Parallels between writing biographies and clinical practice
Subtitle: impact, influence, value
By: Esther Urdang
Published: 2014
Language: eng
Number of pages: 290
ISBN-13: 9780871014504
Subjects: Social work education; Study and teaching; Social service; Practice; Biography; Biographical methods
Description: Parallels between Writing Biographies and Clinical Practice: Impact, Influence, Value offers clinicians an in-depth understanding of the commonalities between the psychological and intellectual processes involved in writing biographical works and those involved in clinical practice. Although these processes often take place beneath the surface, both biographers and clinicians are subjectively involved in all aspects of their work, such as the biases of their theoretical positions and selection and evaluation of evidence. In this book, lengthy life course portraits of six individuals are presented, vividly illustrating many key clinical concepts, such as the impact of the past, the development of attachments, the trauma of loss, and resilience. Examples include Rudyard Kipling's experience in a foster home, and the impact of blindness and separation on the writer Ved Mehta. This book addresses a need expressed by many practitioners and educators to reintegrate key clinical concepts into practice, such as understanding experiential worlds, applying psychodynamic knowledge, and developing self-aware empathic relationships with clients. -- from back cover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Section I. Studying biography and autobiography; title: History and development of biographical writings and psychobiography; title: The role of relationships: The biographer's involvement with the subject and the autobiographer's self-exploration; title: The impact of biographer involvment and bias: Charlotte Bronte and her first biographer, Elizabeth Gaskell; title: Ved Mehta: Self-exploration in autobiography; title: Section II. Constructing biography; title: Theoretical orientation: The biopsychosocial framework and the life course perspective; title: The life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle viewed through the biopsychosocial framework; title: The role of narrative theory in constructing biography; title: The narratives of Frederick Douglass and Ottilie Assing in the construction of their biographies; title: Gathering, evaluating, and interpreting evidence; title: Rudyard Kipling: The challenge of using evidence to construct a life story; title: Summing up.