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Single session therapy (SST) is an increasingly popular approach to mental health treatment that aims to address clients' presenting difficulties in a single appointment. However, experiential approaches to SST are limited. In this paper I describe the theory and practice of "chairwork" – an integrative, action-focused method of intervention centred on the concept of self-multiplicity – and outline how these procedures can be coherently applied in a single-session format. A preliminary protocol for delivering single-session chairwork (SSC) or "brief dialogical psychotherapy" is presented, alongside a case illustration that demonstrates features of this approach. Finally, directions for future research and the continued development of chairwork as a psychotherapeutic modality are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about the relationship between treatment organization characteristics and client outcomes or drug-related harms in community opiate substitution therapy. In the absence of sufficient scientific evidence, the organizational configuration of addiction treatment services is often decided on an ad hoc and sometimes politically motivated basis as the evaluation of the impact of policies or practices on clients at the organizational level is limited. The objective of this multi-site cross-sectional study was to identify and understand how client characteristics and staff perceptions of organizational functioning related to client engagement in community-based opiate substitution therapy services in Ireland. This paper reports on a cross-sectional survey of clients (n = 262) and staff (n = 132) questionnaires across 12 discrete community-based prescribing service providers (organizations) in Ireland. Measures of client engagement in treatment were shown to be higher in organizations with more positive staff ratings of organizational functioning. In particular, in organizations where staff reported having greater job autonomy, clients reported better overall engagement. Specifically, greater staff autonomy in organizations related to greater levels of treatment participation (p = 0.034), treatment satisfaction (p < 0.001), and better rapport with staff (p < 0.001). Clients who were the longest in treatment expressed significantly poorer rapport with staff (p = 0.44) and were less likely to seek out support from peers (p = 0.023), while those in stable accommodation reported greater participation in treatment (p = 0.009). Levels of peer support were not related to organizational characteristics, but clients with lower levels of education (p = 0.002) and those in early treatment (p = 0.017) were more likely to seek support from peers. The findings establish the importance of assessing organizational and client attributes as part of an overall strategy for enhancing the quality of treatment. This paper provides valuable information for policymakers and provides an ample basis for further exploration of how treatment organizations work, and not just that they work. Policymakers and planners need to consider introducing specific interventions for clients or staff in the context of a 'whole systems' approach. From an organizational and planning perspective, this should involve further consideration of measures that relate to increasing staff's sense of autonomy. This paper provides further evidence that the success of policy-making or planning relating to treatment organizations can be successfully measured at the client and organizational levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores isomorphic patterns in social work group supervision and social work practice through the lens of the psychoanalytical concept of parallel process and Bion's theory of learning from experience. Empirical data from group supervision sessions are presented, and a link is theorised between sessions characterised by high levels of anxiety and the presence of parallel process, whereby 'unthought' anxiety provoking phenomena described in social workers' practice appear to be repeated in supervision. Implications for supervision practice and social work more broadly are then discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many music therapists propose that chaos, such as destructiveness and disintegration, could thwart music therapy group processes and should be minimised or resolved. From a paradoxical approach, however, chaos is understood as a transformative complement to ordered, formative music therapy experiences. The research in this paper explored how music therapists and adolescents could engage with chaos as a resource in music therapy groups. From a paradoxical approach, the music therapist--researcher facilitated two short-term group music therapy processes with nine young South Africans from under-resourced and often violent communities, referred for committing offences. The researcher utilised crystallisation, including constructivist grounded theory, participatory action research, and abduction, to analyse how group members could engage with chaotic group experiences. Findings, constructed through a cyclical process of data collection, analysis, and inclusion of group feedback, are presented in a matrix. The matrix shows how groups could utilise chaos to explore multiple possibilities for responding to challenges. They expressed themselves courageously and played unconventional group roles through their musicking and participation. They juggled paradoxical tensions between observational and active, integrative and disintegrative, engagement styles. This supported their transformation in the group, and potentially within the chaotic South African context. Music therapists can use the matrix to support adolescents in music therapy groups to engage with chaos as a transformative resource. They can accompany young people through offering holding, resources and collaborative support. When it is safe, music therapists may allow or encourage chaos that empowers adolescents to cope with challenges independently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Western culture, "hearing voices" is often considered a symptom of mental illness. After reinterpreting this phenomenon from perspectives that emphasise the socio-cultural aspects of the construction of these voices, this paper describes a case report involving a psychological intervention divided into six phases. The aim is to challenge the dominant narratives that stigmatise the experience of hearing voices, and propose alternative meanings that can improve the hearer's ability to manage the voices by converting them from a disease into a personal and relational resource. Using the metaphor of an "inner dialogue", we show how changes in the client's interpretation of the voices, and way of relating to them, can be co-constructed by the client and the therapist. The paper concludes with some critical reflections on the medicalisation of mental distress, highlighting the importance of expanding our understanding of the experience of hearing voices, not only in clinical terms, but