Social Work Helping Process 📖 Evaluation & Termination (3 of 3)

Summary

In the final video of the Social Work Helping Process series, Anna Bea explores the crucial stages of evaluation and termination. She explains how these stages vary across micro, mezzo, and macro social work, emphasizing the importance of measuring client progress and making necessary adjustments for successful outcomes. The video also stresses the ethical responsibilities involved in terminating services, ensuring clients are well-prepared to end their social work relationship. Anna shares practical tips and highlights the emotional complexities associated with termination for both social workers and clients.

Highlights

• Evaluation is crucial in assessing client progress and adjusting interventions for better outcomes. 📊
• Ethical termination prepares clients for independence and respects their emotional journey. 💡
• Social workers should terminate services only when they're no longer needed, minimizing adverse effects. 🌍
• Research and evaluation contribute significantly to the social work field, often behind the scenes. 🕵️
• Preparation and communication are key in smooth transitioning and avoiding client abandonment. 📢

Key Takeaways

• Evaluation varies across social work levels, ensuring progress and necessary adjustments. 🔍
• Termination is a vital, ethical, and emotional process, not just about ending services. 💔
• Social workers have a responsibility to prepare clients for independence throughout therapy. 🌟
• Ethical guidelines stress the importance of avoiding client abandonment during termination. 🛡️
• Social workers' emotions in termination should be processed professionally, outside client space. 🤝

Overview

In this concluding segment of the Social Work Helping Process series, we delve into the final stages: evaluation and termination. Anna Bea breaks down how evaluation can differ significantly depending on whether you are working at a micro, mezzo, or macro level, but the core goal remains the same: to ensure that interventions are effective and make necessary adjustments. She emphasizes the importance of a client's progress being continuously monitored to confirm goals are being met or to identify changes needed in the intervention approach.

The video also highlights the often daunting process of termination. Termination isn't just about ending the service; it's a significant step that needs careful planning and execution. Anna explains how social workers are responsible for preparing clients throughout their therapeutic journey to eventually not need their services. This includes ensuring that the transition out of services is smooth, ethical, and client-centered, with a strong emphasis on not abandoning the client ethically.

Anna brings attention to the emotional side of termination for both clients and social workers, urging professionals to seek support to manage their feelings appropriately. She underscores the necessity of evidence-based practices within social work, owing much to researchers in the field. Concluding with reflective questions, the video invites social workers to contemplate their roles in evaluation and termination, ensuring these steps uphold the dignity and independence of those they serve.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Overview The introduction provides an overview of the final part of the helping process series, focusing on evaluation and termination. It suggests viewing previous videos on engagement, assessment, planning, and intervention for a comprehensive understanding. The introduction is delivered by Anna, a social worker and video content creator, who aims to provide educational content along with insights into social work life.
• 00:30 - 03:30: Evaluation in Social Work The chapter 'Evaluation in Social Work' discusses the crucial step of evaluation within the social work process. It highlights how evaluation can vary greatly depending on whether the practice is at the micro, mezzo, or macro level. This phase follows engagement, assessment, planning, and often coincides with intervention. Evaluation involves assessing the client's progress and determining whether the goals set for intervention are being met. If progress is detected, the social worker identifies the nature and extent of this progress, but also evaluates other intervention areas that might need changes if progress is not observed.
• 03:30 - 06:00: Research and Ethics in Evaluation The chapter 'Research and Ethics in Evaluation' discusses the importance of continuous evaluation in the treatment process. It emphasizes how therapists need to assess whether the set goals align with the client's needs and if the chosen intervention methods are still effective. Evaluation ensures that treatments are genuinely beneficial rather than being experimental or for the therapist's amusement. This process requires observing both the client's verbal feedback and the therapist's own observations to decide on the treatment's effectiveness.
• 06:00 - 12:00: Termination in Social Work The chapter explores the nuances of termination in social work, emphasizing the importance of aligning interventions with client goals and the context they are applied in. It stresses the need for flexibility and adaptability in approach, highlighting that a program successful in one setting may not be universally effective. The practitioner should remain open-minded and pragmatic, focusing on outcomes rather than attachment to specific methods. Factors like environmental differences and unique client needs should be critically assessed to understand their impact on intervention efficacy.
• 12:00 - 15:30: Personal Example of Termination Process The chapter discusses the importance of adjusting programs to better fit specific environments, such as high schools, when they are not working as expected. It emphasizes the necessity of allowing a standard and reasonable amount of time to observe progress or change before making adjustments. The chapter also highlights the importance of continuously collecting data, which can be done either formally or informally, to assess the effectiveness of the program.
• 15:30 - 19:00: Reflection and Conclusion The chapter 'Reflection and Conclusion' discusses modalities of therapy where clients rate and monitor symptoms weekly or at the start of a session to observe changes over time, like the frequency of panic attacks. It mentions using surveys for community members or gathering information from parents and teachers to note behavioral changes in children. The chapter emphasizes the importance of monitoring as per the code of ethics 5.02 for social workers.

