The post-seebohm depression

Approaches to child abuse

“…Thus Taitz and King ( 1 986) advise their colleagues to attend the court in person (rather than send a junior member of their staff) so as to "have the authority to express opinions ... directly to the judge or magistrate over the heads of solicitors or counsel". If it is felt that the court will not accord the same respect to senior social workers as to other expert witnesses, perhaps this will change when social workers themselves adopt a more professional approach to individual responsibility -such as is implicit in the role for supervisors proposed here and elsewhere (e.g., Woodmansey, 1985).…”

“…If social workers were thus endowed with, and supported in the use of, their proper professional skill, a comprehensive therapeutic casework service could be provided with little or no numerical increase in the staffs of social work departments and agencies (Woodmansey, 1979(Woodmansey, , 1985. Effective treatment, and even prevention, of many of the problems leading to child abuse would then be feasible on a large scale -and social workers again respected and appreciated.…”

“…For, "giving unstintingly for her time and patience" (ibid) will not by itself enable a social worker to help her clients to overcome severe emotional disabilities. Hence, the neglect of therapeutic casework by many social work teachers deprives their students of what should be their definitive professional skill (Woodmansey, 1972(Woodmansey, , 1985, and adds he1 to the widespread tendency to dismiss social work as an unskilled job.…”

“…However, in addition to giving the parent the equivalent, in suitable form, of basic parenting (Woodmansey, 1988), it must enable him to find that despite his demands he will not be reproached, punished, or rejected (Woodmansey, 1972(Woodmansey, , 1985; and, far from least, the therapist must placate the parent's own harsh internal parent, which may strongly resist the treatment (Woodmansey, 1989).…”

Are Psychotherapists Out of Touch?

“…There is therefore no escaping the conclusion that, for the sake of both clients and therapists, anyone doing psychotherapy or therapeutic casework must have access to regular support from a more experienced colleague (Woodmansey 1983(Woodmansey . 1985.…”