Building a good relationship in social work is the most central part of the work. For a new practitioner it’s clearly an important thing, but it seems harder than it looks. This study examines the experiences of newly examined social workers in relationships with clients in Sweden and internationally. The aim of this study is to find out their experiences and how they feel when they in practice try to build a relationship with a client. It’s also an interest to find out if they feel that their education has prepared them well for the challenge and also their opinion about the content of their education. Systematic review was conducted for this paper and the result clearly showed that newly examined social workers felt unprepared and insecure for the many challenges for building a relationship with a client. Their opinions about the educational content was a wish for more practical exercises and more knowledge about communication skills, because it was clearly that they were lacking practical skills. The result also showed the newly examined social workers appreciation when they actually did have practical education. The practical exercises made them feel more confident and secure. This is a global matter regarding social work that needs to be further investigated in order to increase the quality for both newly examined social workers and clients.

A qualitative study on school counsellors´ perspectives on relationship-based social work in a school context. The purpose of the study is to provide insight into the school counsellors thoughts about relationship-based social work with children and youths. Furthermore, the purpose is to shed light on the social workers thoughts on the power relationship between children and adults and its importance for their social work in a school context. The study is based on four school counsellors, and their perspective on their practical work with children and youths was used to answer the purpose of this study. The results of the study show how the school counsellors are suggesting that relationships are a fundamental component of a functioning social work. The results also show that the school counsellors try to compensate for the inequalities that exist between children and adults. The school counsellors have several strategies to empower the children and youths they meet. The results also show how the school counsellors experience their work as very complex as they see school as a compulsory, normative and non-democratic organisation which they dissociate themselves from.