The challenge of existential social work practice

It has taken four years part time but finally my book is published. Now I can return to my blog, which I have neglected for many years.

Diverse Lineages of Existentialism Conference 2014

One of the most exciting conferences on Existentialism is being held in three weeks. here is the website:http://www.siue.edu/existentialism/index.shtml

What makes this conference really interesting is the range of topics being covered. The keynote address is being delivered by Lewis Gordon on “existential philosophy as world philosophy”. Lewis Gordon is a leading Black Existential philosopher and his personal website is well worth examining for it’s wealth of articles. So are his many Y Tube clips.

Two of America’s other leading existential academics, Thomas Flynn and Kevin Aho, are attending. I particularly like Kevin’s new book “Existentialism, An Introduction 2014” which I am reading at the moment. It is so contemporary, personal and highly readable account of the relevance of existential thought to todays world.

The full program of the conference is worth looking at and downloading just to see the wealth of topics and interest in existential theory linked to critical theory and human liberation. Its inspiring to see so much interest in existential thought emerging in the 21st century. I wish I could attend this great conference! Hope they repeat it in 2015. I will be there!

Radical hope in social work

What would it mean for our history, our way of life, to end? Is this already happening?

Perhaps another major global financial crisis brought on by debt, a sudden climate shift and new world war? We all have a sense today of shared vulnerability to global crisis. The intolerance to asylum seekers and enhanced border protection efforts are attempts at prevention “outside disasters’ from affecting our privileged way of life.

Jonathon Lear’s book, “Radical Hope” asks this question.

What is the possibility of things ceasing to happen? What does this mean? How would we respond to this?  Jonathan Lear became obsessed with Crow Indian Chief Plenty Coups comment that, after the massacre of the buffalo, “nothing happened”. Their whole way of life had been destroyed. He takes this comment by the chief seriously and literally. It becomes the basis of an ontological and ethical exploration of how to creatively adapt to cultural disintegration. Since Hegel, whole ways of western culture have disintegrated, the ancient, roman, medieval, and feudal. Yet we think our current modern way of life will simply go on.

Are we facing a new cultural crisis?  This could be happening to us over decades of change. Dispossession of Indian lands in the USA took decades too. Some might say this is still going on in Australia.  

Plenty Coups experienced a number of dreams or visions from the spirit world as a young boy that helped him to guide his people through their cultural destruction throughout his adult years. Dreams, visions, sweat induced visions and close interaction with the spirit world are all part of the Crow cultural practices. Plenty Coups visions were taken seriously and discussed and accepted by the elders in his community.  

Plenty Coups responded to the collapse with radical hope. Lear argues it is radical because “it is directed toward a future goodness that transcends the current ability to understand what it is”, even the “concepts with which to understand it”. Are we also facing a similar crisis where a clear direction is not articulated to the cultural crisis in the west?

Lear asserts that these dreams can be understood psychologically as wish fulfilment and an imaginative response to realistic anxiety created by radical historical change. He notes, “we are finite erotic creatures,” meaning limited and desiring. Plenty Coups response involved the giving up of old symbols, ( for example, the Coup stick, used to claim ground from enemies in wars), the application of traditional symbols that provide new guidance on how to respond ( such as the chickadee, a bird, who is a wise listener to enable the crow to learn from the white man’s challenge) , and radical hope, that there is a spiritual assurance that there is more goodness in the world than we can perceive. This was dependent on Plenty Coups following the directions set by the visions and helping articulate these broad visions into practical responses and actions. This, he did and more successfully than any other Red Indian Chief.   

I was introduced to Johnathan Lear’s Book, ‘Radical Hope’ at a session by leading Kierkegaard scholar, John Lippitt in his talk on “The Role of hope in Fear and trembling, at the Kierkegaard in the world conference August 2013 at ACU. At this session John argued that Abraham’s hope was a kind of radical hope, as described in Lears book on the Red Indian Crow Chief, Plenty Coups,  story of responding positively in the face of cultural devastation. I asked John a question after his talk commenting on what I thought was an obvious parallel with the globes current challenge with global warming and the likely cultural devastation we are bringing upon ourselves. He seemed genuinely surprised by my comment as it had not really occurred to him.

I became more curious and sort out the Radical Hope book by Lear and various articles. As it turns out I am not the first one to see significant implications from this book for our current cultural circumstance of a shared sense of vulnerability. Here are three articles I have found that address “radical hope” and its application to our contemporary climate.

