The Professional Identity of the Social Work-Psychoanalyst

Abstract

This is the third in a series of reoorts on the "dual professional identity" of the social work-psych'oanalyst based on findings from the "MPI" Project, an em~incal study conducted at a large ~sychoanalytic training hstitute. The MPI study was designed . to answer two questions: Do social work-psychoanalysts demon- strate the .attributes of membershio in the social work orofession? Are social w~r k -~s~c h o a n a l~s t s di~lin~uishable from ;heir fellow osvchoana~vsts in ~svcholonv?The theoretical orientations of the .social work: and p~ychologi~psychoanalysts in the MPI sample were investigated utilizing both self-reports of preferred theoretical schools and a smclured research instrument, the "Theoretical OrientationQuestionnaire." With one exception, no statistically significant differences between the two disciplineswere observed. The relevance of these findings to the claim promulgated by leaders in clinical social work that social workers practice a uniquely orientated psychotherapy is discussed. This is the third in a series of reports on the professional identity of the social work-psychoanalyst, In the first of these papers (Perlman, 1994a), the professional identity of the psychoanalyst was characterized as a "dual professional identity" because the psychoanalyst is simultaneously a member of two professional communities. On the one hand, the psychoanalyst is a member of one of the Fredric T. Perlman, PhD, is a clinical social worker and a psychoanalyst in Full-time private practice in New York, NY, where he also serves as Inshuctor and Supervisor at the Psychoanalytic Institute of the Postgraduate Center for Mental Health.