Empathy In Social Work Essay

Empathy has made an impact on social work practice in Sweden and it also plays an important role within the international field of the social work profession (IFSW, 2012; Akademikerförbundet SSR, 2006). The concept of empathy has a long history within the 10 social work literature (Lietz et al, 2011). Furthermore, it has for years been suggested that practitioners should develop their empathy skills in order to understand and respond appropriately when working with variety of populations and meeting people with social problems (ibid). Shulman (1999, as mentioned in Trevithick, 2009) divides empathy into three different sections that are necessary for social work practice; 1) reaching for feelings, which implies that the social worker needs to step into the client’s

As a consequence of this, a trusting environment is created and the client feels safe and cared for (ibid). This can also be supported by Håkansson (2003) who portrays empathy as a shared experience between the empathizer and the target. The importance of being understood by another human being is indispensable for the client, not least because it can lead to self-understanding. Self-understanding can last a lifetime, longer than any professional involvement which may be passing (Trevithick, 2009). Geldard and Geldard (2008) argues that if a helper has not sorted out his or her own value conflicts, there is a risk that their own confusion will interfere with the ability to focus on the client's confusion, and the helper may inadvertently end up using the counseling session to resolve his or her own conflicts rather than the client's. It is important for a helper to not get to emotional when meeting a client. Social workers need to be in control of their emotions