Week 3 – Discussion 2

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Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

 Communicating Messages

In the field of human services, its not uncommon to work with clients who are encountering a range of challenges that arouse feelings of sadness, anger, and frustration. Would you know how to engage appropriately with a client under such conditions? In this second discussion, you will identify and reflect on various elements related to conveying effective messages to clients.

Read Chapters 7 and Chapter 8 of The Interpersonal Communication Book and review the following five human service career paths from the video:

• Early Child Development & Services (03:01)
• Counseling and Mental Health Services (04:17)
• Family & Community Services (07:00)
• Personal Care Services (03:54)
• Consumer Services (04:11)

Initial Post: Imagine that you are a human service professional working in a career path that is different from the one you selected in the first discussion forum and prepare a reply that sufficiently addresses each of the items below,. Dont forget that it is critical to cite your sources of information, including the textbook, using APA formatting.

• What are some ways in which effective means of emotional expression is used to engage with a client experiencing a problem (e.g., loss of job, homelessness, health concerns, etc.)?
• Identify empathy skills in interpersonal and group settings (e.g., one-on-one client interaction, facilitating a group session, etc.) that you might use as a human services professional.
• Describe one communication theory (i.e., constructivist, attachment, communication accommodation, attribution) that can apply to this situation as it relates to communicating messages (e.g., how messages are communicated, processes related to communicating messages, etc..). See Week Ones required website readings.
• Under what conditions might you, as a human service professional, use self-disclosure as a means of interacting with clients? Would it be appropriate or inappropriate in this specific situation? Why or why not?

The initial reply is due no later than Day 3 (Thursday) of the learning week, and at least two substantive replies of at least 100 words to two different peers will be due no later than Day 7 (Monday) of the learning week.

Guided Response: Consider ways in which you might like to interact with your peers. For example, what do you think about the emotional messages that your peers chose to use in their scenario? What would you do differently, and why? Please be courteous and adhere to the rules of respectful engagement throughout your replies.