In what situations might it be appropriate for a social worker to suggest to a supervisor that he or she is not competent to work with a particular client? In what situations should the social worker attempt to work with a client even though he or she may lack confidence in addressing the presenting issue? What are the differences in these two circumstances?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Listed below are several situations in which the social worker may feel unable to competently help a client. What needs to be distinguished in this discussion, however, are situations where the person truly lack a necessary capacity to help and situations where the social worker is uncomfortable about working with a client for reasons of countertransference. In the latter situation the social worker should be helped to overcome his or her concerns and become able to accept the challenge of working with the client.

• Personal values regarding a type of client may interact with one’s sense of (perceived) competence or incompetence and produce ambivalence about engaging with the client
• Marital counseling, when the social worker is experiencing marital problems
• Working with sexually deviance clients with no prior experience
• Working with a depressed client when the social worker is experiencing depression or an adjustment reaction in his own life
• “Acting out” children
• Older adults with physical disabilities