Allen Thompson’s  “Radical hope for living well in a warmer climate” in the  Journal of Agricultural Environmental Ethics (2010) 23: 43-59. This journal article describes how our consumer culture will not survive and how we have to develop the first ever human society “not based on exploiting carbon based forms of energy”. Thompson uses the “radical hope” model as a way forward for the future.

Herbert Dreyfus, leading Heideggean philosopher, on “Comments on Jonathon Lear’s Radical Hope, in Philosophical Studies (2009) 144, p. 63-70, proposes the question outright, “what if there is a total collapse of our culture? How do we go on? Like Plenty Coups, Heidegger suggests we need to become sensitive to marginal practices, to avoid the “twin temptations of nihilism or fanaticism”. Dreyfus suggests that the failed Woodstock in the 1960’s was an illustration of returning marginal practices to the mainstream but I cannot see the relevance of this example in the 21st century. Dreyfus suggests there are two elements involved in the story of world collapse-a way of life becoming impossible and unintelligible. The former describes how you respond to a breakdown or collapse of a way of life and the latter suggests that we also have to make sense of what is happening, (find meaning in crisis).  

Julian Edgoose in “Radical Hope and Teaching; Learning political agency from the politically disenfranchised” from Educational Theory Vol. 59 No1 2009 p. 105-121. In this article Edgoose examines the role of hope in teaching and commences with a definition of hope as the “belief in the possibility of a better future” and examines how hope can be engendered into teaching by looking at how radical hope can be practiced. He reminds us through the work of Arendt and others how much the unexpected, unforeseeable, and just plain old messiness and haphazardness of existence affects our lives, and how theses changes can shape our worlds as much as the detailed plans we make in our lives.    

What are the implications for social work of the radical hope model?

1        The Vision               

I think it is important that we locate the spirit in the social work process as something that includes us, the world and nature. We need time to seek guidance and Lear mentions how much humility played in Plenty Coups and other Indian tribes seeking of vision. This was described as asking the spirit to take pity on them. I have always allowed time for this guidance whenever facilitating large groups or commencing some challenging intervention in social work. Curiously very few social workers speak about meditating, prayer, or other quiet reflection times to gather their thoughts, gain space and silence before action in the world. I have always found this practice to be highly useful and never regretted doing it. Of course, if during this time some inspiration comes, it is vital that you follow it or this source will dry up for you. Perhaps this is what we can all tap into in our own way.

2         Courage

We need to develop courage and avoid cowardice or rash boldness. Cowardice in this context is “capitulation to whatever evil or harmful action is occurring” which usually takes place in social work through turning a blind eye to happenings that we are not responsible for. Here Thompson’s anti-discriminatory practice approach can be adopted to challenge oppression and resist a maintenance approach creeping into our approach to social work- just survival is not enough. Our aim should always be to live life to the fullest-this means challenging oppressive practices. Rash boldness is seeking a quick easy solution that sounds dramatic and radical but actually achieves nothing. In the context of the book, Radical hope, the excess of the ghost dance movement as a form of excessive ineffectual rebellion is described. By contrast it took courage on Plenty Coups part to give up the old warrior ways and find courage in listening and learning and even collaborating with the enemy. For social work can sometimes be painted as doing societies dirty work and what is needed is radical mass change. Courage in social work demands being clear about aims, awareness of the risks and management of them to minimise harm, realising that any change process takes time and is fraught with challenges, hardships and unforeseen issues, and avoiding false optimism and being realistic about what can be achieved.                 

  3                 Goodness

Plenty Coups held onto a firm foundation that there is more goodness in the world than evil, and if you act in accordance with the good then you tap into this goodness. Social Workers can identify with this notion. Existentialism works with the positive energies and has an optimistic attitude despite life’s challenges. The notion of radical hope contains this idea that we cannot know the future but we trust in the process. My experience of restorative justice conferencing confirmed for me this viewpoint. I had to trust the process. There are unknown, unforeseen elements to any social work intervention.

4               Inventing a new future from tradition

From his vision, Plenty Coups developed the Chickadee narrative of learning and listening to others. This was a key ingredient to radical hope, in that it provided the broad direction that the crow would take to learn a new way of life that was consistent with their deepest traditional foundations-a traditional way of going forward. Existential social work practice is building on the existential traditions that were present from the beginning in social work and at the same time learning from the non-existential history of social work. Plenty Coups chose creative adaptation over death in a hail of bullets or the freedom of being a “bloody nothing”, to use a Xavier Herbert phrase, in referring to indigenous people who loose their culture. Some of social work’s tradition is vital to pass on.

