Opportional Interviewing Reflective Analysis

The foundational skills of intentional interviewing enable a social worker to establish empathic relationships with clients and interview effectively. In January, I constructed two short-term goals to work toward to build my competency as a social worker. Throughout the semester, my interviewing skills have grown significantly. In my interview, I intended to successfully apply certain skills while addressing the necessary aspects of pre-termination counseling. This video demonstrates the techniques which I use naturally and highlights the techniques which I find challenging. Critically analyzing my progress furthers my learning by revealing the skills and techniques that I must continue to practice to become a competent and effective interviewer.

This semester, I focused largely on achieving this goal. However, as discussed during my supervision session, I focused so intently on this goal that my attending behaviors slipped. Therefore, during this interview, I integrated the suggestion from my supervision session to be recognizant of all my skills, rather than focusing solely on one technique. I believe that I successfully integrated this suggestion as my attending behaviors were good in this interview and I addressed emotions quite frequently. My growth toward this goal is evident in my ability to question my client’s feelings and use validating statements when discussing emotions. Additionally, throughout this interview, I was patient and allowed my client time to reflect on her feelings. However, although I have become much more consistent at addressing emotions, I can still greatly improve this skill. In this interview, there were a few times where I could have discussed emotions more deeply. For example, from 17 – 21 minutes, my client and I were discussing my client’s feelings about adjusting to her ex-husband’s new partner. I questioned my client about some difficult emotions that she was expressing; however, at 21:30, I stated that a new partner was not my client’s priority right now, thereby closing the conversation. Although my client agreed with this statement, we had been discussing a lot of tough emotions that I could have continued to explore. Throughout this interview, there were moments similar to this where I should have or could have delved deeper but did not. If I had stuck with difficult emotions more frequently, different information could have surfaced and changed the direction of the interview. I have become more consistent with addressing emotions, but I can still improve