Relational social work: Honoring the tradition∗

Abstract

Abstract For social work clinicians trained in psychoanalysis there may be a tendency to disavow their earlier social work training and to identify themselves solely as psychoanalysts. This article addresses this tendency and introduces the term relational social work as a way to describe the intrinsic relational roots of social work theory and practice. A definition of relational social work is offered and its distinguishing features are outlined in comparison to relational psychoanalysis.