Counselling and Social Work

Social work is perennially in the public eye, and interest in counseling has never been greater.

But these activities are changing rapidly in response to new needs and resource limitations, and their complexity is not easy to grasp even by those involved.

This book looks at how the specific context of social work shapes the nature of counseling in terms of both opportunities and constraints.

How can social workers integrate the counseling dimension of the job with other roles expected of them?

What training, supervision and support do they need?

How do they collaborate with other professions? Above all, how do they effectively deal with people's private troubles, subjective feelings and disrupted relationships (the traditional concern of counseling), whilst simultaneously fulfilling statutory requirements and involving themselves in the contentious politics of social provision?

A disturbing situation is revealed, in which such role conflicts, coupled with media pressure and policy changes, are undermining the professional competence and confidence of social workers, thus depriving the most needy people of help. A fresh understanding of insights from counseling is seen as providing a partial answer to this serious state of affairs.