Working with people from diverse backgrounds requires a comprehensive toolkit of communication skills. It is easy to assume that communication skills are intuitive and universal, but communicating with service users with specific needs and issues requires a high level of professional skill. This book will help you to understand and harness these specialist skills to ensure effective social work practice. Based on the author's innovative teaching and award-winning research, this essential text provides a robust evidence base to support the development of higher-level interpersonal skills within a range of social work settings. It examines general communication techniques applicable to all social work practice, as well as exploring the specialist methods that you can employ when working with specific service user groups. Incorporating detailed transcripts, the book dissects the professional communication skills that lie at the heart of social work with those with particular needs including children, parents, asylum seekers, people who use substances and people with disabilities. In each specialist chapter, the author: assesses the theoretical underpinning and policy context of the setting draws on a detailed practice example to identify key communication techniques and micro-skills interrogates the link between theory and practice, based on tried and trusted research highlights the relevance of the skills discussed to national professional standards. Clear and engaging throughout, Specialist Communication Skills for Social Workers provides support for honing your skills both within classroom and placement environments, and is a key resource for individual portfolio development. It is therefore a core text for all social work students and professionals, from training through to professional practice.