Education, skills, and qualities of social workers working with LGBTQI+ clients (Reading)

The education of social workers should include LGBTQI+ specific issues because it is more than likely they will come across them in their practice. The educational programmes focused on LGBTQI+ topics should include at least the following:

• Basic terminology,
• Basic statistics and demographic data,
• LGBTQI+ history and traditions, customs, significant days,
• Minority stress, homo/transphobia and discrimination of LGBTQI+ persons and communities,
• Legislation and social policies focused on LGBTQI+ persons,
• A map of LGBTQI+ organisations operating at local, national, and even international level.

Some of the basic skills that a LGBTQI+ friendly social worker should have, are as follows:

• They are able to create safe and respectful environments for LGBTQI+ clients,
• They do not assume a client’s sexual orientation or gender identity but is able to ask and communicate about it in a sensitive way,
• They understand a client’s contract holistically, that is in the context of their life, personal history, family, community, society, etc.,
• They are able to recognize the signs of internalised LGBTQI+-phobias and uses supervision sessions where they could resolve anything that may arise when working with LGBTQI+ persons,
• In planning a social service, they also consider a client’s family of choice or whom a client has already come out to and whom client have not come out to yet,
• As part of social counselling, they are able to refer clients to LGBTIQ+ organisations or LGBTQI+ friendly organisations or services,
• They regularly educate themselves on LGBTQI+ topics.

Some of the most important qualities of the social worker working with LGBTQI+ clients are as follows:

• Empathy – the ability to identify with and understand another person’s situation and the emotions that they are going through, in order to provide comfort and support,
• Social perceptiveness – good listening skills, being able to read between the lines to help clients talk about the issues that are not so easy to discuss, interpreting body language, etc.,
• Patience – especially with complex cases that involve various people and differing goals, it also takes time to build up trust between social worker and their clients,
• Dependability – a key indicator of trust,
• Objectiveness – personal feelings can’t get in the way of what’s best for the client,
• Flexibility – respond to emergencies and be there as much as they can for their clients, but know and guard their boundaries as well,
• Resilience – clients may be dealing with insufficient care, abuse, bereavement, and poverty among other issues, and though it can be heartbreaking, it is important to realize that helping them is the only way the situation will get better.