Communication and Interviewing Skills for Practice in Social Work, Counselling and the Health Professions

Patricia Higham is a registered social worker and counsellor, and served as a non-executive director and lay member of NHS organisations in Nottinghamshire. She completed a BA degree at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, a postgraduate social work qualification at the University of Sheffield, a PhD at Cranfield University, and a part time counselling qualification over a three-year period. She is Professor of Social Work (emeritus) at Nottingham Trent University. She worked part time for the Quality Assurance Agency, Skills for Care, DeMontfort University, and for the Health and Care Professions Council. Her experience includes statutory social work in Sheffield, Milton Keynes, Northamptonshire, and mental health outreach in a rural area of Pennsylvania, USA. She is a life member of the British Association of Social Workers and a member of the National Association of Social Workers, USA. She is a member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy. She volunteers as a counsellor two days a week for charities that support women who experience domestic violence.

Acknowledgements; Chapter 1: Introducing Communication and Interviewing Skills; Chapter 2: The Person; Chapter 3: The Professional Practitioner; Chapter 4: Different Communication Approaches as Essential Tools of Practice; Chapter 5: Interviewing Skills; Chapter 6: A Conceptual Basis for Communicating and Interviewing in Different Practice Situations; Chapter 7: Information Giving as a Form of Communication; Chapter 8: Ethical Concerns for Communication and Interviewing; Chapter 9: Communication and Interviewing in Different Organisational Contexts; Chapter 10: Communicating with Technology, Computers, and Artificial Intelligence; Chapter 11: Communication in Different Practice Situations, Including People in Crisis, or with Mental Illness, Autism, Diabetes, Addictions, or Obesity; Chapter 12: Communicating in Situations of Loss; Chapter 13: Domestic Violence and Communication; Chapter 14: Communicating with Life Stories and Biographical approaches; Chapter 15: Communicating with Older People; Chapter 16: Communicating with People with Physical impairments, Learning Difficulties, and/or Anxiety and Depression; Chapter 17: Communicating with Children and Young People; Chapter 18: Professional Development to Improve Communication and Interviewing Skills; Chapter 19: Summarising the Book’s Content and Themes; Index