Social Work Psychoanalysts Casebook Clinical Voices in Honor of Jean Sanville

In this well-deserved tribute to Jean Sanville, colleagues celebrate Sanville's outstanding contributions to both social work and psychoanalysis through original case studies that highlight the extent to which the perspectives of social work and psychoanalysis are complementary and mutually enriching. Representing different theoretical orientations and therapeutic approaches, the contributors nonetheless share a social work background that translates into a distinctive analytic sensibility-a sensibility organized around the basic social work principle of "beginning where the client is" and leading, in turn, to an unusual degree of flexibility regarding conventional analytic arrangements. TheSocial Work Psychoanalyst's Casebook begins with an interview with Dr. Sanville, who reflects on her evolution as a social work analyst, theoretician, writer, teacher, and leader. These reminiscences are followed by accounts of nine analytic treatments, each of which offers an unusual window into what actually transpired between analyst and analysand during the treatment hours. These case studies concern particularly troubled, often traumatized patients-the very "hard to reach" or "difficult to treat" clients with whom social workers have long been familiar. They include a reanalysis by the same analyst of a patient whose first therapy ended in a stalemate; an account of transference and countertransference phenomena during termination; a report on the analysis of a young woman who experienced both chronic and stress-related trauma; and an account of the special issues involved in the treatment of an aging woman. Most of the case studies reflect the influence of Dr. Sanville, whose work has long evinced the therapeutic imagination and disciplined creativity to which all the contributors aspire. In an era of managed care and quick fixes, the contributors to this volume offer the salutary reminder that analytic work is built on a relationship of respect and empathy and that treatment success follows from the therapist's willingness to accommodate the unique needs of individual patients. And they provide cases studies in which this understanding is brought to bear on a variety of timely topics: the relationship between theoretical conceptualizations and therapeutic interventions; the impact of countertransference on treatment; the ways in which analytic treatment promotes intrapsychic changes in analysand and analyst alike; and the manner in which social work experiences help shape the character and content of analytic sessions. In honoring Jean Sanville, The Social Work Psychoanalyst's Casebook speaks to the robustness of a multidisciplinary approach to psychopathology that transcends the bounds of any single profession-an approach in which contemporary psychoanalysis is enlarged by the insights and emphases of social work just as social work is enriched by the clinical wisdom of psychoanalysis.Edward, Joyce is the author of 'Social Work Psychoanalysts Casebook Clinical Voices in Honor of Jean Sanville' with ISBN 9780881632569 and ISBN 0881632562.