Today's date is
DR. PETER BREGGIN’S CALL TO THE SOCIAL WORK PROFESSION!!!
Return to the Psychosocial Model of Social Work
“There is no rational or scientific justification for a social worker submitting to a psychiatrist on matters of how to treat human suffering. It is a matter of finding the courage to stand up for social work principles of human empowerment.” -- Psychiatrist, Dr. Peter Breggin
Ethical Human Sciences and Services -- VoL 3, No. 3, 2001 LECTURES
Empowering Social Work in the Era of Biological Psychology
Peter R. Breggin, MD, International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology, Bethesda, MD
[Adapted from the original lecture located at: http://www.breggin.com/empoweringsocial.pbreggin.2001.pdf]
Empowering Social Work in the Era of Biological Psychology
Peter R. Breggin, MD, International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology, Bethesda, MD
[Adapted from the original lecture located at: http://www.breggin.com/empoweringsocial.pbreggin.2001.pdf]
Although I am a psychiatrist, it seems to me that social work, along with counseling, embodies my own values as much as any of the mental health professions. Yet I’ve noticed in recent times that social workers have increasingly come under the influence of the traditional psychiatric biological model rather than under the influence of their own psychosocial model of democratization, social change, and empowerment of the client. If I can accomplish one thing today, and I hope this in no way sounds paternalistic, I would like to reempower you as social workers so that you can empower your clients in one of the traditions of the social work profession.