Social Work Helping Process 📖 Evaluation & Termination (3 of 3) Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 hello welcome to part three of our helping  process Series this is the final part so if   you're jumping in now and haven't watched videos  one and two in video one we talk about engagement   in assessment in video two we talk about planning  and intervention and now we have finally made it   to evaluation and termination so probably watch  these videos in order but if not if you're just   jumping in now that's totally okay hi I'm Anna  I'm a social worker and I make YouTube videos   both educational ones like this and then also just  lifestyle videos giving a look into the life of   a social worker the helping process gives a  general framework of a social worker client   interaction not too much more introduction needed  so we will start with evaluation this is a step
• 00:30 - 01:00 that will look so super different depending on  if you are micro or mezzo or macro social worker   but this step happens after engagement after  assessment after planning and sometimes after   intervention but also kind of during intervention  evaluation is measuring the client's progress and   determining if there is progress being made toward  the established goals if you determine yes there   has been progress being made what is the progress  that's being made how do you know are there areas   of intervention that need to change change maybe  progress isn't getting made in certain areas and
• 01:00 - 01:30 so something needs to go different so that you  can actually get an outcome do any goals need   to change in order to better match the presenting  problem is the modality of intervention that was   chosen for this client still working is it still  a good fit and if the intervention is working for   the client how do you know both in their own words  and then also in your observations evaluation is   so super important because it ensures that  treatment is effective it's not just playing   around with the client seeing okay maybe this  will help maybe this won't even if this isn't   helping it's kind of fun for me so I'm going  to keep doing it evaluation is ensuring that
• 01:30 - 02:00 what the client wants to work on what the client  wants to be done is progressing is happening so   some tips to do it well is to have a flexible  mindset through intervention even though a   program worked really well for one specific High  School it does not necessarily mean that the same   results will be shown in the high school you are  working in and you could be really excited about   the program and think it would be really fun and  really want to see it through but if the results   aren't there the results aren't there what are  some confounding factors that may be affecting the   process what are the differences between the  high school you're working in and the one that
• 02:00 - 02:30 the program worked really well in and can the  program be altered to maybe better fit the high   school that you're working in if something  is not working after a standard amount of   time adjust it this doesn't mean okay after two  sessions if a client's presenting problem isn't   better it needs to be changed that's why I say  the standard amount of time a reasonable amount   of time to expect progress or expect change but  progress isn't happening adjust this will look   different depending on where you're at but collect  data continuously this can be formal or informal
• 02:30 - 03:00 for example some modalities of therapy have a  client rate and monitor symptoms throughout each   week or maybe just rate and do a mood check at the  beginning of a session if that's what you're doing   then you can see over time okay what's changing  how many times are panic attacks occurring during   the week or whatever you're working on maybe it's  a survey given to community members maybe it's   collecting collateral information from parents  and teachers about behavior that you're working on   with a child are there observable differences in  the classroom since I began work with this child   pulling from our handy dandy code of ethics  5.02 you social workers should monitor and
• 03:00 - 03:30 evaluate policies the implementation of programs  and practice interventions social workers should   promote and facilitate evaluation and research  to contribute to the development of knowledge   social workers should critically examine and keep  current with emerging knowledge relevant to social   work and fully use evaluation and research  evidence in their professional practice so   in the code of ethics it says you need to be  doing some sort of evaluation now for everyone   that's not going to be working in a research  lab conducting research studies but even if it   is just your personal one-to-one therapy client  evaluating intervention I also think this is an
• 03:30 - 04:00 important time to point out that some social  workers specialize in one part of this helping   process maybe I should have mentioned this in the  previous videos some social workers their job is   assessment and then the client moves on deeper  into the agency to actually get the intervention   or some social workers and that's why I bring it  up now specialize in evaluation you can work in   program evaluation as a social worker sometimes  this could be in-house at a certain Community   agency or sometimes there's even Consultants  who will come in whenever a company asks them to   evaluate programs that they have going on related  to some social issue so social workers can like
