ABSTRACT
The efforts to integrate the research findings of the neurosciences into social work practice have gained increased attention in recent years. Works such as those of Applegate and Shapiro (2005), and Schore and Schore (2008) exemplify these efforts. Whereas social workers in school setting have historically been familiar with the challenges that children with learning disabilities and other neurobehavioral problems present, few efforts have been made to provide a conceptual framework for the clinical approaches involved in the treatment of these children (Palombo, 2001, 2006). Even less attention has been given to similar problems that adults confront. At the Chicago Institute for Clinical Social Work, students have generated several dissertations devoted to the study of some of these disorders (Himrod, 1995; Leamy, 2008; McNulty, 2000; Orenstein, 1992; Sclufer, 1996; Segal, 1994; Zummo, 2007). This chapter attempts to fill in the part of the gap between clinical social work practice and recent knowledge derived from the neurosciences.
