Skills and Characteristics of Mental Health Human Services Workers BSHS 471 Skills and Characteristics The skills and characteristics a social worker should bring to the field as a human service work is the key to his or her success in becoming a good human service worker and a career he or she will enjoy doing on a daily Many human service workers provide direct and indirect services to his or her client s Human service workers provide services and advocate in the best interest of his or her client It is his or her job to transport or assist his or her client s to scheduled appointments intervention programs counseling sessions group activities and much more Skills It takes many skills to become an effective human service worker whether it is through experience or training a human service worker in his or her field Many human service workers receive his or her skills from education going to college and internship within the field as a human service worker to gain his or her experience to become an effective human service worker When asked what skills a human service worker should possess also include bias or prejudice against certain race or gender It can be hard at times for any professional or person to become bias or prejudice because its life and people are human and bias and prejudice is one of a human being s instincts It is how humans learn to have control over this bias or prejudice instinct Other skills a human service worker should possess are the ability to handle a wide variety of case loads and work under pressure as a human service worker has many duties A human service worker should possess an emotional state of mind is the best skills any person can possess because it allows the human service worker be in control of tensions or anxieties one could have within this type of work Characteristics Some of the characteristics human service workers possess is a genuine concern for his or her client s wellbeing which think is the most important characteristics of them all this lets me knowhow much pride he or she take in his or her position as a human service worker To become a good human service worker he or she should possess good interpersonal skills Interpersonal skills are could have a good connection with others allowing the client believe he or she can count on his or her human service worker to advocate or find resources in the best interest of him or her Good listening skills also are a good characteristic a human service worker should possess I do not know anyone working in any field be able to do his or her job effectively if he or she did not possess good listening skills The best thing is simply to hear the client speak and help the client be able to make decisions which are in the best interest of the client Advocating for the client is what a human service worker do to help his or her client if he or she did not take the time to listen first I believe setting boundaries also helps the client become effective because there will be many clients who will overstep his or her boundaries and ask for the human service worker to do things that could be unethical and against his or her agency s policies Other characteristics is good communication skills the ability to talk to other professionals or even to the client in regard to treatment or what he or she thinks is in the best interest of the client Empathy is an important characteristic for a social worker because they help people with problems Without empathy social workers fail to relate and connect with clients who can lead to an ineffective helping relationship if a social worker does not feel connected or vested in a client she may subconsciously not do the best job Additionally listening to people s problems is draining and without empathy social workers run the risk of burnout Natiq p 1 Reference Zoha Natiq 1999 Characteristics needed to be an Effective Social Service Worker Retrieved on July 15 2012 Ehow www ehow com