Communication Skills Training For Oncology -Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Communication Skills Training For Oncology? Answer: Introduction Social work consists of many processes, which pay attention to the relationship among individuals and the improvement in the quality of life of people. Individuals have various social roles and how effectively they perform those determine the social relationships. Social work intervenes in this junction of performing the duties and improving lives of people. Helping process is one of the many functioning of the social works. Social functioning comprises of the activities, which are necessary to satisfy the relationships in the experiences of the social living (Fox, 2013). The basic functions of the helping process are restoration of social functioning, provision of resources for development and prevention of social dysfunction. In simple words, helping process in social work is the set of activities to assist the people to identify and cope up with their problems through relationship building, assessment of the problem, setting of the goals, interventions and termination (Miller Rol lnick, 2012). The stages of helping processes will be discussed in the following essay. Discussion Helping process is sometimes defined as the counseling process. Communication skills are extremely important for effective helping process. There are five stages of helping process, namely, Rapport and relationship building, Assessment or problem defining, goal setting, initiating the interventions, and termination of the problem. In each of the stages, Communication plays an important role, as relationships are always determined through effective communication (Egan, 2013). Relationship building Relationships are always based on trust. Thus, laying the foundations for trust by designing a structure and form, voluntary or involuntary, and the roles of articulating is the primary factor for building relationships. Firstly, rapport needs to be developed between the counselor and the client, through introduction, clear description of individuals roles, purpose and active listening to the client. Thus, through effective communication, a relationship is built. Empathy, unconditional positive regard, and congruence are essential in this stage (Shulman, 2012). In this stage, drilling down to the problem is important. The counselor must ask simple and detailed questions to the client to know the exact problem and its source. There should be some basic questions and detailed inquiry on life functions and stress factors. After that, the focus should be on getting more detailed information about the problems through trust (Crowe et al., 2012). Goal Setting In a helping process, once the problems are identified, goals should be specific and clear. Its the duty of the counselor to talk to the client tactfully and find out his or her objective or goal (Brandler Roman, 2015). It has to be mutually agreed upon. In this process, the trust and relationship between the counselor and the client becomes more strong and the client confides into the counselor about his or her perspectives. Thus, effective communication by the counselor is very important not only for conversing with the client, but also to find out the goals for the process (Shulman, 2012). Initiating Intervention Interventions are the perspectives to find out new ways to approach the issue. How to accomplish the goals and solve the problem is addressed through intervention. Communication again plays a crucial role to define the achievable goals and motivate the client to follow the process. The intervention plans are usually positive and action oriented, and can be adapted with time. Termination This is the last stage in the helping process. In this stage, the dependency of the client on the counselor is tactfully reduced, the client is made prepared for the ending of the sessions, and plans are made for possible needs in the future. Termination is also considered earlier if the counselor feels that the process is not helpful for the client. This is done through a systematic process, so that the client can mentally prepare himself or herself. For example, the counselor sets an advance date for the last session, then gradually reviews the progress and makes future plans accordingly. This process empowers the client to think independently (Arnold Boggs, 2015). Thus, it can be said that, communication is extremely powerful tool in helping process. It is a sensitive issue for all the clients and only through supportive attitude, active and attentive listening and comforting words, the helping process can be successful. Barriers to communication Communication is a process of transferring of information through speaking, listening, writing, reading and observing. Thus, during the helping process, communication takes many forms, such as, speaking, listening, observing etc. (Austin Pinkleton, 2015). There can be many barriers to effective communication in the helping process. Those are as follows: Emotional barriers or taboos: Sometimes people feel shy to express their emotions. Again sometimes, due to social taboos, they do not open up. Cultural and language differences: Social norms often determine the way of expression and these vary across different cultures. For example, the definition of personal space varies among different cultures. Along with that, language difference also impede communication. Sometimes, unfamiliar accents create barriers in understanding. Use of jargons: Sometimes the counselor use jargons, which becomes difficult to understand for the client. Prejudices and expectations: Due to cultural differences, people often have preconceived notions and prejudices. They do not make the effort to think beyond that. Hence, they keep the same expectation from the counselor. However, these prejudices seldom meet the expectation and people cannot accept the helping (Kissane et al., 2012). Non-verbal communication and physical barriers: If the counselor cannot understand the body language, facial expressions, gestures, postures and other non-verbal cues, then the communication becomes less effective. Lack of attention: If any one of the counselor or client is not attentive to the sessions, and gets distracted easily, then the helping process would not be effective. Apart from all these, the differences in the view points and perception, physical disabilities, such as speech problems or hearing problems, lack of flexible attitude of the client also create barriers to communication in the helping process (Berge, 2013). Recommendation for overcoming the barriers in communication In the helping process, the barriers to communication, especially interpersonal barriers, are a common issue. It is a challenge for the counselor to build a trusting relationship with the client and find out the precise problems and solve them. Hence, effective communication is extremely important. As there are barriers to communication, there are also ways to overcome those challenges. Those are as follows: Use of simple language: The counselor must not use jargons and use simple language while communicating to make the client comfortable. The client can understand the process if it is communicated in a simple language with easy accent. Even if the perceptions are different, still it has to be conveyed through easy understandable language (Gratis, 2017). Active listening: The counselor must have high level of patience and the practice of active listening. He must listen to everything attentively that the client has to say. Similarly, the client must also listen to what the counselor is instructing respond accordingly. Clarity in the thoughts: It is very important to know about the topic or subject to be discussed with the client and clear thoughts about that. The Counselor must be very clear about the objectives of the helping process and must design his way of dealing accordingly. After the client expresses his thoughts, the counselor must be able to understand that and find out a solution to help the client (Egan, 2013). Staying calm and patient: Both the parties involved in the helping process must be very patient and must control own emotions and frustrations while communicating through the process. If the conversation needs more time, it should be given and must not be hurried. Avoid too much information in one session: People would feel overloaded if they are asked to process too much information in one session. Hence, the counselor must understand the receiving capacity of each client and plan accordingly as per the needs. Providing feedback: Feedbacks should always be given by both the parties to make the process effective. It helps in personal development as well as contributes in effectiveness of the session. Understanding the body language: Counselors must be able to read the gestures, expressions, general body language and non-verbal cues of the client during the helping process. It helps to get many aspects of the clients nature, which he is not being able to say verbally (Ray, 2014). Conclusion Helping process is an integral part of the social work. Many people need help in many ways and counseling is one of the ways to help them. Through counseling people can overcome many challenges and can live a better life. Helping process is heavily dependent on effective communication. In all the five stages of helping process, communication plays the major role, which lays the foundation of trust and relationship. Although there are many barriers to communication in the helping process, there are ways to overcome them also. Both the counselor and the client must put effort for easy communication, understanding, keeping patience and cooperating with each other for making the process successful. With effective communication, helping process can yield the best results. References Arnold, E. C., Boggs, K. U. (2015).Interpersonal Relationships-E-Book: Professional Communication Skills for Nurses. Elsevier Health Sciences. Austin, E. W., Pinkleton, B. E. (2015).Strategic public relations management: Planning and managing effective communication campaigns(Vol. 10). Routledge. Berge, Z. L. (2013). 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