Washburn
Phase 1

Engage with the Client System

In the Engage phase, the social worker has two main goals:

1. Develop collaborative relationships with all key systems

These include the client, as well as other systems in the client's environment that can be enlisted in the helping process, such as social service agencies, neighbors, community organizations, places of worship, schools, friends, and relatives.

2. "Tune in" to the clients' narrative, or story

The "tuning in" process, first articulated by Lawrence Shulman, includes getting in touch with the client's feelings about their situation, and the effects of their stories of culture, history, and so on. It also includes getting in touch with your own feelings about clients and the challenges they face.

Carla Washburn, a seventy-six year old Black woman was contacted by a case manager from her local Area Agency on Aging after her sister, Anna, who lives in another state, called with concerns. Anna shared that Carla seems despondent and is not getting adequate care for a recent fall.

In this case study, you will learn about Carla, important influences in her life, and the life changes that have precipitated her current difficulties. You will also see how the larger social environment, particularly culture, social policies, and social forces such as discrimination and oppression have shaped her life. And you will develop your empathic response, critical assessment, and problem-solving skills through a four-phase helping process: engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation.

My Engage Tasks

Task 1

Read Ms. Washburn’s case file. You are unsure initially whether she even wanted services. This would mean that Mrs. Washburn could be considered at least somewhat involuntary, which places additional pressure on you, as the social worker, to make a connection with Mrs. Washburn, discover her motivations for change, and orient any intervention plan to make a tangible, positive, contribution to her life. As you begin to engage Mrs. Washburn, you identify some preliminary concerns and goals that could be the basis for a working relationship. If she is interested in services, you will be able to proceed collaboratively with your engagement and assessment processes. You now need more information. What other information would be helpful for this case?

Task 2

Look at Ms. Washburn’s ecomap. An ecomap is a graphic portrayal of a client and their relationships with the environment at a specific moment in time. What does Ms. Washburn’s ecomap tell you about her? What information do you suspect is missing from this depiction? How would you go about filling in the gaps to better understand Mrs. Washburn’s environment?

Task 3

Study the town map so that you can get a better sense of the community in which she lives. What resources exist that might be helpful to Ms. Washburn in reaching her goals? Are there any potential resources not shown on this map that you think might be important? How well does the geographical distribution of resources meet Mrs. Washburn’s needs?