Introduction
William (“Bill”) Meyer, whose outstanding contributions to psychoanalysis and clinical social work are honored in this Special Issue of Psychoanalytic Social Work, possessed that rare combination of natural talent and ability, empathic generosity, deep self-understanding, and clinical wisdom. Bill’s influence was felt in many ways, enriching the lives of patients, students, and colleagues alike. In addition to his private practice, Bill had a long professional association with Duke University, where he practiced in Duke’s High-Risk Obstetrics Clinic. He mentored, taught, and supervised social work interns, as well as residents in obstetrics and psychiatry. He was often immersed in the most challenging cases of women suffering from postpartum depression, others who struggled with the sequelae of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, and still others recovering from traumata associated with miscarriage and pregnancy loss. Bill’s patience, his comforting calm, and his deep capacity for empathy were among the greatest of gifts he brought to both his clinical work and his teaching. These attributes earned him the love and admiration of so many whose lives he touched.
Among the professional activities Bill loved the most was writing. As Barbara Berger has observed, “Whenever I visited with him, he would ask me, ‘So, what are you writing now?’ And then he would encourage me to write more or describe what he was writing. Conversations about our professional journals, about our colleagues who write and teach, and about work we would do together were lively, intellectual, and full of joyful enthusiasm.” Bill was a gifted and prolific writer, who made enduring contributions to the leading clinical journals in our field. He published on a variety of topics and themes, including though hardly limited to the following: the clinical “holding environment”; the value of a psychodynamic perspective in work with traditional social work populations; the training and supervision of social work clinicians; the rich theoretical and clinical contributions of Ferenczi, Kohut, and other pioneers in psychoanalysis; and the troubled history of psychoanalytic conceptions of homosexuality (see link below for a comprehensive list of Bill’s publications).
Bill’s gifts led to many leadership roles in psychoanalysis and clinical social work, and included serving as the president of the American Association for Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work and helping to found the Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas. He was a member of this journal’s editorial board and its editorial advisory group, and he also served on the editorial board of Clinical Social Work Journal. Bill received many honors and awards during his lifetime, including the AAPCSW’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the Edith Sabshin Teaching Award from the American Psychoanalytic Association.
In this Special Issue, we have included papers and essays that honor Bill’s rich contributions. Although some manuscripts may focus on a topic or theme directly linked to Bill’s own oeuvre, other contributions explore areas of practice or theory that may be more tangentially associated with Bill’s clinical and theoretical interests. We offer this Special Issue not only as a memorial to Bill Meyer—clinician, teacher, and writer extraordinaire—but also as a contribution to his legacy.
Laura J. George
Faye Mishna
Guest Editors
Publications of Bill Meyer: https://www.aapcsw.org/resources/works_by_bill_meyer.html