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In The Social Work Psychoanalyst's Casebook editors Joyce Edward and Elaine Rose pay tribute to Jean Sanville as they reveal the rich interplay between social work and psychoanalysis. Nine clinical vignettes representing diverse orientations demonstrate Sanville's pioneering integration of psychoanalysis and psychosocial principles. This anthology illustrates the analyst's work with patients using time-honored social work precepts (e.g., “Begin where the client is and take a flexible, responsive, nonauthoritarian stance while respecting the uniqueness of the individual” (p. 203).
An interview with Sanville opens the book, affording a glimpse of the evolution of her analytic thought and of her professional identity as social work analyst, teacher, and author. Her influence is shown through the contributors as they strip away dogma and politics to pay close attention to the here and now, as well as to the intermediate region co-created by patient and therapist. The safe climate created by the therapist-patient dyad allows the patient the freedom to play with words, dreams, and images that can lead the therapist to interpretations. The patient's self-righting aspects and the role of positive emotions in promoting growth and development are presented as cornerstones of successful treatment.
Diversity in clinical practice and the integral relationship of theory and therapeutic activity are manifest throughout the case studies, which illustrate timely issues in analytic practice and reflect Sanville's emphasis on responding creatively to individuals and their situations. Included in the case studies are descriptions of a difficult opening phase in a cross-cultural analysis with a histrionic patient; work with seriously troubled, hard-to-reach clients; the integration of play within