A client comes in to see a social worker because she is having multiple issues on her job during the initial session, she tells the social worker that she “can’t wait for advice on how to fix the problems.” In this situation, the social worker should:

Social work roles in the problem-solving process include consultant, advocate, case manager, catalyst, broker, mediator, facilitator, instructor, mobilizer, resource allocator, and so forth. Problems can arise when a client is not clear about a social worker’s role. Initial clarification should be made during engagement and should be discussed during the therapeutic process if the role of a social worker changes. The social worker in this case vignette must address this situation immediately and should not ignore the comment. In addition, the social worker should not make this a therapeutic issue and question the client further about it because it may simply result from a lack of understanding on the client’s part.