The Science and Art of Social Work
The profession of social work is both a science and an art.
The science of social work is generated from the consilience of disciplines rooted in psychology, biology, sociology, history, and mathematics. I was taught the science of social work throughout my years spent in a classroom, in the field, in workshops and conferences, and with supervisors, mentors, and dissertation committee members. I have learned to critically analyze research studies, theories, and ethical dilemmas. I have learned the role of neurobiology in human development and behavior. I have learned to be critical of our country’s history and the policies and laws which negatively impact the social, emotional, and economic well-being of individuals, families, groups, and communities. I have learned evidence-based therapeutic techniques to facilitate self-awareness and knowledge.
The Greek translation of psychology, one of the major disciplines to influence the profession of social work, is soul or spirit. Learning the art of social work has been a soul-centered journey.
Over the past several years I have become more fascinated with the art of social work. Like any form of art, how one interprets it is in the eye of observer. My interpretation of the art of social work was born out of discovering the creative power of developing a relationship with myself. After moving through a period of my life filled with heartbreak, personal challenges, and despair, I was placed in the way of several divination tools to help access a deeper knowing within myself.
Born with my moon in Aquarius in the 12th house of my birth chart, I have embraced my need to learn, communicate, and understand the systems we live within while being compelled to make visible the invisible forces that lie within the inner, hidden world of the unconscious. I was drawn to psychodynamic theory and practice in my doctoral work intuitively knowing cognitive behavioral theory, taught in my Master of Social Work program, was inherently missing what was most important to the practice of social work----SOUL. Psychodynamic theory offered a new perspective on human behavior. It was more than an examination of the expression of outward behavior. This theory illuminated the inner worlds of myself and others, and helped me to imagine beneath our outward behavior are the depths of the soul yearning to be understood and brought to the surface of our individual and collective knowing.
Accessing the soul of social work has been a slow, careful, steady dive into something unexplored, shadowy, and unknown. It is here, in this space of the unknown, where I have alchemized energy, found a quiet space for reflection, and surrendered into a state of becoming as opposed to achieving.
This has been good medicine.