also on a social and cultural level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trauma- and violence-informed care (TVIC) has become an important lens to guide health and social services. TVIC emphasizes service providers' understanding of trauma and its impact, including structural aspects of victimization. Emotionally and physically safe environments, service user opportunities for choice, collaboration and connection, and the use of strengths-based and capacity-building approaches are prioritized. The majority of writing on TVIC has focused on its application to services for survivors of trauma and abuse. In this paper, we argue that a modified trauma-and violence-informed lens has the potential to improve our work with men who perpetrate violence in interpersonal relationships, and even more importantly, that without such a lens, we are likely to miss very important opportunities to act in ways that enhance the safety of potential victims of abuse. Using examples drawn from practice, we explore specific examples of how applying TVIC principles may increase service providers' ability to recognize and respond to potentially dangerous situations, thereby improving services to perpetrators and enhancing safety for potential victims of abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an attempt to analyze the specifics of ethical norms in the work of psychologists in Ukraine, with an analysis of historical preconditions, current challenges and cultural characteristics. Ukraine, as a modern developing country striving for integration into the European space, is intensively developing psychology and trying to overcome the problems that it has today. Having well-trained psychologists, psychology in Ukraine has many vulnerabilities, such as the lack of legislation in this field and licensing. Professional communities, by virtue of their competencies, strengthen psychology in Ukraine through an attempt to implement ethical standards and highlight problematic topics. The article contains a review of Ukrainian psychologists' understandings of confidentiality, informed consent and multiple relationships. This paper is an analysis and attempt to explain to the reader potential areas of growth and the unique cultural formations that we have in our practical work today. This exploration includes factors such as the features of importance in the relationship between a psychologist and a client in the Ukrainian context, and the historical, social, economic, cultural, and political factors that influence the perception of ethical standards among Ukrainian psychologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present our development of a previously articulated approach to counselling education of transformational learning through a relational dynamic approach (Macaskie et al., 2013). We replace the idea of integration with a values-based approach and supplement the notion of transformational relational learning with a not-knowing attitude. This perspective on education and learning in counselling parallels the attitude within psychotherapy that we teach our students. We argue that this unites relational approaches to learning and psychotherapy across modalities and offers a trans-theoretical approach that could explain the common factors research in psychotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For relational therapists who are acutely aware of male privilege, working with male clients may be challenging, including in (but not limited to) couple and family therapy. This challenge may be particularly true for beginning therapists. This paper outlines a guide to working in relational therapy with male clients from a gender-critical and socio-culturally attuned perspective. To this aim, the paper first summarizes a framework for gender-critical therapists to work with male clients. It then outlines recommendations based on the clients' level of endorsement or relationship to gender-normative masculinity (i.e., stereotypical, challenged, and disempowered relationship to masculinity). In the final sections, clinical vignettes show the application of some of these recommendations. This guide will benefit relational therapists who are questioning their ability to work with male clients in an inclusive fashion while remaining truthful to their gender-critical views. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of reflective practice in psychotherapy has long been acknowledged. However, there is a paucity of work that elucidates the process of reflection in the context of therapist development. The current study employs reflexive action research for a supervised group-work in a tertiary mental health hospital carried out by two trainee therapists. Group-work intervention was chosen because it was viewed as a cost-effective method given the client-clinician ratio. It also provided a richer context to boost reflective practices in various interactions- with the participants, the supervisor and the co-facilitator. Reflective notes and discussions among trainees, supervisor, as well as verbatim feedback from clients were the sources of information. The paper describes this process of reflection as well as the critical events in the process that posed a challenge for the therapists and opportunities for reflection in these interactions during the course of therapy. The paper, with its reflective stance, has implications for promoting and documenting reflective practice in psychotherapy training using different methods and modalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports findings from a qualitative study on the triggers of hospital social workers' moral distress at a large southern U.S. health system. Moral distress occurs when ethical conflict cannot be resolved in a way that aligns with an individual's personal and professional values and ethics. Participants indicated that moral distress derives from both individual interactions and the culture and climate of health systems. For example, participants expressed how sources of moral distress derived from client-centered decisions, such as end-of-life care and patient autonomy; interpersonal dynamics, including team or supervisory conflict; structural issues, such as insurance barriers or internal hospital policies; and organizational values, such as perceptions of institutional support and validation. Implications of this research suggest that health systems need to foster positive ethical environments that nurture clinicians' health and mental health through programs that aim to increase moral resilience, promote empowerment, and foster wellness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concerns the book Tribute to Freud, by Hilda Doolittle (H.D.) (1886–1961). In the book, H.D. – an important person in the modernist poetry scene – presents her psychoanalysis with Sigmund Freud (1856–1939). She describes how literature, sculptures, mythology, and symbols were central to their dialogues. I have analysed these dialogues with respect to the three components of poetry therapy, the receptive, the expressive, and the symbolic. Based on the analysis, I discuss how poetry therapy and psychodynamic practice can be integrated and how practitioners from the two orientations can learn from and inspire each other. I reflect on the presence of symbols and mythology in the book and suggest that the symbolic component, which has received the least attention, could be strengthened by the psychodynamic tradition's acknowledgement of symbols and mythology. I also discuss how poetry therapy could inspire psychodynamic practitioners to acknowledge the expressive component. