Effective communication is essential when working with a client. There are many ways a communication can go wrong. Good communication is an important component of collaboration and collaborating with the client is what a professional should work towards. The purpose of this discussion is to demonstrate effective communication using a scenario. The scenario, in this case, is the following: “Elvita has decided to leave an abusive relationship, but she feels guilty leaving her abuser's children behind. She talks about how she knows that, once she leaves, she will no longer be able to have contact with the children; and is concerned about how this will affect these children she has grown to love and want to protect." (Summers, 2009, p. 149) Effective communication will be demonstrated by identifying good responses and poor responses, listening and responding, asking questions, raising issues difficult, dealing with and disarming anger and the effective combination of skills. Good communication skills are a very important skill for any professional, especially for those who work directly with clients on a daily basis. Since each client is an individual, the worker she may have to approach communication differently. However, there are good ways to respond to a client and there are bad ways to respond to a client. In the scenario, Elvita mentions that she feels guilty leaving her abusers' children behind and that once she left her contact with the children would be cut off. Furthermore, she is worried about the effects her leaving will have on the children. What if the worker's response was, “Are you going to stay there and continue to be abused? There's little point in worrying about children who aren't yours... center of the card... questions will give the client the opportunity to express and process their feelings. The worker should listen to the content, but also understand the underlying feelings. As important as the content may be, the customer's feelings are even more important. The ability to listen, ask questions, raise difficult issues, disarm anger, and give appropriate responses in combination is what a human services worker should be able to do to communicate effectively with a client. References: Smith, M., & Segal, J. (2010). Domestic violence and abuse: Signs of abuse and abusive relationships. Retrieved November 21, 2011, from HELPGUIDE.org: http://helpguide.org/mental/domestic_violence_abuse_types_signs_causes_effects.htmSummers, N. (2009). Fundamentals of Case Management Practice: Human Services Skills, 3rd Edition. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.