ABSTRACT
A psychiatrist, invited to talk on a casework topic to an audience of skilled and experienced caseworkers, approaches the task with diffidence; and with something of the apprehension of Daniel entering the den of lions. There is a similar tendency to regard casework as the 'poor relation' of psychotherapy. This is a serious error, for again each in its appropriate case will be the method of choice, and with the appropriate client each is of equal value. Balint M. shows clearly how, in such a setting, the practitioner can successfully use modifications of psychotherapeutic techniques which would be impossible for the psychotherapist in the isolation of his consulting room; yet the fundamental concepts on which these two methods are based are the same for both. A similar relationship is true as between psychotherapy and casework. The client's expectation from the caseworker will be subtly, but importantly, different.