• 04:00 - 04:30 specialize in the evaluation or social workers can  be researchers this is common especially if you   see social workers with phds phds have research  components in them research and social work can   cover so many broad various topics and subjects  and points of the process sometimes it might be   defining a social problem sometimes it might be  evaluating an existing program sometimes it might   be evaluating an existing policy sometimes  it might be testing for the effectiveness of   an intervention research and evaluation is a  huge part of social work that sometimes isn't
• 04:30 - 05:00 talked about as much because it's not always  client facing it can be but it's not always   client-facing pulling back from our handy-dandy  code of ethic still 5.02 social workers engaged   in evaluation or research should carefully  consider possible consequences and should   follow guidelines developed for the protection  of evaluation and research participants social   workers should inform participants of their right  to withdraw from evaluation and research at any   time without penalty social workers should take  appropriate steps to ensure that participants in   evaluation and research have access to appropriate  Supportive Services social workers and engaged in
• 05:00 - 05:30 evaluation or research should protect participants  from unwarranted physical and mental distress   harm danger or deprivation social workers should  report evaluation and research findings accurately   so that section is specific to the people who  specifically work in research and evaluation   because there is ethics involved in that too  because there are research participants involved   even if it's not necessarily client-facing in  the same way that micro one-to-one is or even   that macro is working with communities it is  still so important to be ethical as a social   worker in evaluation and in research but anytime  you hear about oh use evidence-based practices
• 05:30 - 06:00 the evidence comes from social workers working in  research it's like their way in the foundation for   the field an evaluation of your intervention or  your practice might be something that's regulated   at the agency you work in for example it could  be like every three months or so you check in   on treatment plans see what the progress is see  if anything needs to be adjusted but and this   is the big one what happens whenever services  are done I feel like termination is such a big   word it does remind like the Terminator I'm gonna  terminate a client that just means ending services   termination is the step of the helping process  that I mean all of them need to be treated with
• 06:00 - 06:30 so much care but termination especially needs to  be treated with so much care termination starts   to occur throughout the entire therapeutic  relationship and what I mean by that is that   through the entire time you're interacting with  a client you're preparing them to not need you   anymore termination is not just one session and  failure to terminate well could be abandonment of   a client there is a podcast episode from the  podcast very bad therapy where they go into   termination and I think it could be interesting  for you to listen to because it goes deeper into
• 06:30 - 07:00 specific perspectives and theoretical backgrounds  that I'm not necessarily going to touch on today   so I'll link it down in the description below the  podcast hosts have backgrounds in marriage and   family therapy but they do bring in the aswb code  of ethics and they discuss in individual therapy   settings more about termination so that could be  interesting for you but for our purposes today   just thinking about termination when treatment  is no longer serving the client's needs or is   no longer necessary for the client services  should be ended if the presenting problem has   been addressed and treatment goals have been  met with no new presenting problems coming up
• 07:00 - 07:30 treatment should be ended now if a new presenting  problem arises then a new helping process can kind   of begin where you assess and figure out and  plan as social workers honestly our goal is   for our clients to no longer need our services  because we are promoting empowerment and we're   promoting Independence in a perfect world the  end of a therapeutic relationship would never   come as a surprise to a client but obviously we  don't live in a perfect world so instead it is   important to always be ethical whenever services  are ending and we have a responsibility to do our   due diligence to treat termination with so much  care that's coming from whenever a social worker
• 07:30 - 08:00 in Services a client is free to terminate services  at any time that they would like termination can   hold many different emotions for both client and  social worker and our job is to support clients   however they're experiencing it and however they  need it some people may feel Joy and pride because   woohoo I finished my treatment goals I have all  these new skills I'm ready to Take On The World   other people may feel more fear and anxiety  because uh oh I have to rely on my own self   and my own support to keep up the progress I've  made so some tips to do it well these are coming   straight right from the code of ethics because it  gives very pointed guidelines on how to terminate
• 08:00 - 08:30 well social workers should terminate services  to clients and professional relationships with   them when such services and relationships are no  longer required or no longer serve the client's   needs or interests social workers should take  reasonable steps to avoid abandoning clients   who are still in need of services abandoning means  no preparation no referrals outwards that they can   continue service if they need it social workers  should withdraw Services precipitously only under   unusual circumstances giving careful consideration  to all factors in the situation and taking care to
