Discussion Assignment 7:

Working with Reluctant, Resistant, and Culturally Different Clients

Imagine yourself in the role of a professional helper. In your mind, what type of service does the imagined organization you are working for provide? In this activity, you will create a scenario where you are the helper working with a client who is resistant, reluctant, or culturally different. Your story can be based on a real-life experience of your own or someone you know, or it can come from your imagination.

For example, a Case Manager worked in his county’s Bureau of Aging as Coordinator of a grant-funded Older Workers’ Program. A great deal of the work involved case management. The purpose of the program was to help people aged 55 and older find employment. Some had lost jobs and needed full-time work that paid well enough to support themselves and perhaps a spouse and possibly other family members. Others had retired and were looking for income to supplement pensions and/or social security payments.

The first thing the Case Manager had to do was assess each person’s situation:

• Why were they there?
• What kind of work had they done in the past?
• What skills did they have that they could carry over to a new job?
• Did they have an idea of what they wanted to do now?
• Would they need additional training, and if so, where would they get it and could they afford to pay for it?
• Could they be trained on the job?

The information gleaned from the initial assessment interview was important because it offered a starting place for the Case Manager and client to work together to create a plan of action. Setting goals together allowed the client to feel “ownership” of the plan, and therefore, more motivated to follow through with all the steps.

Often, the Case Manager would link clients to resources, job opportunities, skills assessments, and so forth by referring them to various agencies in the community. Follow-up with each client was an important part of keeping him or her motivated. When plans needed to be revised, client and Case Manager worked together. Not everyone found employment during the period of the grant, but quite a few did.

Imagine the special issues that challenged the Case Manager when a client was reluctant, resistant, or culturally different. One particularly difficult client arrived feeling bitter and frustrated. He had lost his job, a middle-management position in a company that he had worked for since he graduated from high school. He was 57 years old—too young to retire. He had a wife and two children in high school who were hoping to attend college in a couple years. He was feeling a sense of desperation—how was he going to take care of his family? He needed a job, and he needed one “right now.” And yet, he was reluctant to take the necessary steps to prepare himself for re-employment because he had no confidence in his ability to be successful in another job—especially if it meant having to find and prepare for a different kind of work.

Use this Discussion to complete the activity regarding the challenges of working with clients who are reluctant, resistant, or culturally different.

• Think about the grant-funded program in the Bureau of Aging as you create your own scenario (in any type of agency or circumstance) with a client who is reluctant, resistant, or culturally different.
• What problem or problems-in-living has your client presented to you? 
• Explain how you will use the stages of the helping process to connect with your client and try to move him/her forward. 
• Identify the special issues you must consider as you work with your client who is reluctant, resistant, or culturally different. 
• Identify three (or more) skills and strategies you will use to gain trust and cooperation with your client who is resistant, reluctant, or culturally different.