Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-225) and index.

Machine generated contents note: Communication and interpersonal skills -- Book structure -- Learning features -- The contemporary context -- Professional Capabilities Framework -- ch. 1 Communication skills: Don't they just come naturally? -- Metacommunication, rules, conversation analysis and habitus -- General systems theory -- Paralanguage, multiple meanings and emotion -- Feedback and homeostasis in social work practice -- Context, role and goal -- Communication in context -- ch. 2 What do we know about effective communication? -- Does skilled communication make a difference? -- The working alliance -- Motivational Interviewing -- Research in social work and social care -- ch. 3 The human face of social work: understanding emotions, intentions and non-verbal communication -- The contribution of Charles Darwin -- Imitation -- Mirror neurons and actions -- Mirror neurons and intention -- Mirror neurons and emotion.

Contents note continued: Some cultural and gender differences in non-verbal communication -- Attachment theory and communication -- Affect regulation in early life -- Goal-corrected empathic attunement -- ch. 4 Getting started -- Context, goal and role -- First impressions count -- Making contact by letter -- Making contact by phone -- Being on duty: expect the unexpected -- Meeting people -- Starting interviews -- ch. 5 Making progress and managing endings -- Introducing SAVI[™] -- Getting to know SAVI[™] -- Collaboration and empowerment -- Listening -- Providing information -- orienting and responding -- Gathering information -- asking and answering questions -- Paraphrasing and summarising -- Using commands and corrective feedback -- Bringing working relationships to an end -- ch. 6 Communicating with children -- Key issues -- Infants -- Working with infants in the first year -- Children -- Working with children -- ch. 7 Working with families.

Contents note continued: What is a family? -- Mapping family membership -- Family practices -- Family display -- Cultural differences in communication style -- Interactions between mothers and infants -- Engaging fathers -- Complex families -- Working with family groups -- Family group conferences -- A cognitive behavioural approach -- ch. 8 Working with groups -- Prior experience of groups -- The origins of social group work -- Models for group work -- Planning and preparation -- Example for exploration of the planning process and outcomes -- Leadership -- Confidentiality and other norms -- Patterns of interaction -- Functional subgrouping -- Choosing a subgroup: a fork in the road -- Bringing sessions to a close -- ch. 9 Working with people with additional communication needs: communicative minorities -- Minority languages -- Deafness -- Working with interpreters -- The social model of disability -- Hearing loss -- Visual impairment Learning disability.

Contents note continued: Permanent or temporary changes in communicative ability -- ch. 10 Safety and risk: working with hostility and deception -- What counts as hostility and aggression? -- Why are people aggressive? -- Planning and anticipation -- Recognising and responding to aggression -- Deception -- ch. 11 The demands and rewards of interpersonal work -- Who we are -- Managing our uncomfortable and negative feelings -- Managing complex communication -- Emotional labour -- Hope and optimism -- Burnout and compassion.

This text aims to help students to identify and address the problems faced in communicating successfully with a range of service users and with other authorities and colleagues. The new social work degree requires all students to learn communication skills and to have those skills assessed.