UAlbany Master of Social Work student Taylor Philippi shares how his experience practicing client interactions with professional actors could help shape future conversations as a social worker.
When we spoke with Taylor, he had already completed his first field practicum, a core component of the Master of Social Work program, at the Pride Center of the Capital Region.
The Albany-based non-profit is dedicated to serving the LGBTQ+ community, offering counseling, peer-led support groups and events. They also offer trainings, which became a focal point of Taylor's experience. This is what he said:
“Part of my field practicum involved going into schools and delivering trainings to teachers, superintendents, school counselors — really anyone working in a school setting. These trainings focused on gender and sexuality and were designed to help them understand what their students might be experiencing and how they can create affirming, loving environments within their classroom for queer students. And it wasn’t just for students who identify as LGBTQ+, it was also about making learning equitable for all students. How do we meet everyone's social and emotional needs? I was formerly an educator, so getting to speak to my former colleagues was really enriching for me. I could see the lights go on in some of the teachers’ heads who want to help and want to serve but aren't necessarily sure how to support and affirm their queer students.”
What is your top tip for educators seeking to make their classrooms more inclusive?
“One of the simplest things I love to say is to have something in your classroom that signifies that you are an ally. That could be a pin, it could be a flag on your desk, it could be a magnet. It could be including your pronouns in your syllabus or putting your pronouns on the board or in an email signature. These sorts of visual cues are really helpful to students because then students can think, “Ok, I know this teacher is going to respect my pronouns or respect my preferred name,” or “I can talk to my teacher about my relationships, no matter what they look like.”
Those visual cues are a really good starting point. It's very simple and you don't have to think about it every day. The item is just there, and it represents your willingness to learn, your willingness to listen, and your willingness to love them no matter who they are.”
Learn moreabout how the School of Social Welfare uses professional actors to help students prepare for client interactions.
Watch a video featuring Taylor together with fellow advanced standing Master of Social Work student Gabriella Audino and Assistant Director of Field Education Monique Ivey.
Discover UAlbany’s Master of Social Work program.
Interview by Erin Frick
Audio editing and production by Scott Freedman
Photo by Scott Freedman
Written and hosted by Erin Frick
0:01 Erin Frick
Welcome to The Short Version, the UAlbany podcast that tackles big ideas, big questions, and big news in less time than it takes to cross the academic podium. I'm Erin Frick in UAlbany's Office of Communications and Marketing.
In just about any place people seek help, there's a good chance you'll find a social worker.
From mental health counseling to family therapy, rehabilitation services to palliative care.
In hospitals, schools, nursing homes, even courthouses — social workers are there, toiling to support their clients as they navigate challenges ranging from everyday needs to moments of crisis.
In this profession, success depends on effective communication. How well can you listen closely, think nimbly, build rapport and develop practical, empathetic solutions — often on the fly?
This skillset is the type that develops over a lifetime, but for social workers practicing at any level, every conversation with the client is an opportunity to make their life — and possibly with the lives of those around them — better.
Okay, so a good conversation could save someone's life. How do you train for that?
At UAlbany’s School of Social Welfare, students are exposed to a rich set of tools to make every conversation count.
Beyond the classroom, students in the Advanced Standing Master of Social Work program work with professional actors to practice having tough conversations.
Like many counseling sessions in the telehealth era, these one-on-one trainings take place via Zoom. The student signs on and their client appears — ready to play the part.
The actors learn intricate character histories and present authentic representations of mental health conditions. It's all just practice, but it's designed to feel real.
In this episode of The Short Version, we met up with Taylor Philippi to hear about his experience working with actors to practice social work skills learned in the classroom.
Taylor walked us through several scenarios to give a taste of what it's like to navigate what feel like real client interactions — sitting across from a stranger who might refuse to open up, get upset, or react in any of the ways someone might when they're dealing with something difficult. Taylor also shared insights on how he envisions putting this practice to work.
2:17 Taylor Philippi:
I thought the simulations were an excellent learning tool. One of the biggest benefits was working with trained actors. These actors were so good. There were moments when I was feeling sad and had to not cry to be professional.
In the first semester, each simulation was a different situation. For the first one, you were playing a hospital social worker and going into the room with a patient for only 10 minutes. It was a really short one. The next one, we did a bio-psycho-social on an individual who had a history of bipolar. Then the third one was helping with goal-setting for someone who was a mother and her kids were in foster care. I thought the scope of all of that was really helpful because it really exposed me to a bunch of different jobs. You could have a bunch of different avenues to implement what you're learning in a bunch of different settings.
Then the second semester was actually more like an in-depth conversation with one particular client. You had three sessions, but it was with the same client and the same actor every time, so you're kind of building on each other.
The most eye-opening was the hospital one, because I didn't even understand or realize that you have five minutes with a client in this setting. You walk in, you need to get so much work done in five minutes and you're trying to build rapport. You're trying to do active listening, build empathy, while also getting all the information you need to ensure that this person is safe to go home, to ensure that this patient is safe by themself. That one was really eye opening to me, to see what a social worker does in a hospital setting.
The realness of the conversations was very poignant, and I think that was one of the huge benefits. I actually felt like I was in a real client situation.
Another thing that I really came to realize that was really beneficial was the fact that I could take risks in trying to ask a new question, trying to implement a new theory without worry about causing harm to the individual because this person did not have that lived experience.
On top of all that, we would then go over the simulations with our supervisor. At times, that could be very uncomfortable, to watch yourself and see yourself doing the work and learning. You're still learning, you're still a student, but it was so beneficial. So, we were hearing things like “Hey, this was really good,” or “Maybe you could adjust this,” or “Why did you say that?”
I thought the feedback from our supervisor was incredibly helpful in the whole process.
I remember one conversation where we had just learned about narrative therapy and we were in this conversation and the client was in a frame of mind where she felt bad for advocating for her child to her siblings.
I was like, you know what? I think we could reframe this story and shift the narrative here a little bit. So I thought, I'm just going to try it. And I was coming up with questions right on the spot, and I was thinking, I have no idea if this is working or if this is even going to go anywhere. But I did it, and it had a huge benefit in the conversation, and I literally saw her get excited and empowered. Then when we were reviewing it, my supervisor was like, oh, that was really unique. You used some narrative therapy there.
I was like, I just learned it that day in class and I was trying something new. And it happened to work. It didn't always work. But that’s one where it did. I remember very clearly thinking, I'm going to try this and see what happens.
I was an educator for about 14 years, starting off as a substitute teacher, and in the end I was serving at a private school as the director of upper school, which is essentially the principal role. And throughout all my time there, but particularly at the end, I really began to realize that there were students who were not benefiting from their education because they had a weight or they had trauma or they had social emotional needs that were not being met. And it was really hard for our private school, but really any school, to meet all the social emotional needs of students.
And so for me, social work means helping youth or helping adults feel very confident, feel healthy, feel secure in who they are, and therefore they can step out and engage in the world in the way that they want to.
6:27 Erin Frick
That was Advanced Standing Master of Social Work student Taylor Philippi on how his experience navigating client interactions with professional actors could help shape future conversations when the stakes are real.
To read about Taylor's work training educators on inclusivity, including his top tips for signifying allyship and creating safe spaces in the classroom, check out The Longer Version in our show notes.
The Short Version would not be possible without contributions from many people.
Scott Freedman and Zach Durocher filmed this interview onsite at the School of Social Welfare on UAlbany's downtown campus.
Brian Busher provided additional audio production and editing support from the UAlbany digital media studio deep inside the podium tunnels.
Thanks for taking a minute with us. I'm Erin Frick here at the University at Albany, and this has been The Short Version.