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This phenomenological reflection aims to chronicle the author's journey from social worker to yoga teacher over a 10-year period as the first yoga teacher at a large inpatient psychiatric hospital. The paper describes the transition from teaching small therapeutic process-oriented groups to movement and breath-based groups. Highlighted are the common practices used and how they were received. Key influences in the literature that are woven into the unique story have guided the experience and confirmed the author's observations and lived experience of teaching therapeutic yoga in an inpatient setting. The paper concludes that there is room for more research regarding the application of gentle yoga-like postures and breathing practices as it relates to clinical social work practice. Pinpointing a "minimum dose response" (of practice) would be helpful. In the meantime, available data suggest that daily practice is where upstream work—such as yoga—shines. Even small doses of breath and movement, done often enough, provide a simple way for social workers to connect to themselves and to their clients in a more embodied manner and may improve client outcomes. IMPLICATIONS The time has come for bringing the wisdom of the body and the reflectiveness of social workers and their clients into their work (and social work education). Emotion regulation happens when both top-down and bottom-up approaches are included in treatment. Breathing exercises provide direct access to the nervous system. Therefore, making space to introduce these simple practices in social work should be a consideration. Considering how social workers might incorporate movement into their sessions or interactions with clients (walking and talking, small arm movements, gestures, intentional breathing practices) is a worthwhile pursuit for both social worker and client wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While recognition that some service users do not want social work involvement has grown in recent years, little research has explored what relationships between social workers and 'involuntary clients' look and feel like in practice and how they are conducted in real time. This paper draws from research that observed long-term social work practice in child protection and shows how relationships based on mutual suspicion and even hate were sustained over the course of a year, or broke down. Drawing on a range of psycho-social theories, the paper adds to the literature on relationship-based practice by developing the concept of a 'hostile relationship'. The findings show how hostile relationships were enacted through conflict and resistance – especially on home visits – and how anxiety and other intense feelings were often avoided by individuals and organisations. Much more needs to be done to help social workers recognise and tolerate hostility and hate, to not retaliate and to enact compassion and care towards service users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From their earliest inquiries on sex, researchers have noted the connection between religion and sexual repression. However, because many see religion as beyond reproach, secularly trained professionals are often frustrated over ways to help their clients heal from problematic religious teachings without damaging their faith. This paper offers concrete ways to reframe the issues to assist clients in extricating themselves from problematic beliefs. By setting science in dialogue with religion, this strategy is based on some of Christianity's basic principles. From this stance, the client can be led to both understand the nature of traditional Christianity's obedience framework and to entertain an alternative spiritual discernment framework with multiple sources of spiritual authority. Professionals do this by (1) affirming the client's faith experiences that undergird their religious experience, (2) identifying their beliefs and their sources, (3) providing information of other church-recognized sources of spiritual authority and noting where individual discernment is applauded, and (4) offering scientific evidence relative to the presenting sexual issue. This approach is not dependent upon the personal religious background or faith stance of the professional. Further, clients may choose to retain their faith while aligning new religious understandings that are more congruent with sexual health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on findings from a psycho-social qualitative doctoral study, this paper considers the intimate and extraordinary emotional intensity, ambivalence and pain associated with the experience of mother social workers engaging with mothers and their infants in the context of child protection work. In this yearlong study undertaken with a group of female Irish child protection social workers, their role as mothers was an unanticipated emergent theme and was found to be inextricably linked to their work and their capacity for realistic decision-making. We consider the wider contexts of societal ambivalence about motherhood, mothering and social work itself, as a way of locating these experiences as fully psycho-social. The work discussion seminars offered as part of the research study afforded a rare opportunity for workers to talk about predicaments, failures and worries, in conditions of containment for anxiety, support for their learning, and a confidential reflective setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though emotions are central in many counselling modalities, how best to work with emotions has not often been clearly articulated or practically presented for counsellors. In this paper I outline a brief history of the science of emotion, highlighting the role of emotional regulation in the counsellor-client attachment and present a five-step model of working with emotions in therapy, adapted from the work of Canadian developmental psychologist, Gordon Neufeld. The paper provides a theoretical and practical framework for understanding the crucial importance of a corrective emotional experience for client healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every healer works within a culture of healing. Healing cultures may work well when "clients" understand and accept their place in the healing culture. But a healing culture can create challenges for clients whose cultural background is remote from it. This paper explores how the culture of grief counseling and grief therapy may create difficulties for