Working with Involuntary Clients: A Guide to Practice

How do you help someone who has no interest in being helped? Social workers face particular challenges when working with involuntary clients who may be resistant or even openly antagonistic to the offer of assistance. This book provides a practical guide to effectively working with individuals and their families in such areas as corrective services, child protection, mental health and residential care. Chris Trotter's pro-social model shows how it is possible to work in partnership with involuntary clients and reconcile the two sometimes conflicting aspects of the role: the legalistic and the helping. Throughout the book the focus is on direct practice with guidance on clarifying roles, promoting pro-social values, dealing with issues of authority and establishing goals based on integrated, systematic and evidence-based approaches. Illustrated throughout with case examples, Working with Involuntary Clients has established itself as an essential guide for social work and welfare students and as an invaluable reference for professionals. This third edition has been fully revised and updated and includes new material on cognitive behavioural strategies and risk assessments. 'Since its first edition . . . Working with Involuntary Clients has been the 'go-to' book for practitioners faced with that challenge. This new edition retains the key strength of its predecessors - it insists on clarity, on evidence and on usefulness - but it also adds new material on developing theoretical and practical approaches, making it an even more indispensable source for practitioners and researchers alike.' Fergus McNeill, Professor of Criminology and Social Work, University of Glasgow 'Practically orientated, jargon-free and very much aimed at giving a good working knowledge and skills base for a variety of workers seeking more informative approaches to working with potentially challenging clients in complex situations.' Journal of Advanced Nursing

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements 1 Introduction Who are involuntary clients? The dual role of workers with involuntary clients Direct practice Sources of knowledge in work with involuntary clients Evidence-based practice The purpose of this book The structure of the book 2 What works and what doesn't? Approaches that work Approaches that sometimes work Approaches that don't work An evidence-based practice model Research evidence, theory and other practice models Summary 3 Role clarification Dual role: Social control and helping What is negotiable and what is not? Confidentiality Case manager, case planner or problem-solver? The client's expectations Helping the client to understand the nature of the professional relationship Organisational expectations Theoretical approach to the work Case examples Summary 4 Promoting pro-social outcomes Identifying pro-social comments and actions Providing rewards Modelling pro-social behaviours Challenging undesirable behaviours Advantages of the pro-social approach Criticisms of the pro-social approach Summary 5 Problem-solving Steps in the problem-solving process Problem-solving, risk assessment and case planning Criticisms of a problem-solving approach Summary 6 The relationship Empathy Optimism Humour Self-disclosure Client violence Summary 7 Working with families When is it appropriate to work with family groups? Collaborative family counselling A home-based model The collaborative family counselling process Pro-social modelling The worker-client relationship Summary 8 Evaluation Single case study evaluation Case analysis Conclusion Appendix: Principles of effective practice References Index

About the Author :
Chris Trotter is Professor in the Department of Social Work at Monash University and the author of Helping Abused Children and their Families and Collaborative Family Work.

Review :
"This is another edition of an essential text for social workers and all professionals working in complex social settings where service users (described here as clients by virtue of involuntary service use) are compelled to use services regardless of whether they want to. The book is a fresh reminder of how the profession needs to build on Trotter’s book to demonstrate wider expertise, and evidence of good interventions and practices (which has been part of Trotter’s mission to date). The book reviews practice with not only compliant involuntary clients, but also those who may resist or even sabotage interventions, sometimes as a result of the practitioner not having the necessary skills, values or aptitude for this kind of work." Dr Lee Quinney, University of Wolverhampton "This is another edition of an essential text for social workers and all professionals working in complex social settings where service users (described here as clients by virtue of involuntary service use) are compelled to use services regardless of whether they want to. The book is a fresh reminder of how the profession needs to build on Trotter’s book to demonstrate wider expertise, and evidence of good interventions and practices (which has been part of Trotter’s mission to date). The book reviews practice with not only compliant involuntary clients, but also those who may resist or even sabotage interventions, sometimes as a result of the practitioner not having the necessary skills, values or aptitude for this kind of work." Dr Lee Quinney, University of Wolverhampton