Hello, My Name Is: Meeting the Whole-Person Needs of Your Clients

NASW New Hampshire Chapter

Wednesday, October 8
8:45am - 12pm EDT
In today’s fast-paced and high-demand environments, social workers are often required to focus on immediate, crisis-oriented needs. However, effective, ethical social work practice requires a holistic understanding of clients as full human beings—shaped by complex systems, life experiences, and identities.

Hello, My Name Is: Meeting the Whole-Person Needs of Your Clients is a workshop designed to help social workers enhance their capacity for whole-person engagement and assessment. Participants will examine how systemic barriers, personal bias, stigma, and burnout can inhibit relationship-building, and will learn how to create more inclusive, empowering spaces for clients. Through case-based and interactive learning, this workshop promotes culturally responsive, person-centered, and team-supported practices essential for ethical and impactful client care.

Learning Objectives:

1. Define the concept of "whole-person care."
2. Identify common barriers to engaging clients holistically, including organizational, cultural, and interpersonal factors.
3. Apply culturally responsive strategies to build trust and rapport.
4. Use strengths-based communication techniques to center clients' autonomy and lived experience.
5. Develop a plan to integrate whole-person practices to develop expectations of care and impact development of an inclusive work culture.