clients who are cultural outsiders. The paper offers advice to culturally other clients, to help them and all readers to understand the culture of grief professionals and to help to overcome, where possible, problems cultural outsiders may encounter when seeking help from grief professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a study analysing eye care professional students' written reflections following their engagement with clients with low vision conditions. By embedding a reflective practice model (Schon's reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action) within a higher education curriculum, students' assumptions and beliefs were challenged. Analysis of fifty-two reflective essays were analysed using the Braun and Clarke's 6-phase process for inductive thematic analysis. This generated three themes: (i) Students' perceptions that visual limitations do not necessarily equate to a poorer quality of life; (ii) Extrinsic and intrinsic influences affect patient care; and (iii) Eye care professionals' role expands to holistic care. An additional outcome of this study supports embedding reflective practice activities within the curriculum. By providing students with a platform to reflect and challenge their assumptions, may have the potential to enhance their understanding and improve future practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to explore and understand the social issues that sex workers face as mothers and to improve social work practices with high stigmatized persons. This study has adopted a qualitative methodology. Data were collected through 12 semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis was performed. Despite several constraints, including socioeconomic issues and stigma, having children is central for sex workers' lives and they considered themselves as good mothers, whose self-sacrifice on their children's behalf is not socially recognized or approved. Social representation of sex work undermines sex workers' self-perception as mothers and their relationship with social workers. We suggest a non-judgmental and holistic approach to address the special needs of sex workers who are also mothers. Furthermore, it is important to raise awareness on social representations that support social workers' everyday practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many mental health practitioners have had or will have the opportunity to work with clients who engage in sex work (CSW). Sex work stigma is pervasive in the general population, and among mental health professionals, including sex and relationship therapists. Such stigma may lead to differential, unfair, and even unethical treatment of CSW. Although there is a clear need for best practice guidelines for mental health practice with CSW, no guidelines have been developed thus far. Therefore, drawing on feminist, multicultural, and sex-positive philosophies, this paper presents ten guidelines that are designed to: (1) address and increase mental health professionals' self-awareness of their own bias about sex work; (2) provide useful information about the multifaceted lived experience of CSW; and (3) offer culturally-appropriate counseling skills and intervention strategies in working with CSW. Acknowledging that multicultural competence is a professional process, rather than an outcome or an end, the guidelines included in this paper are developed with the underlying assumption that all mental health professionals are committed to be sex work-affirming and competent in working with CSW, regardless of therapeutic orientation. The guidelines discussed in this paper are informed by current literature about sex work and people who engage in it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recovery and desistance in mentally ill offenders can be more complicated than in respectively general psychiatric or offender populations due to factors and processes on individual, contextual and structural levels. In this paper we focus on a specific element of the interplay between the individual and the contextual level; the working alliance. Beneficial working alliances during (quasi-)compulsory treatment and offender supervision can facilitate recovery and desistance in mentally ill offenders. These alliances are however characterized by a tension between care and control and further complicated by mentally ill offenders' experiences of trauma and stigma. To our opinion, a procedurally just approach can counterbalance these two difficulties by setting a sound rehabilitative climate in which recovery and desistance can be facilitated in mentally ill offenders. We support our argument by a critical review of findings from theoretical papers and empirical research studies from psychological-psychiatric and legal-criminological scientific domains on the subjects of recovery, desistance, (quasi-)compulsory treatment processes, and procedural justice. A procedurally just approach can be valuable for policy, treatment as well as future research regarding recovery and desistance in mentally ill offenders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Person-of-the-Therapist Training (POTT) has grown and been refined, from its origins in the 1980s to its more formal articulation and implementation in recent years. After this process of development, it makes sense to look at the current state of this training model, and ponder about the directions in which POTT can continue to grow. In this paper, we take a look at the different ways POTT is currently being implemented in various settings and modalities, a testament to the versatility of POTT’s philosophy and methods. We also present a summary of the available research on POTT’s effects on the clinical and personal development of trainees. We conclude this paper by offering suggestions for POTT’s growth and expansion, including recommendations for ways in which trainers, students, clinicians and supervisors who are interested in this model can remain connected, and exchange ideas and experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yoga is increasing in popularity. As a holistic practice, it is being applied and researched as a healing modality for physical ailments, assisting with mental health issues, and addressing traumatic symptoms. However, little is known about how social workers understand and include Yoga in their personal lives or professional practice. As part of a larger narrative study, practitioners in an Australian regional centre were asked: "What, if any, impact do embodied practices like Yoga have on your experience and your clients' experience?" This paper explores the stories told by three of the practitioners interviewed both individually and in focus groups. The dominant themes that emerged highlight that: a personal Yoga practice can be varied; the impact it has on professional outcomes is difficult to quantify; there is a lack of theoretical discussion about the body and embodied experience in social work; the challenges associated with introducing Yoga into social work practice are complex. Embodied practices