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Clin Soc Work J (2007) 35:117123
DOI 10.1007/s10615-007-0078-4
ORIGINAL PAPER
The Use of Self from a Relational Perspective
Carol Ganzer
Published online: 16 March 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007
Abstract This article explores the implications of a contemporary relational perspective on the use of self in social work practice. The author is responding to an article by Andrea Reupert, who interviewed social workers and reported they tended to see their concept of self as individualistic, autonomous, and only partially dened by others, even though social work practice focuses on person-in-environment. In this article, the author expands the concept of self and argues that a contemporary view of the therapists self is one that is dialogic, contextualized, decentered, and multiple. Additionally, the author suggests that this relational perspective has implications for teaching and supervision. Several clinical vignettes are provided to illustrate the concepts under discussion.
Keywords Use of self Multiple selves Supervision Relational theory
The idea for this article began with a reading of Andrea Rueperts, Social Workers Use of Self, published in this issue of the Journal. The concept of use of self is a familiar one to clinicians. From our earliest training in the eld, we learn that the relationship between clinician and patient fosters growth and promotes change. The personal characteristics of the therapist often enter into the therapeutic relationship as well, helping to shape and rene the process. These characteristics have been broadly dened (Woods & Hollis, 1990) as empathy for the patient, warmth and concern, acceptance, and a nonjudgmental approach. Additionally, the clinician, to the best of her ability, maintains objectivity, models attitudes and
behaviors, and develops self-awareness and self-monitoring, particularly of countertransference and its potential negative impact on the treatment.
Andrea Reupert, in her qualitative study of use of self, asks her interviewees to consider how they describe their concept of self and how it impacts their clinical work. Although the study had a limited number of participants, the clinicians involved tended to see their concept of self as unique and individualistic, and only partially dened by the relational and environmental context of practice. To some extent, Reupert attributes this highly individualistic and autonomous sense of self to the Western tradition of rugged individualism as well as to the...