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Urdang, E. (2014). Parallels Between Writing Biographies and Clinical Practice: Impact. Influence. Value. Washington, DC: NASW Press, 290 pages, $36.99.
Parallels Between Writing Biographies and Clinical Practice is a unique book—both literary and theoretical, it explores the commonalities between biographical writing and clinical practice, and in so doing, also deepens our appreciation of how reading biographies can enhance our clinical skills. Although the author's impressive career has primarily focused on social work field education and research, she has published many clinical papers, as well as a well-respected clinical social work textbook (Urdang, 2002, 2008). In this volume, she seeks to understand why she is “hopelessly addicted to biographical writings” (p. 1). While exploring this question, Urdang makes significant contributions to our appreciation of the importance of empathy and the role of transference and countertransference in the therapeutic process.
As Urdang points out in the Introduction, it is not surprising that clinicians enjoy reading biographical works, since they are another vehicle through which we can get to know the subjective experiences of others and thus feel some personal connection with them. Her primary thesis is also clearly stated here; she maintains that the intersubjective nature of the psychotherapeutic process is in many ways similar to the task of writing biographies. Many of the other parallels she describes and discusses throughout the book are related to and/or derived from this thesis. She also emphasizes in various contexts how the inherently intersubjective nature of both endeavors greatly adds to their complexity. We can only capture the other individual's subjective experience as mediated through the subjectivity of our own perceptions, but to most fully and deeply understand him we must also strive to empathically grasp how he sees himself, since this is an essential component of who he is.
Throughout this volume, Urd