Call for Papers

Special Issue – Volume 29, No. 2: The Crossroads of Compassion and Clinical Wisdom: Papers and Essays in Honor of William Meyer, MSW, BCD

Co-Editors: Barbara Berger, PhD, Laura J. George, DSW, Faye Mishna, PhD, and Jerrold R. Brandell, PhD

William (“Bill”) Meyer, whose outstanding contributions to psychoanalysis and clinical social work we will honor in a Special Issue of this journal, possessed that rare combination of natural talent and ability, empathic generosity, deep self-understanding, and clinical wisdom. Bill’s influence was felt in many different ways, enriching the lives of patients, students, and colleagues alike. He had a long professional association with Duke University, where he practiced in Duke’s High-Risk Obstetrics clinic, mentoring, teaching, and supervising social work interns, as well as residents in obstetrics and psychiatry. Bill’s work often involved the most challenging cases – women suffering from postpartum depression, others who struggled with the sequelae of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, and still others recovering from traumata associated with miscarriage and pregnancy loss. Bill’s gifts led to many leadership roles in psychoanalysis and clinical social work, and included serving as the president of the American Association for Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work and helping to found the Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas. He was a member of this journal’s editorial board and its editorial advisory group, and also served on the editorial board of Clinical Social Work Journal. Bill received many honors and awards during his lifetime, including the AAPCSW’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the Edith Sabshin Teaching Award from the American Psychoanalytic Association.

Bill was equally gifted as a writer, and made enduring contributions to the leading clinical journals in our field. He published on a variety of topics and themes, including though hardly limited to the following: the clinical “holding environment”; the value