5                Is our culture destabilizing? Do we really need radical hope?

Surely this radical hope is only based on one autobiographical account of one case study about a great Indian Chief. How can we extrapolate this example to our political economic culture. We are not being dispossessed of our culture. As Lear has suggested every culture is blind to its own destruction or extinction. Lets examine some obvious trends. In Australia, which has been saved from the worst effects of the current GFC, yet we face increasing marginalisation of large sections of our society in poverty, unemployment, housing shortages and the loss of the “own your own home dream”, rising health issues, and a crisis of meaning. Others have mentioned increasing income disparities, global warming, WMD’s, terrorism, natural catastrophies, global health scares, and rising refugee issues as just some of the issues likely to result in a breakdown of our way of life.  Then there are more hidden issues such as loss of wildness that Jay Griffiths has documented in western children. The pervasiveness of TV and media and its impact on alienation and mind-numbing conformity and consumerism could also play a role in our eventual demise.   Social Work itself is being challenged by de-professionalisation, risk management and other forces where its future is being questioned as a separate profession. In Australia there are very few jobs labelled “social worker’ anymore and many professions can apply for social work jobs. In a number of fields social work is loosing status and ground to psychology to the degree it is disappearing from traditional areas such as corrections, child therapy and residential care services for children and adolescents. Social work’s existence is being existentially challenged as never before. The radical claim that social work is ‘History” has already being proclaimed. Remember Plenty coups claim that “nothing happened’ after the buffalo disappeared. Jonathon Lear described Plenty Coups as a ” manifestation of imaginative excellence’ in facing up to new realities in new ways.   

So we simply don’t know. Perhaps existential social work will play the role of the chickadee in our cultural demise phase and provide the unstable stability it needs to :

• follow the wisdom of existential social  work practice
• build social work’s potential in new areas of practice
• strengthen its role in existing practice areas.

   

 

    

Why Kierkegaard still matters in the 21st Century

Hi Its been a while since I blogged here. I have decided to do it more regularly and not let the Ph D stop from communicating with the globe! 

I recently attended a three day conference held at the Australian Catholic University in melbourne on “Kierkegaard in the world”. It was attended by some of the leading Kierkegaard scholars in the world. I love seeing the people whose books I am now reading. Here is the website for a list of the conference key speakers etc. (http://kierkegaardintheworld.com/) 

I got more from those three days than months of reading could possibly provide me. I have always found kierkegaard a difficult writer to understand and really just placed him in the too hard basket. But now I have the tools and insights into which I can spend many months building upon what I have heard from attending all the proceedings over the three days of the conference.

Before the conference I read Michael Watt’s introductory text on Kierkegaard which I can highly recommend.  I read his text on Heidegger and discovered his other text via this experience. He is not an academic and explains things very clearly. 

He gave one example on Soren’s insight into humanity which stills hold today and into the future which we can all concur with. Soren stated “Existence is a synthesis of the infinite and the finite and the existing individual is both finite and infinite.” Soren gives a clear example of our infinite nature. “There is no limit to the way we can imagine the world to be” . You don’t have be spiritual to understand what he is referring to. The human imagination is in the realm of the infinite.

I will mention some of the key highlights for me at the conference which have lasting value; 

• hearing Charles Guignon talking on authenticity after reading his book “On being authentic” and his critique of various approaches to the concept. I was able to ask him about his conclusion in that book that “to be fully authentic is to be constantly vigilant in one’s society, to be engaged in political action aimed at preserving and reinforcing a way of life that allows for such worthy projects as that of authenticity” p. 162. On being authentic by Charles Guignon. He mentioned that Dostoyevsky taught him this lesson about authenticity. 
• John Lippett talking on the role of hope in Fear and Trembling by kierkegaard. In this talk john linked his discussion of kierkegaard’s thought on Abraham and Isaac to a book by Johnathon Lear on Radical Hope. This book uses the example of a famous American Indian Chief called Plenty Coup ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plenty_Coups) and his vision in response to the collapse of their whole way of life in the aftermath of the white man’s invasion. I couldn’t help commenting on this example as indicative of the kind of complete and radical change of lifestyle required by all of us in response to climate change.
• Matthew Sharpe’s reading of Pierre Hadot via kierkegaard and discovering how different ancient philosophical thinkers are to modern philosophy. I am now reading Hadot!
• Gabriel  Guedes gave a great talk on kierkegaard Hanna Arendt and the advent of the hollow and thoughtless individuals within modernity. he described modernity as resulting in an emptying out of subjectivity and allied this to Arendt’s thinking on the thoughtlessness and banality of Eichmann.
• Daphne Hampson provided an important critique of kierkegaard’s backward and outmoded view of the eternal reality as seperate from the living reality of this world. I bought her new book-her view helped me situate kierkegaard vis a vis modern existential thinkers like heidegger and Sartre whose concern is being-in-the-world. One can then read Kierkegaard even as a Christian, and gain much  benefit with a focus on this world and its issues and realise that spirit is very much a part of this world not the next ( On this Soren, Hegel was right and more existential that you!)          

