What is social work active listening?
Active listening is a communication technique used in social work to help the person being listened to feel understood and supported.
Active listening involves listening to a piece of information carefully, asking relevant questions using both open and closed ended questioning style and techniques such as paraphrasing and summarising to understand the client’s world and build a trusting relationship.
Social work active listening involves the listener paying close attention to the speaker, making sure not to interrupt, and reflecting back on what they have heard.
This helps the speaker feel heard and validated, and it can also help them clarify their thoughts and feelings.
In social work, it is essential as part of the social work competencies to learn how to actively listen to clients.
What is active listening in social work?
Active listening is an essential social work skill that is required to ensure social workers are able to engage and identify the needs of clients or service users effectively.
However, this technique should be employed with caution because there are times when active listening may result in negative consequences for someone who has experienced trauma or disclosed sensitive information during conflict or heated discussions.
Active listeners need only concern themselves with providing appropriate feedback that shows understanding without judgment by considering how these circumstances differ from other forms of conversations where responding appropriately might be more important.
Why is listening important in social work?
People who are socially disadvantaged and underprivileged often lack a sense of belonging.
Social workers can use active listening to address this problem by showing their clients that they care about what they have to say.
Active listening as a communication technique can help the client feel a sense of belonging. It can also help the social worker empathise with the clients/service user’s situation.
Given all of this information, there must be many benefits for using active listening as a tool in social work?
How can you use active listening in your own life to improve communication with others?
- Pay attention.
- Show that you’re listening.
- Provide feedback.
- Defer judgment.
- Respond appropriately.
Benefits of using active listening skills in social work
With active listening as a communication technique, it can help social workers build better relationships with their clients.
It allows the client to feel heard and understood, which can help them clarify their thoughts and feelings.
It can also help the social worker better understand the client’s situation and needs.
In addition, active listening can improve communication between the social worker and client, and it can also help the client feel more connected to the social work community as well as their own immediate community.
1. Pay attention to help improve communication.
Paying attention is one of the most important things you can do to improve communication.
When you’re paying attention, you’re showing that you’re interested in what the other person has to say.
You’re also more likely to remember what they say, and you’ll be better able to respond appropriately.
There are a few things you can do to improve your ability to pay attention:
a. Make eye contact.
b. Put away distractions.
c. Stay focused
d. Repeat back what you’ve heard.
e. Ask questions.
a. Make eye contact.
Making eye contact is one of the simplest ways to show that you’re paying attention.
It lets the other person know that you’re engaged in the conversation and that you’re interested in what they are saying.
b. Put away distractions.
Putting away distractions when someone is talking is essential. This is because, it’s important to focus on them and what they’re saying.
This means putting away any distractions and focusing all of your energy on the conversation.
It can be helpful to make eye contact and to nod to show that you’re listening.
You may also want to take notes to help you remember what was said.
c. Stay focused
Staying focussed when communicating with clients or service users can help improve communication.
However, it can be difficult to stay focussed when the person is talking, especially if they’re talking about something that’s not interesting to you.
Nevertheless, it’s important to make an effort to focus on what they’re saying and not to interrupt them.
You may also want to ask questions in order to better understand what the client or service user is trying to communicate to you.
What are some tips for staying focussed when the person is talking?
i. Make an effort to focus on what they’re saying and not to interrupt them.
ii. Ask questions in order to better understand what they’re saying.
You may be interested in reading the following articles:
d. Repeat back what you’ve heard.
Repeating back what you’ve heard can help improve communication.
When you repeat back what you’ve heard, it shows the speaker that you’re actively listening and that you care about what they have to say.
It also gives you a chance to clarify anything that you may not have understood. You can usually do this by paraphrasing what the person has said in your own words.
e. Ask relevant questions when communicating
When you’re communicating with someone, it’s important to ask relevant questions in order to better understand what they’re saying.
This also shows that you’re interested in what they have to say. However, you should avoid asking too many questions at once, as this can be overwhelming for the speaker.
2.0 Show that you’re listening
Listening is more than just keeping your mouth shut and your ears open.
If you want to show that you’re paying attention, it’s important to let the other person know by giving nonverbal cues. So, how can you give nonverbal cues?
a. Nod occasionally.
b. Smile, laugh, and nod when appropriate.
c. Frown or furrow your brow if something appears unusual.
3.0 Provide feedback
Providing feedback is an important part of active listening, because it lets the speaker know that you’re paying attention and care about what they have to say.
It can also help keep the conversation moving forward. There are several ways to provide feedback while listening:
a. Paraphrasing what you hear.
b. Minimal encouragers, such as ‘yeah,’ ‘uh-huh,’ and ‘right.’
c. Reflection of feeling.
