On being a relational practitioner in an evidence-based world

Contemporary clinical practice requires social workers to keep abreast of and apply evidence-based practice approaches. This may be a more difficult challenge for psychodynamically oriented social workers who focus on the therapeutic relationship as the principal mechanism of change. Research supporting the efficacy of the therapeutic relationship is presented, as is a case vignette that illustrates the core principles of relational social work, a postmodern contextual approach that focuses on the mutuality inherent in the therapeutic endeavor. Emphasis is placed on examining the ‘client and clinician-in-situation’ and the interactional nature of the intrapsychic, interpersonal and macro social systems in which the client and clinician operate.