A letter to the late Felix Biestek: Revisiting the seven principles of The Casework Relationship with contemporary struggles

It is acknowledged that ‘The Casework Relationship’ is a seminal work in the social work literature. Written by Professor Felix Biestek (1912-1994) of the School of Social Work at Loyola University in 1957, the book has been translated into six languages and is considered a ‘best seller’ in the social work community. Rather than writing another straightforward review of the book (Bisno, 1958; Mwansa, 2008; Perlman, 1957), I propose instead to draft a letter to Professor Biestek to share my thoughts on the contemporary struggles in casework relationships. As nearly six decades have passed since Professor Biestek introduced his seven principles-individualization, purposeful expression of feelings, controlled emotional involvement, acceptance, non-judgmental attitude, client self-determination, and confidentiality-I believe that present-day students and scholars of social work should contemplate how these principles may contrast with contemporary concerns in the chaos of our present.