Offer reflection of feelings when appropriate. This shows that you’re listening and that you care about what the speaker or client is saying. It can also help to clarify feelings, because sometimes people don’t know how they feel until they hear themselves.
4.0 Summarising
Summarising is a more advanced form of active listening that can help you confirm your understanding of what the other person is saying, and it can also let them know that they’ve been heard.
It’s often helpful to repeat back information or to ask for clarification when summarising.
5.0 Reflect on your own feelings
There are times when it’s appropriate to ask the person you’re talking with about their feelings.
However, it’s important not to focus on your own emotions during active listening, because that can make it more difficult for the other person to speak openly about their feelings.
When you reflect feelings back to someone, remember that this often requires that you actively listen to what they have to say before reflecting their emotions back.
In some cases, you may need to ask questions in order to get the information you need to reflect feelings accurately.
6.0 Responding appropriately is important
Responding appropriately is an important part of active listening, because it shows that you care about what someone has said and how they feel.
However, in some cases, it’s important to be careful with your response in order to avoid making a personal interpretation or offering a perspective that isn’t relevant.
In these cases, it may be best to show that you’re listening without adding anything else:
a. When someone is talking about their feelings.
b. When someone is being argumentative.
7.0 Defer judgement
There are times when it’s appropriate to offer your opinion or perspective, but there are also situations where it might be better not to.
In cases where judgement could result in negative consequences for the other person, it’s best to avoid offering any feedback so you can continue listening attentively:
a. When someone has experienced trauma.
b. When someone is disclosing information.
c. During conflict or heated discussions.
d. With children and adolescents.
What are the 7 skills for active listening?
- Avoid asking too many questions at once.
- Make sure you’re not distracted by anything else going on around you.
- Maintain eye contact
- Use open ended questions
- Use the TED (Tell me, Explain and Describe) technique
- Paraphrase
- Summarise
What is the goal of active listening?
The goal of active listening is to help the speaker feel heard and understood.
It can also provide the speaker with information, support, and feedback.
Active listening can also help the listener to better understand the speaker’s point of view.
What are the types of active listening?
- Paraphrasing
- Reflecting back
- Asking relevant questions
- Summarising
- Restating the main points
How can you show that you’re actively listening?
There are several ways to show that you’re actively listening. The skills of active listening include;
- Making eye contact
- Nodding
- Taking notes
- Using encouraging and positive statements.
- Using short simple sentences
Conclusion:
Communication skills in social work is essential when supporting clients or servicer users.
Active listening is important to good communication. The key to active listening is listening without judgement and offering appropriate feedback when needed.
In addition, patience in social work also helps with active listening.
Doing so can help you make a real difference in someone’s life, and it can also provide the speaker with the satisfaction of knowing that they’ve been heard and understood.
Socialworkhaven.com Useful Resources
- Social Work To-Do List
Social Work To – Do List: What To Include: We sometimes struggle with managing our daily tasks as social workers. This is not because we do not have the skills. The work load, crisis and challenges we face can be overwhelming. That is why a social work to-do list may help us manage better.
- Recommended Books
Best Social Work Books Every Student Must Read is a great article full of highly recommended and engaging books. Helping student social workers to equip themselves with knowledge and skills. It is a great way to empower yourself and encourage you to read more.
- Social Work Registration
Social Work Registration: Get it done – is a useful article that walks you through the social work registration process.
- Social Work Burnout
51 Effective Ways to Fight Social Work Burnout helps practitioners explore 51 effective ways to fight Social Work Burnout. Social work burnout can affect the way we execute our role. It can cause social work stress, and a stressed social worker cannot perform their role effectively.
- Active Listening in Social Work
Why You Should Actively Listen as a Social Worker raises awareness of active listening in social work. Social work active listening involves the listener paying close attention to the speaker, making sure not to interrupt, and reflecting on what they have heard. This helps the speaker feel heard and validated, and it can also help them clarify their thoughts and feelings.
- Social Work Humour
Social Work Humour for the End of a Long Day This article explains when social work humour is important. Essential social work skills include empathy, authenticity, resilience and respect. These skills help us cope with situations and meet the needs of service users or clients. However, the best coping mechanism in social work is definitely humour.
- Social Work CV Writing
Social Work CV Writing This article is a must read – whether you are a student, newly qualified, or an experienced social worker, and looking for a new company to work for, you will find these 13 fundamental tips useful if you want to create the perfect Social Work CV/resume that will make you outshine others and get noticed.
- Social Work Values & Respect in Social Work
Social Work Values & Respect in Social Work Social work values include respect, dignity and worth of individuals, pursuit of social justice, integrity and competence. This article explores what ‘respect’ means in social work. Social work values are the beliefs and principles of social workers, which guide their practice and help them to determine the right course of action when making decisions.
Great article.
Thanks for the post!