such as Yoga provide social workers opportunities to increase self-awareness, their capacity to engage with clients and self-care. Theoretical understandings of the body and embodiment need to be better articulated in social work if embodied practices like Yoga are to be included in the professional conversation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper illustrates the beneficial effect of a positive benevolent transference in the development of an internalized representation of the therapist/analyst in a variety of patients in psychodynamic treatments ranging from consultation to psychoanalysis itself. This is described in patient presentations. In those who have had substantial early nurturant life experience and now find themselves in a dysphoric state due to crisis, the effect lies in the transference reactivation of these positive object relations that relieve their distress. In those who have been deprived of such early experience, the positive transference may emerge during the intensive work of psychoanalysis and may lead to the internalization of a new positive object representation of the analyst generated in the transference that persists after termination of treatment. In both of these situations, the patient discovers a sense of greater harmony with self and the world. The special conditions that permit and facilitate this process are described since this does not occur in all psychodynamic interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various studies in the science and culture fields have long recognised the power of play in facilitating human development and therapeutic processes. This paper focuses on the developmental potential of play in psychodynamic therapy supervision for social workers who function as therapists, but its conclusions might be applied to supervision of other social work interventions. It is suggested that play is represented in supervision by an illusion shared by the supervisor and supervisee of their complete togetherness in the supervisee's clinical struggles and clinical responsibility. This element of play temporarily reduces supervisees' sense of loneliness in their responsibility for clients' welfare and for the integrity of therapeutic processes. This illusion is healthy and growth promoting when supervisees acknowledge reality and when, by repeatedly experiencing this illusion, they assimilate it into their professional self. Through such a process, supervisees eventually internalise a professional community of supervisors, colleagues, and writers, who become symbolic representations that can be projected onto reality and facilitate professional interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the theory of predictive processing, understanding in the present involves non-consciously representing the immediate future, based on probabilistic inference shaped by learning from the past. This paper suggests links between this neuroscientific theory and the psychoanalytic concept of reverie – an empathic, containing attentional state – and considers implications for the ways therapists intuit implicit material in their clients. Using findings from a study about therapists' experiences of this state, we propose that reverie can offer practitioners from diverse theoretical backgrounds a means to enter the predictive moment deeply, making use of its subtle contents to connect with clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the author's academic work on working with involuntary clients, which began with a knowledge exchange project in Scotland. I reflect back on this work and use it as a way to explore subsequent reflections on the field. These move beyond consideration of the skills required to undertake such work through locating the category of involuntary clients within wider, yet contradictory, governmental discourses on client engagement. These are identified as the strategy that sets the context for such work. But the strategy is enacted through the day-to-day tactics of social workers on the ground; such tactics, enacted in everyday encounters, are constitutive of effective but also ineffective engagement with clients. The discussion goes on to problematise the distinction between voluntary and involuntary clients and to suggest that effective social work practice, whatever the nature of that involvement, requires that clients are recognised at an ethical and relational level. IMPLICATIONS The term involuntary client(s) cannot be taken for granted but is constructed and needs to be understood in particular and often contradictory policy and professional contexts. Effective but also ineffective ways of working with involuntary clients go beyond the acquisition or demonstration of particular skills but are embodied in the everyday relational practices of social workers. Ethical engagement with involuntary clients proceeds from a sense of mutual recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite evidence of the importance of self-of-the-therapist factors for positive clinical outcomes, supervisors interested in helping their supervisees enhance their therapeutic effectiveness by honing their use of self may not have the framework to guide this process. In this article, we present the Person-of-the-Therapist Training (POTT) as a model that offers a clear philosophical perspective and specific tools to incorporate self of the therapist work in supervision. We start with a general introduction to POTT, its philosophical underpinnings, and its main concepts. Then, we describe the POTT supervision goals and specific emphasis. Subsequently, we present two POTT instruments (signature theme and case presentations and papers). With a vignette, we illustrate the use of the two instruments and show how this work on the person of the supervisee translates into the supervisee's clinical work with their clients. Specific recommendations about the implementation of POTT supervision are also included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During recent years, the role of non-pharmacological interventions in the management of psychotic symptoms, including delusions, has received increased recognition. However, a few factors such as the client's cognitive impairments and poor insight into the illness may create challenges for the therapist in conducting these interventions. Present paper discusses some of these issues and the steps a therapist can take to deal with them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bartenders are expected to control guests' excessive alcohol consumption, but hazardous drinking is also common among staff in the bar industry. This paper explores bartenders' accounts of work-related drinking and discusses how structural and cultural working conditions may impact drinking practices among staff. The data comprises 21 in-depth interviews with bartenders from different venues in Oslo, Norway: eight females and 13 males, aged 22–36 years (mean age 27). The analyses demonstrated three clusters of accounts of work-related drinking. First, the bartenders emphasised availability of