ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the use of liberation health theory and practice on a child and adolescent inpatient psychiatry service in a large urban hospital in the United States. The author, a self identified liberation health social worker, worked in the hospital for 12 years and trained as a clinical social worker specializing in work with children and families. In many respects, liberation social work in a hospital may seem to be a paradox; hospitals tend to be somewhat hierarchical institutions and the medical model in general often employs an expert prescriptive lens/worldview around diagnosis and treatment. Deconstructing dominant worldview messages about consumption facilitated a number of additional liberation health conversations. While this chapter presents the information in a somewhat linear manner, the reality is that the liberation health model is a way of thinking, a conceptual framework that can be used during any stage and time frame in direct practice.
