ABSTRACT
The special and specific quality of psychoanalytic social work is longterm work with the relationships and the emotions both of the clients and the carers. Psychoanalytic social work makes heavy demands on staff and depends on a number of preconditions. The classic field of social work is giving aid to people in need as a result of outward circumstances whereas the focus of therapy is people’s inner state of need, their suffering through their mental and emotional disorders, and in simply being who they are. Psychoanalytic social work combines instrumental help with the deliberate use of the relationship to the client. The element of setting up and using a relationship in work with clients makes it clear that psychoanalytic social work is hardly likely to be attempted if only brief, one-off contacts with clients take place. Personal analysis—although to be recommended in psychoanalytic social work—is nevertheless a matter for the individual to decide on.