existential biography and documentary film making

I am currently working on a documentary on Australian Writer Xavier Herbert. I am in the post-production editing phase and to complete the project I am writing a post production script and film treatment as part of getting approval from the estate to access photographs and obtain copyright approval to use certain historical footage in the documentary.

I was interviewed in Alice Springs more than a year ago when I was on my trip around Australia doing the shooting for the film. Here is the interview link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0-qjOD4KU8

As part of developing a strategy towards assembling the film I attended sessions on Sartre’s existential biographies at the Melbourne School of Continental Philosophy (http://www.mscp.org.au/) In this series of lectures we examined Sartre’s approach to the biographical study of artists. Firstly we learnt that Sartre developed a detailed model of the subject (where consciousness is “in the world”, not something in our minds) and then puts it to work in his existential biographies on artists.

To do this Sartre developed his progressive-regressive method and I recommend a book by Roxanne Claire Farrar on Sartrean Dialectics as the best introduction to the application of this method to artistic creation. I wanted to understand this approach because Xavier Herbert’s biography was heavily influenced by a psychodynamic approach that labelled his artistic endeavours as a response to his narcissistic personality disorder-that his storytelling was in response to his need to invent a grandiose self ( see Xavier Herbert by Frances De Groen pg 8. . I believe this is reductive, explaining his behaviour as an essence rather than an existence and it fails to explain why he chose to become a writer rather than a painter (or other life). Existential biography starts with the concrete acts of the individual ( not a pre-ordained explanation or theory) and the choices that are made.

The progressive regressive method involves three stages according to  Farrar who applies the theory to a number of practical examples of artistic endeavour.

These are:

1 A phenomenological description of the studied object, what is the phenomena we are studying? In my case it is Xavier Herbert, the writer and his works and life. Describing his work and its significance by different people is part of this process. Outlining his actions and the works he created.

2 An analytical-regressive movement back into the historical context of the phenomena ( its social/historical context) to understand its significance. The period is 1901-1984 when Xavier Herbert died which begins exactly on the federation of Australia in 1901 and ends with his death in the heart of Australia in Alice Springs. Then this stage involves how he developed his projects in historical time.

3 a progressive synthesis from the past to the present ( why is this phenomena important for us today? This aspect of the documentary is the hardest part because it involves the questioner in the question. In part the truth emerges from the project itself and certain total meanings emerge for example the high regard Xavier Herbert is still held in by certain Aboriginal people. What is unique about his vision that is still relevant today in an Australia that is still subservient to the Queen of England, that exploits our environment to the hilt via the minerals boom and denies the original inhabitants justice and a far share of the wealth of this commonwealth?

Each of these 3 stages is included in each stage of the analysis. What were the specific purposes that drove Xavier Herbert to write his magnum opus: Poor Fellow My Country? Why do I and others see his work as of contemporary relevance?

Of course I then have to apply this theoretical approach to a film process which is telling the story with available footage and sound in an informative and entertaining manner for the viewer. This involves choices and decisions and trial and error and is an artistic process itself. What do I include and omit? What story do I want to tell? Here we go!

Gerald Corey and the Existential approach

Gerald Corey is one of America’s leading writers/practitioner/academics  in counselling and psychotherapy. He has many standard texts in this area, some of which are in their double figure editions, so we are dealing with one of the few greats in this field. I find it interesting that he adopts an existential approach as a meta-theory to make sense of his work. He suggests to new practitioners that they should thoroughly immerse themselves in their favorite approach to build some depth before looking at other approaches and building their counselling repertoire.