alcohol in their work environment and that they perceived themselves as sophisticated drinkers. Second, drinking alcohol was described as a coping strategy to deal with stressful work and as a way of 'coming down' after high-energy work. Third, bartenders talked about their work as part of a lifestyle in which alcohol played an important role and they described intense friendships with colleagues. Occupational identity and identification with co-workers involved norms that encouraged a high level of alcohol consumption. Bartenders' work and leisure time are closely intertwined and alcohol plays an important role in both areas. Server training programmes should be developed that take into account this workplace drinking culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of social work has seen an increasing interest in approaches that utilize the integration of the physical, cognitive, and spiritual components of practice. Social workers are looking for innovative and integrative approaches to help clients reconnect with their deepest and truest selves. If the soul represents the total self, mind, body, and spirit, it is important for social workers to help clients heal from soul wounds through evidence based practices meant to emphasize the whole person, not just the mind. In this paper, we explore the function of the soul in clinical practice, identify key social work skills and evidence based practices that heal a wounded soul, and discuss implications for its use in practice, research, and social work education. Social workers who tend to soul wounds can facilitate internal discoveries and transformations that enable people to live their best lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: As part of a large mixed-method study aimed at capturing understandings of dignity, and care expectations of community dwelling older women from Black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds living in Wales, the aim of this paper is to compare service providers' perceptions of their care and support provided to older people in general, and to older women from BME backgrounds in particular, with a focus on two dignity indicators: care and support needs, and effective communication. Design: A survey design was used. Results: A total of 124 responses from service providers in Wales were received. Perceived inequalities in care and support were found. Although most respondents reported that care and support provision was generally acceptable, more respondents believed that compared to older people in general, older women from BME backgrounds were seldom or never offered opportunities and support to express their needs, were involved in their own care, were provided appropriate information, had their key needs especially less visible needs (psychological and religious needs) been taken into account, or were communicated with effectively (all p < 0.05). In some cases, respondents tended to report more positively in areas related to their own practice. Conclusion: We suggest that learning from the views and perceptions of service providers, as well as older people and their families, remains key to developing services for the UK's increasingly diverse and ageing population. A better understanding of how inequalities may occur, their impact on older people and their families, and how they may be minimised can inform the development of high quality care for older people regardless of their ethnic and cultural backgrounds in Wales, other parts of the UK and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social work practice makes up part of modern people processing organisations. In their role of a person-related service provider, professionals intervene into the life circumstances of a clientele who regularly suffers from emotionally distressing experiences and critical thresholds of their living conditions. Emotions (one's own and those of the other) are therefore part of the professionals' everyday life experiences. Social workers must deal with contingent situations and social relationships frequently shaped by affection and multiple feelings that are only partly predictable. This paper aims to make analytically palpable the mostly ordinary and unobtrusive display of emotional states of the participants during a professional/client encounter. It argues that emotions are pervasively present in the professional/client interaction and that their management is pivotal to realise and secure a stable and resilient working relationship as a bedrock for sustained activities in a series. Based on two longer transcripts of audio-recorded German childcare planning conferences (CPC) referring to residential care it will be shown how feelings and emotions are locally managed in situ supporting the clients' respect and self-esteem during an institutionally goal-driven meeting even if they do not refer to them in an explicit or verbal kind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores core adaptive emotions, both negative and positive, and investigates their respective roles in the transformation of emotional suffering into flourishing. We do so through the lens of Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), a mind/body, emotion-focused, healing-oriented model of psychotherapy that has articulated a four state phenomenology of the transformational process. Through such a transformational process, energy-consuming negative emotions are transformed into energy-enriching positive emotions, thus describing an arc that organically links the negative emotions of emotional suffering with the positive emotions of flourishing. AEDP achieves this through (i) amplifying the vitality affects that identify positive neuroplasticity through therapist transformance detection; (ii) experientially processing to completion the "gut-wrenching" emotions of trauma, and then, (iii) "turbocharging" the innate affects of healing to expand transformation through metatherapeutic processing, a technique for working with positive emotions to maximize their therapeutic impact. We conclude with thoughts on how metatherapeutic processing might be used by therapists of different orientations to systematically bring flourishing into psychotherapy sessions and on how AEDP's descriptive phenomenology of affective states can function as a trans-theoretical vehicle of communication to further the exploration of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying change processes in psychotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The science of well-being has catalyzed a tremendous amount of research with no area more robust in application and impact than the science of character strengths. As the empirical links between character strengths and positive outcomes rapidly grow, the research around strength imbalances and the use of strengths with problems and conflicts is nascent. The use of character strengths in understanding and handling life suffering as well as emerging from it, is particularly aligned within second wave positive psychology. Areas of particular promise include strengths overuse and