Why do psychodynamic perspectives underlie traditional social work? Why do these perspectives have such power in this profession?

Answer 1

I think that "psychodynamic theory" as far as Freud's stages doesn't hold a ton of weight within the field anymore. With that being said, Freud's ideas of the unconscious self, transference and counter-transference, and defense mechanisms are definitely still valuable, along with attachment theory, which is an offshoot of psychodynamic theory.

A lot of our emotions and reactions to situations happen unconsciously; we might meet with a client and hate them right off the bat without being able to quite put a finger on it until a few weeks later when we realize they remind us of an ex or a teacher we hated, etc. And vice versa with clients; often times we might do or say things that remind us of someone in their life and it is our job to be able to recognize when that transference is happening and be able to direct it so that it's useful to the client.

Being able to figure out "why" xyz symptom is happening can be really helpful for some clients in processing the events that have happened in their lives. Psychodynamic theories can often dovetail nicely with others, like CBT, once someone knows the "why" it might be easier for them to change their behavior.

And almost all of our work as therapists somehow involves attachment theory - it's the basis for the (ongoing) engagement phase of our work with clients and their relationships with friends and family.