Our tireless journey through the ASWB exam content outline continues here: Client/client system contracting and goal-setting techniques.
Goal-setting is an integral part of contracting and involves identifying desired outcomes in collaboration with the client. Effective goal-setting aligns with the client’s strengths, values, and circumstances.
Steps in Goal-Setting
- Assessment:
- Identify the client’s needs, challenges, and strengths.
- Prioritize problems based on urgency and feasibility.
- Goal Formulation:
- Develop goals that are client-driven and reflect their aspirations.
- Ensure goals are SMART:
- Specific: Clear and well-defined.
- Measurable: Progress can be tracked.
- Achievable: Realistic given resources and constraints.
- Relevant: Aligned with the client’s priorities and values.
- Time-bound: Includes a target date for completion.
- Action Planning:
- Break goals into smaller, manageable tasks.
- Assign responsibilities to the client, the social worker, or others involved.
- Implementation:
- Monitor progress through regular sessions.
- Address barriers and adjust tasks as needed.
- Evaluation:
- Review progress toward goals using agreed-upon criteria.
- Celebrate successes and identify areas for continued focus.
Techniques for Effective Goal-Setting
- Motivational Interviewing (MI):
- Helps clients articulate their desires and build intrinsic motivation.
- Strengths-Based Approach:
- Focuses on leveraging the client’s existing resources and abilities.
- Scaling Questions:
- Encourages clients to rate their progress or confidence, helping set priorities.
- Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT):
- Uses future-focused, goal-oriented conversations to highlight solutions.
- Contract Visualization:
- Creating visual aids (e.g., timelines, charts) to clarify and track goals.
Addressing Challenges in Goal-Setting
- Ambivalence or Resistance:
- Use MI techniques to explore and resolve mixed feelings.
- Overwhelmed Clients:
- Break goals into smaller, achievable steps.
- Unrealistic Expectations:
- Reframe goals in ways that balance hope with practical constraints.
Contracting and Goal-Setting in Client Systems
For client systems (families, groups, communities), contracting and goal-setting involve additional complexities:
- Group Goals:
- Balancing individual and collective needs.
- Building consensus among group members.
- System Roles:
- Clarifying each member’s role and contribution to shared goals.
- Communication:
- Establishing open, transparent channels for discussion and feedback.
Ethical Considerations
- Ensure the client fully understands the contract and its implications (informed consent).
- Maintain transparency about the social worker’s role, boundaries, and limitations.
- Regularly revisit and update contracts as circumstances or priorities change.
- Avoid imposing goals or tasks that reflect the social worker’s values rather than the client’s.
Case Examples
Example: Individual Contracting
- Scenario: A client struggling with unemployment seeks help finding a job.
- Contract:
- Purpose: Improve job readiness and employment prospects.
- Goal: Secure a part-time job within three months.
- Tasks:
- Client attends a resume workshop.
- Social worker provides job search resources.
- Client applies to three jobs weekly.
- Evaluation: Weekly progress check-ins to review applications and responses.
Example: Family Contracting
- Scenario: A family seeks help managing conflicts related to caregiving for an aging parent.
- Contract:
- Purpose: Reduce family conflict and establish a caregiving plan.
- Goals:
- Improve communication among family members.
- Develop a shared caregiving schedule within one month.
- Tasks:
- Each member attends a family mediation session.
- Create a list of caregiving tasks and assign roles collaboratively.
- Evaluation: Review progress and satisfaction at monthly family meetings.
Example: Community Goal-Setting
- Scenario: A social worker facilitates a neighborhood initiative to address food insecurity.
- Contract:
- Purpose: Increase access to affordable, nutritious food.
- Goals:
- Launch a community garden within six months.
- Establish a weekly food pantry by the end of the year.
- Tasks:
- Social worker assists with grant applications.
- Community members form committees to handle logistics.
- Evaluation: Monitor participation rates and food distribution metrics.
On the Exam
How might this material look on the ASWB exam? Something like this:
During the initial assessment, a client expresses a desire to improve family relationships but is hesitant to involve family members in therapy sessions. How should the social worker proceed with goal-setting?
A. Insist on family involvement as it's essential for improving relationships.
B. Refer the client to a different therapist who specializes in family therapy.
C. Respect the client's preferences and focus on individual strategies to enhance family dynamics.
D. Delay goal-setting until the client agrees to include family members.
What's your answer?
Honoring the client's preferences fosters self-determination and engagement, allowing for the development of effective individual strategies. The best answer is C.
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