STORYTELLING

Martina:
In our course we learnt about “Story-Telling” and how stories could help us to change our
perspective. Dave Isay launched an experiment by inviting passersby in New York's Grand
Central Terminal to go into a prepared room, where a person could honor someone who
mattered to them by listening to their story.
When listening on some of those stories, I recognized that stories can influence our lives and
may lead to a change of perspectives. The story of a mother who forgave the murderer of
her son is still in my mind. She visited him in prison and supported him after prison. Now,
she sees him as her own son.
So, I got interested and I started research. One story catched my heart:
“During the first weeks at the university, the professor handed out a questionnaire to
his students. It was a kind of quiz about their motivation to study here, mixed with
some questions about the university itself. Only the last question was extraordinary:
"What is the first name of the woman who regularly cleans this lecture hall?" In fact,
nobody could answer the question. No one had ever exchanged a word with her, no
one knew her name. So, most of them left the answer field to this question blank or
wrote a guessed name.
When everyone handed in the questionnaire, one of the students took heart and
addressed the professor directly on this question: "Will this question have an impact
on your overall grade at the end of the semester?" he wanted to know.
"Absolutely" the professor answered and also explained why, "In your career you will
meet a bunch of people. And all of them will be very important. And I really mean ALL
of them. Every single one of them deserves your attention, your care - or at least a
"smile."
The student never forgot that lesson and asked her shortly thereafter. Her name was
Dorothy.”
Short version: A professor asked students to fill out a questionnaire. A mix of questions
about the university and the motivation to study. Only the last question was extraordinary:
"What is the first name of the woman who regularly cleans this lecture hall?” Most of the
students left the answer field blank or wrote a guessed name. Only one student asked the
professor directly: "Will this question have an impact on your overall grade at the end of the
semester?" The professor said: “Absolutely, in your career you will meet a bunch of people.
And all of them will be very important. And I really mean ALL of them. Every single one of
them deserves your attention, your care - or at least a "smile." This student did not forget
that lesson and asked the woman shortly afterwards: Her name was Dorothy.

I learned from this story that it is important to perceive (=wahrnehmen) each person. A
simple smile can break the ice. That also plays a role in working with people. In the
counseling session, each person must be perceived as being the most important person at
the moment.

Lisa: I wasn't aware of the fact that story telling can be a scientifically proven method in
social work. Of course, it takes place every now and then when talking to people in a
professional context private context. But reflecting this topic, I am now totally aware of the
positive effects story telling can have.
In future I really want to use this method for situations like getting to know a new
person/child (like just to get to know each other better and in a different way than just
name, age) or when it seems difficult to get into a special topic. I also think It would be great
to have special pictures or small cards with quotes on it or anything like that which is linked
to a special story or beginning of story/Relationship.
Jasmin: I totally agree with you, lisa. I also want to try to use storytelling in my work,
especially with children, but also with older people, as i think it is a good way to present and
visualise problems. I liked especially the cubes we had in the lessons to practice storytelling -
I think this was a really cool method to try this. I am really thinking about buying some cubes
for me and for my future work practice. Storytelling might also be a good ice breaker, as Lisa
also said befor.
Maria : I feel that this topic keeps us much closer to people and makes us see the vulnerable
place of others. For me this tool is super valuable because it is only through personal
situations that you can empathize with what you are explaining. By empathizing you put
yourself in the other person's shoes, so you can really understand and feel what that person
is feeling.

2. Biography research
Was ist
Wie kann es verwendet werden?
Wieso ist das für uns und für die KundInnen wichtig?
Martina: Biography work is a method that allows to tap resources. Clients reflect on their
own lives and take a look to their everyday experiences. Those things that have worked well
so far can be used as a means to achieving self-empowerment. So, people can be seen as the
(re)constructor of his/her own world.
Lisa: When you talk about your experiences, you can reflect them and see them from a
different point of view – you look back on it, in history. So, this may help to understand
yourself and the circumstances at that time better. From this perspective you can also look
back and find different strategies for the next time, if you want to.
Jasmin: At first I was a little bit confused about the biography research and how it would
work. But as we got into the topic I found it was a really cool method to get to know more
about the client lives and also to give them the chance to get to know themselves a little bit
more. This method is a good chance to give the clients more feeling of self-effectiveness,
empowerment and shows them, what they have already achieved in their lives - what is one
of the most important factors for social work.

Maria: In addition, the client can also see how far they have come, by what methods, with
what resources, as well as identify turning points in their lives and for us as professionals it
gives us a clear clue of the economic, social and emotional connection in which the person
grew up and developed.

3. Preparation for counseling

Steps of counseling
Skills
Goals of counseling
Jasmin: There are the steps of preparation for counseling:
• Preparatory reviewing
 • Preparatory exploring and consulting (transparency! context?)
• Preparatory arranging
• Preparatory empathy •
Preparatory self-exploration
• Centering
I think all of these preparations for counseling are important for situations with clients. You
need all of these competences to get to know the client and his/her situation and work with
them on a good level to support them and their needs. For me they are all equally important
in counseling situations.
Maria GOALS
• FACILITATING BEHAVIOR CHANGE.
• IMPROVING RELATIONSHIP.
• FACILITATE CLIENT'S POTENTIAL.
• PROMOTING AUTONOMY
• DEVELOPMENTAL GOALS.
• PREVENTIVE GOALS.
It is amazing how the social worker through counseling can arm a person with
empowering tools.

Lisa: I think all these preparations have various reasons why they can be helpful in
counseling situations. First it helps people to feel valued and “worth it” that you took your
time to prepare for the talk, in my opinion. And further this can make the counseling much
more efficient for the clients, because they may be more open and less inhibited.
And I would say this is not just important for “beginning” social workers, it can also help in
longer counseling relationships to focus again on the client and not on your assumptions.
Martina: I agree with you. When you're empathizing with someone, you're trying to step
into their shoes. You switch sides: what is the person feeling right now? What are the
reasons why someone is acting that way he/she acts? Each Social Worker brings along a
range of experiences, knowledge, and interests. Being empathetic does not mean that one's
own experiences and values also apply to others. You should understand people in their
world.

4. Self-care and mindfulness

Lisa: In my opinion there should be so much more self-care exercises in lectures at all. We all
know that this can be a really important skill in social work, especially when you want to
work in it for a longer time. But how to do it, different approaches or ways are almost not
taught at all. So I really appreciated the mindfulness exercises in this course. I especially
remember the one when we all seemed pretty tired in the morning hours. To me, it really
made a difference and I felt much better after it.
Martina: I liked those exercises as well. Often, we do not take the time to come to rest
because we are already far ahead with our thoughts. All it takes is 10 minutes a day, doing
nothing and allowing our thoughts to come and go. This could give us a strength to handle
with calm, staying focused and have the power to open the mind for our own resources and
opportunities. Being self-reflected can help us to react in difficult situations without stress,
not even in Social Work.
Jasmin: In my opinion self-care and mindfulness is as important in your work life as in your
private life. Especially as a social worker you will also need that in your freetime to get “the
head free”. I think everybody needs this in his life for a good health and well-being. As I
agree with Martina, that sometimes just needs some minutes a day to make you feel better
and it is totally worth it.
Maria : I feel that self-care and mindfulness changes your life; connecting with the body,
knowing how to breathe, connecting with consciousness is personally the goal of my life.