For Ourselves and Others: JRF Also Needs Social Work Education and Training

A Help Letter Written to a Social Worker

An Education and Training Session: How to Use Dialectical Thinking to Interact with Those We Serve

In April this year, Chang I-hung, a social worker from the Department of Psychiatry at Mackay Memorial Hospital, came to give us a communication course centered on empathy. Arranging this course was for the physical and mental health of our staff when interacting with clients on the front lines, as well as to enable us to truly approach and hold the needs that surge toward us.

Seeing Our Own Issues First to Distinguish Self-Projection from Actual Reality

At the very beginning of the course, the social worker did not directly explain what empathy is or how to practice it. Instead, she first asked everyone to choose an image card and a color to represent their current work situation, and to share with those who chose the same color why they selected that card.

For example, among colleagues who chose the black group, one chose a card of a child lifting dumbbells, and another chose a card of two people leaning on each other. After exchanging thoughts, they found that whether it was the desire for reliance and support or the feeling of carrying heavy burdens, both represented the hardship of having to accept certain challenges. Among those who chose red, one chose a crowd card and the other chose a flame card. They shared that they chose the crowd because of their role in organizing people at work, while the flame card expressed the anger currently brought on by their work.

When discussing how to empathize with others, starting from this exercise, the social worker allowed us to first see and express ourselves. This also means that even when the object of empathy is someone else, the context through which we view others is the absolute prerequisite for everything; otherwise, with too many projections of our own values and past experiences mixed in, some perceptions cannot be accurate and fail to generate a genuine connection.

Strengths Perspective and Effective Communication

In the subsequent part of the course, the social worker first summarized that most of the clients we face may be unfamiliar with the law, frightened, and anxious, and consequently may become impatient, dependent, or argumentative. Among them, highly sensitive clients are often individuals we encounter in our work who seem impossible to communicate with.

"We do not make a fuss asking, 'Why did you get a blister?' or 'Why did you get cellulitis?' The same goes for emotional distress. We call these people the 'highly sensitive group.' They actually care more about others' evaluations of them than ordinary people do. People who are more sensitive may actually be more considerate, but most of the time it makes us feel as though we are being choked."

The social worker shared that an unstable sense of self makes it impossible to truly believe that others are reliable, thus resulting in extreme swings in interpersonal interactions. The negative aspects may manifest as an inability to control impulses, leading to behaviors that fracture relationships. Other people do not know how to get along with such individuals, which causes their sense of self-worth to drop even lower, creating a vicious cycle.

The social worker pointed out the core focus of the course, which lies in the third hurdle: If we can respond effectively, is there an opportunity to break this vicious cycle?

The prerequisite for effective communication is "validation" and "empathy." Without these two contextual languages, it is like someone who has never learned French—no matter how slowly or how many times you speak, they still won't understand.

Validation does not mean blindly accepting the information they provide. Under a strengths perspective, validation and empathy can be separated and targeted at different facts and emotional feelings. For example, we can empathize with the reasons why they feel stuck, even if those reasons may not necessarily be factual. With so many problems, how have they managed to survive until now? They certainly have their own abilities and survival strategies. For instance, if they are bothersome, it means they are proactive. If they keep calling to check on progress, it means they are careful and cautious. Making such distinctions helps us view their behavior separately from who they are as persons.

The social worker provided several points to keep in mind. Although difficult, they are worth reminding ourselves of from time to time:

• Stay alert and pay attention to the other person
• Respond accurately without judgment
• Express an understanding of the reasons, affirm the discomfort experienced by the client in the past or in certain encounters, and affirm that some behaviors are reasonable within the client's current spatiotemporal context
• Treat the individual's inherent value with equality, sincerity, and validation

Change and Acceptance: Finding Balance in Dialectics

Validation and empathy are merely the foundation of the work, but moving on to the next step—actually providing services or so-called intervention for change—involves facing the dialectical balance between change and acceptance.

• Change (Problem solving)
• Acceptance (Validation, empathy)

Specifically, effective interaction can be divided into three dimensions: objective effectiveness, relational effectiveness, and self-respect effectiveness. To enhance objective effectiveness, we can practice describing situations, expressing ourselves clearly, making bold requests, reinforcing the other party, maintaining mindfulness, demonstrating confidence, and negotiating compromises. To enhance relational effectiveness, we can practice active listening and maintaining a relaxed attitude. At the same time, however, we must not neglect the dimension of self-respect, reminding ourselves not to over-apologize and to firmly uphold our own values. Neglecting the effectiveness of any single dimension may lead to a loss of balance.

The social worker shared many cases from her own work to illustrate the difficulty of—and strategies for—achieving a golden mean amid continuous awareness and adjustment. She also listened to the experiences of JRF staff in interacting with the public, conducting practical discussions and feedback. The experiences and tools shared by the social worker still require our continued comprehension and practice in practical work. Due to time constraints, topics such as service boundaries and self-care will have to wait for future opportunities for further learning.