left, youngest on right), gender (squares for males, circles for females), education, medical/mental health diagnoses, addiction, deaths, and relationship dynamics.

Strengths Theory

A therapeutic approach grounded in the principle that every individual possesses inherent strengths, directing practitioners to identify and build upon positive qualities in their clients.

Family of Origin

The biological or primary family into which a person is born.

Family of Creation

The family unit that an individual creates or chooses for themselves.

Planned Change Model: Engagement

The initial step of the planned change model centered on the initial interview and building rapport to collect vital client background information.

Planned Change Model: Assessment

The second step of the planned change model involving the identification of the client's problem, analysis of client strengths, and collection of detailed information about the issue.

Planned Change Model: Planning

The third step of the planned change model where practitioner and client collaboratively develop realistic goals and objectives driven primarily by the client.

Planned Change Model: Implementation

The fourth step of the planned change model involving actionable follow-through, where the practitioner supports the client in executing realistic steps to achieve their goals.

Planned Change Model: Evaluation

The phase dedicated to identifying what is and is not working in the client's intervention plan and facilitating needed changes.

Planned Change Model: Termination

The conclusion of services occurring when goals are reached, services are no longer needed, or through referrals, requiring the practitioner to provide at least 3 referral options to maintain client choice.

Planned Change Model: Follow-Up

The step occurring 3 to 6 months after the client departs services to check if they are still maintaining and applying the acquired skills.

Assent

Agreement obtained from individuals who lack the legal capacity to provide formal consent for themselves, required in order to proceed with services.

Mental Status Report

A standardized clinical evaluation document utilized by practitioners to determine a client's mental standing and assess if psychiatric hospitalization is required.

Affect and Mood Congruency

The alignment between a client's displayed facial expressions and their reported emotional state or spoken words, assessed within the emotional state domain of a mental status report.

Tangentiality

A thought process irregularity assessed in mental status exams where a client's communication diverges into unrelated topics without returning to the initial subject.

Orientation x3 (Cognition)

The assessment of a client's cognitive orientation across three parameters: person (knowing who they are), place (knowing where they are), and time (knowing the current year or date).

SOAP Notes

A standardized four-part clinical documentation method: S (Subjective: client's statements), O (Objective: practitioner's clinical observations), A (Assessment: clinical synthesis of needs), and P (Plan: future interventions).

Case Notes vs. Case Reports

Case reports may be viewed by clients, whereas practitioner case notes are confidential clinical records not shown to clients because they contain impressions not yet ready to be shared.

SMART Goals

A goal-setting framework where goals must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable (noted as the most important element), Relevant, and Time-based with an explicit completion date.

Communication Breakdown Percentages

The proportional composition of interpersonal communication: $55\%$ body language, $38\%$ voice/tone, and $7\%$ spoken words.

Empathy

One of the eight helper characteristics, defined as understanding where someone is coming from even without knowing their full story, demonstrated through attentive facial expressions and not interrupting.

Genuineness

A core helper characteristic defined by authenticity, honesty, and the professional ability to openly admit one's own mistakes.

Acceptance

An essential helper characteristic centered on accepting that clients are 'gaining wheels' and navigating their personal learning process.

Initial Interview Structure

The structured intake process consisting of scheduling, greeting, an introduction with positive attitude, setting confidentiality, establishing preferred names, determining the nature of the problem, and closing with a summary.

Adult Protective Services (APS)

The mandated agency to which practitioners must report suspected instances of elderly abuse.

Prevention vs. Intervention

Key strategies of the Generalist Practice Model: prevention involves stepping in to stop problems from happening, whereas intervention entails stepping in while the problem is occurring.