Family Service Rochester was founded in 1965 as a nonprofit organization with a staff of three and the mission to support and enhance the dignity and quality of life for individuals and families in our community. Today, Family Service Rochester provides more than 30 programs across 12 different counties. Our staff of over 150 along with 600 + volunteers provides a wide range of services addressing mental health, child-wellbeing, family stability, and senior independence.
All people have worth and a right to self-determination; to make their own decisions about their lives. Acceptance of this principle leads one to treat clients with respect and to honor their opinions and worldview. True partnership is impossible without mutual respect.
This principle asks us to “seek first to understand” and is accomplished primarily through empathic listening. While empathic listening looks very much like active or reflective listening, what differentiates it is the listener’s motivation. Active and reflective listening are often used to manage or manipulate someone’s behavior so that the listener can advance his own agenda. Empathic listening is motivated by the listener’s desire to truly understand someone’s point of view—to enter someone’s frame of reference—without a personal agenda. When one feels heard and understood, defensiveness and resistance are unnecessary and solutions can be sought.
Each of the six principles is part of a greater whole. While each has merit on its own, all are necessary for partnership. Each principle supports and strengthens the others. In addition, this principle acknowledges that putting the principles into practice consistently is hard. Acceptance of the principles is not enough; applying the principles consistently requires our intention and attention.
Once a judgment is made, one’s tendency is to stop gathering new information or to interpret new information in light of the prior judgment. Since a helper’s judgments can have an immense impact on a client’s life, it is only fair to delay judgment as long as possible, then to hold it lightly, while remaining open to new information and willing to change one’s mind. Acceptance of this principle does not mean that decisions regarding safety cannot be made quickly; it simply requires that ultimate judgments be very well considered.
Power differentials create obstacles to partnership. Since society confers power upon the helper, it is the helper’s responsibility to initiate a relationship that supports partnership, especially those who appear hostile and resistant. Clients make a choice to cooperate or not, but that choice is greatly influenced by our skillful use of power.
Each of the six principles is part of a greater whole. While each has merit on its own, all are necessary for partnership. Each principle supports and strengthens the others. In addition, this principle acknowledges that putting the principles into practice consistently is hard. Acceptance of the principles is not enough; applying the principles consistently requires our intention and attention.