• 08:30 - 09:00 minimize possible adverse effects I think you  can tell from that language there is a lot of   responsibility on a social worker to terminate  well and this means not leaving a client hanging   if they are mid-intervention you have not finished  up treatment goals have not been met there's a big   responsibility on you if services are going  to have to end from your end for some sort of   reason for you to connect them with services for  you to end the relationship well taking care to   minimize possible adverse effects social workers  should assist in making appropriate arrangements   for continuation of services when necessary that's  kind of how mentioning the referrals outward I can
• 09:00 - 09:30 no longer provide you services but here are  people who realistically can social workers   who anticipate the termination or Interruption of  services to clients should notify clients promptly   and seek the transfer referral or continuation  of services in relation to the client's needs   and preferences I was trying to keep these videos  mostly educational because that's what they are   but I think sometimes examples are helpful so  for example I just recently left a position I   had seven clients that I was seeing at the time  and I gave three weeks notice to my employer so   I have three weeks to notify and prepare clients  for termination of services with me now they are
• 09:30 - 10:00 going to continue their services they are going  to do so with different people and so in those   three weeks we discussed feelings that may have  come up due to my leaving we discussed plans for   going forward specifically which clinician were  they going to go to for each client that was   different of how to transfer clinicians best some  wanted me to just meet by myself with their new   person and kind of give an overview of their chart  and what's been going on and they're presenting   problems because then they felt empowered to  just hit the ground running with a new person   for some clients they felt most comfortable doing  joint sessions with me their new clinician and
• 10:00 - 10:30 themselves just to kind of pass the Baton get to  transition into a new person more comfortably some   clients who felt very confident with the change  was like no big deal I'll just pick up where I   left off with you with them you don't have to do  anything this is all good so it just it depends   on the person and it depends on what you're  working on in treatment but what would have   been unethical for me in that time was to not  tell my clients before I was leaving and just   on the day of maybe like okay by the way this  is our last session you're going to this person   bye that would have been unethical and could  have led to adverse effects adverse reactions
• 10:30 - 11:00 and would be closer to client abandonment than  putting in the front effort to ensure a smooth   continuation of services for the clients back to  our code of ethics social workers who are leaving   an employment setting should inform clients of  appropriate options for continuation of services   and of the benefits and risks of the options so  similar to the previous point that we had just   talked about in this case thinking of my personal  experience as well recently this meant that all   of my clients had the option to discontinue  Mental Health Services if they didn't want to   start with a new person termination is Social Work  guided but client-led in that how the client felt
• 11:00 - 11:30 determined how I proceeded but it's not on the  client to lay out steps for how they are going   to continue because it is the clinician's job  and responsibility to terminate Services well   with that social workers may have a motion that  rises due to the end of therapeutic relationship   with a client as well it is important to seek  support maybe from colleagues and to process   these feelings in a safe space like supervision  because they're not feelings that should be   ignored but also as a social worker it is not a  client's job to process your feelings so there
• 11:30 - 12:00 are safe spaces for you outside of the client  but it's okay to have some emotional responses   to ending therapeutic relationships so even though  termination is the end ethical principles are just   as important and just as applicable as the very  beginning of the helping process in the middle of   the helping process if you are in a situation  where you're going to begin termination with   clients ask questions in supervision or ask  questions in your field seminar depending on   which point of your career you're at because it  is a loaded part of the social work process but   obviously it's a necessary part because you're  not going to have any client forever now just   like with the young other two videos I have your  reflection questions for you we didn't go over
• 12:00 - 12:30 the social work principles at the beginning of  this video but it's because I'm assuming you just   remembered them from the previous two videos  what does it look like to help people in need   and address social problems through evaluation and  termination how can social injustice be challenged   through evaluation and termination how can you  respect the inherent worth and dignity of a person   through evaluation and termination how can you  centralize the importance of Human Relationships   through evaluation and termination how can you be  trustworthy through evaluation and termination and   how can you ensure that you are practicing within  your competence through evaluation and termination
• 12:30 - 13:00 that is it from me for the helping process I  hope that these three videos were beneficial   to you were helpful to you cause you to think a  little bit maybe learn a little bit the best way   that you can thank me if you did is by liking  this video and subscribing to the channel so   you can see all future ones that are to come  great job social workers I'll see you next time [Music] [Music]