strengths underuse, alongside its companion of strengths optimal use. The latter is viewed as the golden mean of character strengths which refers to the expression of the right combination of strengths, to the right degree, and in the right situation. This paper discusses these constructs, maps out each across 24 universal character strengths, and deliberates on reasons for overuse and underuse. Practical strategies for counselors to support clients in the pursuit of optimal strengths use and the management of overuse and underuse are outlined. These include thoughts on wise interventions, the tempering effect, the towing effect, direct questioning, mindfulness, strengths-spotting, the use of a leading strengths model (aware-explore-apply), and eliciting feedback from others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is about utilizing clients' spirituality as a salient resource towards their own healing and recovery in mental health. The author illustrates this through an encounter with a client who is confronted by an unexpected major life transition and who at the heart of her suffering experiences a spiritual crisis. Through their work together she describes the dimensional approach in her client's recovery, in particular her existential recovery, which extends to spiritual well-being. She concludes by arguing that routinely incorporating an integrative framework that takes into account a mind-body-spirit view of humanity is the responsibility of all clinicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People who are seeking asylum often have lived experience of their personal boundaries and human rights being violated. For this reason, it is especially important that we consider the impact of boundaries in therapeutic work with this population. This paper explores work with a woman with a severe trauma history who was seeking asylum in England. Examples of perceived boundary crossings in the therapeutic relationship are examined. Considerations for other clinicians working with asylum seekers are discussed. These include: addressing socio-political factors; being sensitive to cultural differences; the importance of supervision and reflective practice; the personal impact of such work; and using critical thinking and warmth to manage boundaries rather than rigidly following rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Youths involved with the juvenile justice and child welfare systems report higher rates of early initiation of sexual intercourse, more sexual partners, and lower rates of condom use compared with the general adolescent population. Such risky behaviors leave system-involved youths with volatile behavioral challenges and negative sexual health outcomes, such as unintended pregnancy. These effects can be attributed to detached support systems and a lack of early interventions, such as group therapy. This dynamic fosters further inquiry into asking, can delinquent teenagers who adopt a values clarification approach and understanding exhibit positive prosocial thoughts and behaviors? The intent of this paper is to discuss an alternative education program for pregnant, delinquent adolescents and young mothers allowed a social worker and his associates to implement a group counseling program. The counseling was intended to emphasize values clarification and values development. The counselors focused on attitudes, social views, and desired behaviors related to values. A unique aspect of the program was the development of a four-phase cognitive process related to values clarification and development. This process includes the discovery and awareness of values, the claiming and reclaiming of values, the acceptance of core values, and the appreciation and advocacy of the values phase. A content analysis methodology was used to analyze a self-report methods so that insights into cultural trends and experiences could be understood. Findings from the adoption of this program suggest a psychoeducation humanistic model can not only buffer teenage pregnancy risk and delinquency but also strengthen values and the moral development of troubled youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a personal account of experiences of consultation to staff working in residential child care. The paper starts with experiences of receiving consultation while working in a therapeutic community, then of providing consultation to children’s homes, firstly from a group-analytic perspective and subsequently using a systems-centred approach. The author considers the goal of consulting to staff teams who care for traumatised children and draws conclusions about the different approaches regarding which are most likely to achieve the stated goal. Functional subgrouping - the central method of systems-centred approach - is described in action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the implementation of an educational intervention to enhance sexual health among homeless people by including sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) as a part of social work provision with this group. Adult service users in different forms of temporary accommodation were provided with the opportunity to participate in three group sessions. Seventeen sessions, six with women and eleven with men, took place at six different housing facilities in Gothenburg. The intervention implementation process (which involved preparation, creation, realisation and evaluation) is described, and factors of importance are identified. Service users appreciated the opportunity to receive information and discuss sexual health, rights and norms. The success of the work may be related to the fact that the project was anchored both in social services and among service users, constantly adjusted, and delivered using a respectful approach. Social work organisations and professionals have an important role to play in acknowledging and promoting service users’ sexual health and rights, especially among disadvantaged and socially excluded groups including homeless people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of literature indicates that clinical attention to sibling relationship enhancement can be beneficial for relational outcomes and broader psychological well-being. Working with clients on strengthening their sibling relationship can impact not only the sibling dyad but can serve as an important source of support enhancing well-being and adjustment. In addition to a clinical review of the importance of integrating sibling relationship issues in therapy, the current paper highlights an effective therapeutic approach to sibling relationship discord including two case studies describing the effective integration of this modality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the nature of students’ learning of the Egan Skilled Helper model in enabling them to develop collaborative communication skills which place service-users at the centre of decision making. The paper is a follow-up to an earlier paper which found that the Egan model was helpful to students as a communication and problem management tool and that they had transferred their learning into practice. The current study involves seven students from the first study and examines whether their knowledge and skills from learning the model in year one have been sustained two years later during their third year practice placement. A key finding is that participants were continuing to use most stages of the model (with the exception of challenging skills) with service-users in a variety of settings. Further findings are that the model is still useful in situations where goals are set by social workers rather than by service-users; and that it is the utilisation of role-play when learning the model which most embeds skills. The implications of these findings for skills training are discussed together with suggestions for further focus. