VERBAL AND NONVERBAL BARRIERS IN SOCIAL WORK COMMUNICATION

Both for building a functional relationship between social worker and client, and for the success of the intervention, communication is essential in social work. That is why different verbal and nonverbal communication techniques are used in order to build and maintain efficient relationships between those who communicate in social work and contribute, in this way, to the fulfilment of the proposed objectives of the intervention. However, sometimes communication is disrupted by various factors and obstacles, referred to as communication barriers. These can be both verbal and nonverbal. The more such disruptive factors are in social work communication, the more the outcomes in this field are affected. Therefore, it is recommended that the typical communication barriers are known by social workers in order to avoid them. This paper deals with the most common verbal and nonverbal barriers that can affect communication in social work. In addition to defining and discussing them, various examples from the practice of social work are provided, as well as several suitable recommendations for avoiding them.