Full Circle

Abstract

From an early reliance on the depth and explanatory power of psychoanalytic theory, much social work education over the past several decades has moved toward a generalist, atheoretical, skill-based approach that does little to equip today's students with the critical analytic skills they need to address the complexity of their clients' problems. The author of this article argues that new findings from psychoanalytically informed research on infant development and neuroscience offer conceptual tools for reinvigorating the psychoanalytic perspective in social work theory, practice, and education.

Key Words:

• Social work education
• infancy research
• attachment theory
• neuroscience
• nonlinear dynamic systems