Role of Social Worker in Family Counseling

(Source: Article from https://work.chron.com/role-social-worker-family-counseling-13712.html)

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.

Facilitating Communication

A social worker often begins by simply encouraging family members to communicate. Sometimes, families have barely spoken to each other for months by the time they enter counseling. The social worker acts as a neutral third party, helping family members share their fears, concerns or disappointments in a nonconfrontational way. She often asks questions designed to help families to discover the underlying causes of their problems.

For example, if a child is misbehaving, it may not be because he disrespects his parents, but rather because he’s troubled by tension in his parents’ marriage. A social worker would help him articulate these thoughts so the entire family could discuss and understand them.

Intervention Duties

Family intervention in social work sometimes requires immediate solutions, even if short-term, to help families work through problems or defuse potentially volatile situations, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A social worker will often attempt to stabilize the family unit, including addressing individual members’ issues, so that counseling will be more effective.

For example, if one family member has a serious drug or alcohol problem, the family services social worker may recommend he enter a treatment facility before continuing with therapy. Or, if one family member has a mental illness such as depression or bipolar disorder, the social worker may advise him to visit a psychiatrist who can prescribe medications to help him manage his condition.

Conflict Resolution

Families often enter family counseling because they have an immediate problem that’s creating stress and conflict within the family. A social worker’s first objective is to help families understand and solve the issue, according to The New Social Worker. If trouble in the parents’ marriage is causing discord throughout the family, the social worker will help the couple address their issues with each other so they can work as a team in caring for their children instead of constantly arguing.

She’ll also counsel the children to help them understand their parents’ problems have nothing to do with them. For an example of the role of the social worker in divorce: If children are acting out because they’re upset about their parents’ divorce, or about the death of a parent or other family member, the social worker will help them find ways to deal with their grief or fear.

Teaching Responsibilities

A social worker’s long-term goal is to teach families how to work together to solve and prevent problems. In addition to helping them resolve their immediate issues, she’ll also educate them about family dynamics and how they impact both individual members and the family as a whole. She’ll help them understand how they approach problems and why the way they respond to conflict may make the situation worse. She’ll also help them create a plan for more effectively handling conflict in the future. For example, she may recommend they hold weekly family meetings where they can openly discuss their concerns.

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