Episode 52: Today's podcast looks at the relationship between theory and clinical social work practice. I spoke with Joe Walsh, professor of social work at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), and author of the Brooks/Cole text, Theories for Direct Social Work Practice, which came out in a second edition in 2009. We talked about why social workers should learn practice theories, the differences between practice, developmental and personality theories, the difference between a theory and a model, and why there are so many different practice theories. We talked about how knowing theory makes for better social work practice and how being "eclectic" isn't about eschewing theory, but being well grounded in a few theories and making intentional choices about when and how to draw from them. Joe suggested that social workers in the field can contribute to theory refinement by thinking seriously about how well the theories they use work with the clients they serve. We ended our conversation with some information on resources for social workers who are interested in learning more about practice theories.

To read more about theories for clinical social work practice, and to hear other podcasts, please visit the Social Work Podcast website at http://socialworkpodcast.com.