Process of Helping: Find a Theory to Use and Personal Philosophy of Helping
The process of helping involves the professional methods and protocol of aiding individuals who are in need of support. During this process of helping, it is fundamental to be self aware and understand our own philosophy and approach to helping in order to recognize where we hold bias, judgments, and beliefs that may not be correct or lack awareness. Some questions we may reflect on give an indication of how we view helping:
- What are my values and goals?
- This question indicates how we view the world.
- What is a good life?
- What is a mature, individuated person?
- How does that look?
- What is our responsibility to ourselves and others?
Another area of reflection may be on what we believe to be the nature of humanity:
- How is personality structured?
- What motivates people?
- How are choices made?
- What is the role of culture?
- What is fate and destiny?
Lastly, we may wonder how people change:
- How do we learn?
- What factors prevent change?
- Do we act then learn, or learn then act?
A closer look at all these profound questions will assist in reflection on what we implicitly believe to be a philosophy of helping.
Developing a personal philosophy of helping is very useful as an exercise in self-awareness and a look at the biases we hold. Developing an explicit personal helping approach can help you to grow as a CSW, as you will have a guide to your practices and decision making with clients. At this juncture, the CSW students can discuss how a helping philosophy can provide a frame of reference for a personal helping practice.
Corey and Corey (2014) identified the following five stages of the helping process:
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- Establishing a working relationship
- Assessing the problem
- Setting goals
- Choosing interventions
- Planning termination and follow-up (para. 1)
These processes assist helpers in supporting clients. A strong working relationship is crucial to ensure that the CSW is able to communicate effectively and address clients’ issues. When they identify the issues, they assess them, establish goals, and select interventions, strategies, or treatment. The process has three phases: the beginning, middle, and terminal.
Mitchell (2022) described the social work helping process as including engagement, assessment, goal setting, intervention, progress evaluation, and termination. During the engagement stage, the task might be to build relationships and trust as well as create professional boundaries and a road map. During assessment, the task could be to interview clients to determine their needs, then work with them to set goals and intervention procedures or methods according to these needs.
Ensuring the success of the process requires ongoing evaluation to determine their progress by identifying the methods that work and those that do not. Finally, the intervention terminates when clients’ needs are met, or when they decide to stop the intervention or the support. Whether they achieve the goals or not, termination might be necessary if the clients lose interest or if the helpers have achieved their goals and there are no new issues to address. A follow-up is important after termination, to ensure that the clients are doing well.
References
Corey, M. S., & Corey, G. (2014). Corey and Corey’s five stages of the helping process. Cram.com. https://www.cram.com/essay/Corey-And-Coreys-Five-Stages-Of-The/PCKQWDEBK6M
Mitchell, M. (2022, March 19). The social work “helping process” – Engagement, assessment, planning, intervention, evaluation, and termination ASWB. Agents of Change Social Work Test Prep. https://agentsofchangeprep.com/blog/the-social-work-helping-process/#:~:text=The%20Social%20Work%20%E2%80%9CHelping%20Process,Intervention%2C%20Evaluation%2C%20and%20Termination%20ASWB
