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Social workers help families improve relationships and cope with difficult situations such as divorce, illness or death. They guide families through the counseling process, by helping them identify problems, set goals and find solutions to their troubles. In a crisis situation, such as neglect, substance abuse or violence, they may also recommend legal action, such as having children temporarily removed while the parents work through their difficulties.
Communication facilities
A social worker often starts by encouraging family members to communicate. Sometimes, families have barely spoken to each other for months upon entering counseling. The social worker acts as a neutral third party, helping family members share their fears, concerns or frustrations in a non-directional manner. She often asks questions designed to help families find out the underlying causes of their problems. For example, if a child is abusing, it may not be because he insults his parents, but because he is troubled by the stress in his parents' marriage. A social worker will help him clarify these ideas so that the whole family can discuss and understand
them.
Social workers sometimes suggest immediate solutions, whether short-term, to help families work through problems or to define potentially volatile situations. A social worker will often attempt to stabilize the family unit, which includes addressing the issues of individual members, so that counseling is more effective. For example, if a family member has a serious drug or alcohol problem, the social worker may advise them to facilitate treatment before continuing therapy. Or, if a family member has a mental illness such as depression or bipolar disorder, social workers may advise him to visit a psychiatrist who can prescribe medications to help manage his condition.
Conflict resolution
Families often enter family counseling because they have an immediate problem that is causing stress and conflict within the family. The first objective of a social worker is to help families understand and solve the problem. If parents' troubles in marriage are causing discord in the whole family, social workers will help the couple address their issues with each other so that they are a team in taking care of their children rather than constantly arguing To work as. She will also be counseling children to help their parents understand their problems. If children are upset about their parents' divorce or because of the death of a parent or other family member, social workers will help them find ways to deal with their grief or fear.
The teaching
The long-term goal of a social worker is to teach families how to work together to solve and prevent problems. In addition to helping them solve their immediate issues, he will also educate them about family dynamics and how they will affect both individual members and the family as a whole. She will help them understand how they deal with problems and the way they respond to conflict can make the situation worse. She will help them to form a plan to deal with the conflict more effectively in the future. For example, she may recommend that they hold weekly family meetings where they can openly discuss their concerns.
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