In social work existential thought is so marginal it barely rates a mention in most courses, yet here we have one of the world’s most respected authorities on counselling, espousing an existential approach. I found this podcast via another blog: http://lawdawgsmentalhealth.blogspot.com.au/2011/04/aca-podcast-dr-gerald-corey-discusses.html

Here is where you can hear Corey speaking on his existential approach and why he adopts this “way of thinking”, This is how I see existential thought as assisting social work. In the session he makes some very clear points about being deeply present in any encounter, being open to change as a professional, developing relationships, and only using techniques as a secondary tool not your primary vehicle for understanding and action, and being authentic ourselves ( that is applying existential thought to our own lives). He also makes the point that therapy is not just about insight but applying that insight in the world and both aspects must be given equal attention.

Here is where you can download the podcast for free;

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/aca-podcast-series/id288394528

You will find it titled existential therapy.

In his books such as The Art of Integrative Counseling and Theory and Practice of Counselling and Psychotherapy he states that existential theory is closest to his world view, theoretical and philosophical orientation, and that this approach captures “the essence of the therapeutic adventure” Corey 2001 pp 92 The Art of Integrative Counselling. Having this approach does not prevent him from embracing everything useful that other compatible approaches can bring to the encounter. This breath of knowledge helps make him an expert but having an existential world view gives me the confidence that just maybe I am not so strange in embracing this approach after all.   

On the social work podcast website there is a podcast that discusses existential therapy and uses Corey’s insights and views to explain what existential therapy is. I don’t agree with all the views expressed here but it is definitely worth a listen.

Here it is:  http://www.socialworkpodcast.com/Existential64.mp3

Reading Rollo May

I am currently reading the classics of existential psychology as part of my Ph D on existential social work, and Rollo May is a good place to start as he  is considered as the person who introduced existential psychology into the USA with his book “Existence” in 1958.He is interviewed about this book Here :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT6qBtYJ-90 You can read or print the full transcript of this interview called the Human dilemma Here:http://www.intuition.org/txt/may.htm

I started my reading of May with a small book he wrote in 1973 called Paulus, which is about his mentor and teacher, philosopher and theologian Paul Tillich. In this book I found some interesting insights into the process of creative discovery.

On Pg 21 of the book, May writes about how he wrote his first book “The Art of Counselling”  at the age of 27 years based on Alfred Adler’s ideas. To write the book he had to forego other duties and immerse himself in this task but he was surprised to find that it did not affect his other studies, in fact he thrived. Tillich commented to him: “when you become creative in any field your creativity is released in all other fields at the same time”.

I have often wondered about this principle of creativity. It explains why programs that teach Aboriginal kids about horsemanship and stockmen skills on outback stations are successful, why sail training in tall ships can change lives.

Tillich was a hard task master on May for his Ph D, which resulted eventually in his classic book ” The Meaning of Anxiety“. Tillich insisted May read everything ever written on the subject from the ancient times to the present. I took May 9 years to complete his Ph D on Anxiety but interestingly this association affected Tillich as well resulting in him writing his classic ‘The Courage to Be“.

The courage to be reminds me of this attitude of the existential thinkers in wanting us to look squarely at life and say “yes”. This is the courage required in spite of all of our frustrations and anxieties. I am reminded how deeply immersed in European thought existentialism is. Rollo May stressed the debt and deep respect the first generation of Existential thinkers had for Freud, Jung, Rank, and Adler in expanding our understanding of the mind through their work on the unconscious. He thought this understanding of the classics was essential to good practice in psychotherapy and railed against  the superficial use of technique.

See the following clip from May: http://www.videosurf.com/video/rollo-may-on-modern-therapy-1353621551 I think this applies to social work as well. Social Work’s history has been neglected in current courses. It’s almost like  social work from 1920-1970 ( the years of dominance in psychoanalytic approaches ) have been wiped from the memory.

