5 credits

The first step in helping individuals, families, organizations, and communities is to form effective helping relationships. These relationships are characterized by the ability to connect with clients and those around them through demonstrating empathic caring, respect for people and institutions, and genuineness that leads to perceived trustworthiness. Just as an ERG is a unit of energy in physics, Empathy, Respect, and Genuineness (ERG) is the unit of energy in helping relationships. In this course, students will learn how to talk with people in ways that demonstrate empathy, respect, and genuineness while obtaining the kind of information required to help clients identify their unmet needs and participate in finding ways to meet them. Students will participate in mock interviews and will participate in critiques of their own work along with their instructor. Students in this course will also focus on the essential functions of case management including how to write up important case notes appropriately with special attention to ethical and legal issues. While the basic principles underlying an effective helping relationship may be close to universal (ERG), the actual process of demonstrating them could vary greatly across cultures or countries; therefore, students will explore how this might differ in a different setting and among different professions.