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Across various welfare and justice systems, intensive key worker support is a model of working considered effective for individuals and families identified as having multiple and complex needs. The high profile ‘troubled families’ programme in England is the most recent prominent example of such a model. The key worker role is to assess an individual’s needs, carry out support planning, provide and/or co-ordinate the delivery of supportive interventions and complete care plan reviews. This requires the key worker to work on a one-to-one basis with individuals which, in turn, demands the ability to form effective relationships. In this paper and using evidence from a number of studies, I look at how the key worker-client relationship is developed and maintained. I examine the skills, processes and communication strategies that allow key workers to engage clients, build relationships and drive change. I also explore the notion that the key worker-service user relationship is itself a ‘therapeutic’ medium and is therefore a productive practice in its own right. The paper suggests that while key workers might not be trained therapists or counsellors, they might be equipped to address some emotional challenges that individuals with complex needs face and build therapeutic relationships with them. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Narrative strategy can strengthen social work practice, given its usefulness in revealing how social forces influence people’s experiences with situations that can compromise their well-being. In this paper, a product of long-term developmental research, the authors consider the versatility of narrative strategy to address homelessness among older African-American women, a growing segment of the homeless population in the United States. After considering homelessness as a social issue, and the distress it can produce, often resulting in serious health and mental health problems among older minority women, the authors examine vulnerability from a narrative perspective, offer background on their long-term narrative research and summarise their observations about the nature of narrative practice in working with members of vulnerable populations. The authors develop a thematic framework for conceptualising narrative as a practice research tool for social workers and other human service professionals. For each of the four narrative themes (involving plight, efficacy, hope and recovery), useful in helping people who are vulnerable, the authors document the distinctive focus of each one, and they then conclude the paper with implications for helping people who are vulnerable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia is experiencing a period of immense cultural change predicated on the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). New devices such as smartphones, tablet computers, and the social iterations of the internet are impacting on communication patterns and contributing to the merging of people's online and offline lives. Using Spanish sociologist Manuel Castells's theory of the Network Society as a theoretical foundation, this issues paper posits that social work must overcome its historical reluctance to embrace ICT if it is to remain relevant in the era of the network society. In particular, we argue that social work professionals need to begin a dialogue with IT developers, social service managers, and funding bodies about the need for practice-led ICT systems. This paper examines the turbulent history social work has had with technological change, and concludes that the adoption of a practice-led approach to ICT use in education, practice, and research provides a strong foundation for reimagining the relationship between social work and ICT. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Based on an ethnographic analysis of religious healing rituals in Israel, this paper addresses the question of how healer–client relations are structured on these rituals. An examination of what takes place at the rallies held by Rabbi Amnon Yitzhak indicates that, apart from the regular blessings, which can be referred to as ordinary healing, there are some ritual events that can be referred to as ‘deep healing’. The current paper demonstrates how deep healing rituals are generally conducted in severe cases through give-and-take between the rabbi and the person upon whom the blessing is bestowed, and that they are linked to relationships between people and the ethic of mutual support. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recent social work literature has stressed the importance of considering culture when working with individuals with mental health problems. This paper presents my personal experience, journaling, reflections, and research as a mental health social work practitioner and researcher working with refugee clients with mental health problems from a Muslim background. It also draws on my research experience in cross-cultural mental health. The paper emphasizes the significance of building rapport especially in the earlier stages of the professional relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Service users were interviewed as part of a multi-method evaluation of an alcohol and drug social work service in Scotland. This paper explores service user interviews that were conducted in the evaluation, addressing the following questions: What did the service users feel about the service itself? Leading on from this, what did they see as helpful in facilitating their recovery in general? The research will be contextualised in Scotland’s culture of problematic drug and alcohol use, Scottish drug and alcohol policy and the emerging recovery-orientated approach. The methodology of the evaluation will be explained and findings from the service user interviews will be outlined under the headings: therapeutic relationships, outreach, timeframe, and holistic approach and joint working. The paper demonstrates the importance of service user accounts not only for providing general feedback on social work services, but also for giving specific insight into what is helpful for individuals seeking to recover from substance use problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]