It’s also interesting to see Rollo May argue for the maintenance of mystery for creativity in his comments on the swedish welfare nanny state in the following video clip. At a time when conservative winds are dismantling the welfare state everywhere, it makes for interesting viewing today. The Swedish Prime Minister argues for social/economic rights as well as individual rights against his conservative opponents and says “its hard to feel free when you are unemployed”. May, the psychoanalyst, argues against a social engineering approach in a simplistic way and this is where he lacks any social theory in his existential approach. Of course his points in favour of the individual over the collective approach are still pertinent but so is Marx’s comment that men make history but not in circumstances of their own making. It’s hard to be creative if you are starving.    http://www.videosurf.com/video/psychoanalyst-rollo-may-being-interviewed-in-swedish-documentary-sagolandet-from-1988-1293599758

Jesus Camus and Existential Social Work

One of the most profound books I have read in the last few years is Human  Existence and Theodicy by Robert Chester Sutton. It is a comparison of the thought of Jesus and Albert Camus. Theodicy is the study of evil ( a part of theology). Evil in this sense includes both physical and mental sufferings brought on by both human and natural causes-like car accidents, criminal offences, child abuse, health and aging issues in fact most of the conditions that social workers are addressing in their daily lives.

Social workers are ‘thrown”, to use an existential term, into addressing evil or, in professional social work terms, the effects of harmful actions and usually have to act quickly to prevent further harm taking place.

Sutton has done thorough research in developing his work on camus and jesus. He is at pains to avoid using the label “existential” to Jesus in terms of the stories that have been handed down to us from the Gospel writers. His book is thoroughly familiar with modern scholarship on jesus especially the academic research of the Jesus Seminar.

What I gained from this book is the artistic responses of Jesus and Camus to life’s great challenges. Both believed that truths can only be really discovered in story. I have communicated with Robert Sutton and asked him about his comment in the acknowledgement section of his book where he pays homage to his teacher who taught him that finite human beings can affirm that “life is not ultimately precarious”.

Of course I was thinking that this comment referred to the traditional Christian belief in resurrection, and the next life where all wrongs will be righted. But Sutton’s whole approach is to focus on how both writers ( Jesus in his parables, camus in his novels etc) are concerned primarily about this present life. “The Kingdom of God is present within our immediate locality”, but we do not see it.

It is in our active collaboration with life, choosing life over death, living life to the fullest, radically questioning the world and above all showing mercy to others that Christ and Camus showed the way to live in this arbitary, sometimes violent world. Our lives are complex, multifaceted, filled with joy, despair and hope and it is in the living that we discover that our existence has meaning.

One example will suffice-the insane generosity of the good samaritan. The context of this story is beautifully explained and brought to life by Sutton. The extraordinary response of the Samaritan who broke all the rules in his response is explained. How would social work look if we adopted these values in our work?

Why Existential Social Work ?

I have started this blog on existential social work because it will help me connect with others around the globe interested in this topic and there are probably not many of us at present. Existential theory is considered marginal in current social work courses and barely rates a mention. Existential philosophy is considered passe. Existential therapy is developing and growing in Australia and overseas but mainstream  and critical social work barely mentions the topic. 

Here are some of the reasons I believe this approach has something to offer current social work practice

1        In the 21st Century social workers will increasingly have to create their work opportunities by joining with others to develop social movements and respond to emerging needs and requirements. This demands that the social worker takes a stand, accepts responsibility and acts in the world, in a climate of uncertainty, cutbacks and more emphasis on social control than ever before. Existential social work, contrary to popular misconceptions about obsession with individualism, embraces the most powerful energy of the 21st century-group synergy to solve our social issues. Existential social work goes way beyond the therapy room. 

2            I was first introduced to existential thought more than thirty years ago and I still find it illuminating and rewarding to apply this thought to my everyday life and social work practice. Many other theories have disappeared from my horizons as satisfactory explanations for how the world works. Theories like Marxism which still have significant influence in critical social work circles and even in existential thinkers like Sartre but they have been revised and renewed through the existential lens. Perhaps it’s hold on me reflects something about one of its central values-living an authentic life demands of the social worker they challenge themselves to live their life to the fullest. How can social work be authentic in the 21st century? 

3 Existential social work challenges one of the central myths of evidence based practice theory as applied  in professional circles that needs to be challenged. This is the myth that you can isolate something the professional does to the client and measure it and determine whether it has had an impact or not. In fact real change happens in relationship, through the engagement process where social workers bring together  both formal and informal resources via powerful relationship building and professional skills are used in this process but outcomes are shaped by the lived experiences of the participants which is the real evidence base of social work. How can we build an evidence base for existential social work practice?   

 These are my initial thoughts in creating this blog. More to follow. Thanks for reading!   

    

Welcome to existential social work!

Here is a great simple digital story on existential social work philosophy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd282Et6hy4