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If one accepts the view that social work is a socially constructed activity, then the importance of language in constructing that activity must also be acknowledged. Time, place, culture, economics, and political structures have all competed and contributed towards defining what social workers do or should do, often in relation to the role that counselling should play in their practice. While the same may be said for other professions such as counselling or psychotherapy, the nature of social work with its interface between internal and external worlds, or micro and macro contexts, makes the defining of the tasks and roles of social work more critical in terms of determining how social work, and particularly the role of counselling within it, are perceived by social workers and others.

When asked to define the terms “counselling”, “psychotherapy” and “social work”, interviewees often resorted to defining the terms in relation to one another. For this reason, it was difficult at times to get the terms defined in their own right. While chapter seven will discuss the relationship of counselling to social work, this chapter also looks at this to a degree in terms of how the relationships between these activities help people to define similarities and differences in the terms.

This chapter will look at some of the descriptions that have emerged in regards to the terms explored in this thesis, namely: “profession”; “counselling”; “psychotherapy”; “clinical social work”; “case work”, and “social work”. A historical exploration of the term “social work” and what has been and is understood to be the tasks which make up social work will be undertaken from an international and Aotearoa perspective. While it is not the focus of this thesis to establish definitions of social work per se, the intention was to determine if and how the dimension of counselling entered into this definition. Information from the literature and data from the qualitative interviews will be used towards this end. Data from the questionnaires sent out to ANZASW members which asked the question “What is your definition of social work?” will be explored to pull out current views of Association members as to what makes up the term “social work” today, with an emphasis on determining respondents’ descriptions of counselling type or associated components. Finally, data from the questionnaire which asked respondents to consider how they would define counselling within social work will be explored. The chapter will begin by looking at the broad concept

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of profession, move inwards towards the actual tasks and perspectives of social work, and then finish by looking at how social workers would define the counselling role within their practice.

A Profession

The debate about social work as a profession has gone on since 1915 when Abraham Flexner delivered his “Is social work a profession?” address at the National Conference on Charities and Corrections in Chicago. He concluded at that time that social work could not be identified as a profession as he did not feel that social work could identify a “practical and definite end”. He also felt that “It appears not so much a definite field as an aspect of work in many fields” (p. 585).

Greenwood however, in 1957, viewed the attributes of a profession as being slightly different. For him they included:

1- a professional culture 2- authority

3- community sanction 4- a regulative code of ethics 5- a systematic theory

He came to the conclusion that social work did fit these attributes and as such could be classified as a profession.

The debates about whether or not social work has been seen as a profession in Aotearoa have centred more on whether or not social workers should be “professionals”, through pursuing of qualifications or registration. (See Treadgold, 1974; Manchester, 1975; Jones, 1979; Shirley, 1981; Hessey, 1982: Ings, 1986; McCreary, 1994). These debates have been discussed in previous chapters.

The matter seems to have come to rest, at least within social work itself with the definition of social work adopted by the IFSW in 2000 in Montreal which begins, “The social work profession…” (See Hare, 2004 for further discussion).

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There is evidence that social work is recognised as a profession within Aotearoa by the initiation of the Social Work Registration Board by the Crown and the Social Workers Registration Act 2003. In its welcome statement on the SWRB website, the claim is made that “registration is new to the profession of social work” (SWRB, 2007). Psychotherapy and counselling have also engaged in the debates regarding the merits of professionalisation or registration over time.

Counselling

Unlike the term “social worker”, the term “counsellor” has existed in various forms for several hundred years. Ludbrook (2003) described the evolution of the term:

From the twelfth century the noun counsel and the expression to counsel, or to give counsel, connoted advice and the imparting of wisdom and advice….Kings and statesmen had counsellors, Lawyers were known as counsellors, and are still sometimes so described in New Zealand…In the mid-twentieth century ‘counsellor’ acquired a narrower meaning. The term still connoted someone one could turn to for help, but counselling was viewed as a client-centred process (p.3).

Counselling as a profession in Aotearoa though is a very recent phenomena. Merv Hancock discussed the evolution of the term counselling in Aotearoa. When asked if there would be many people doing counselling in New Zealand at the time of the emergence of the Victoria social work programme in 1950 he responded that, “No there wasn’t because in fact the word counselling didn’t emerge until the mid 50s as far as New Zealand was concerned” (Personal correspondence, 2/11/2005).

Counsellors in New Zealand have struggled with the concepts of registration and professionalisation (see Miller, 1994) and to date this goes on. As such, there remains no legal definition of the word counselling in Aotearoa at this point, a situation similar to that of social work (Ludbrook, 2003, p. 4).

The current definition of counselling within the New Zealand Association of Counsellors is:

Counselling involves the formation of professional relationships based on ethical values and principles. Counsellors seek to assist clients to

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increase their understanding of themselves and their relationships with others, to develop more resourceful ways of living, and to bring about change in their lives. Counselling includes relationships formed with individuals, couples, families, groups, communities and organisations (NZAC, 2005).

As with social work, it is difficult to define the profession just by what is done. The values which are embodied within it are also important. NZAC values are described below.

The practices of counselling involve the expression of particular core values. This Association expects counsellors to embrace these core values as essential and integral to their work.

The Core Values of Counselling are:

3.1 Respect for human dignity 3.2 Partnership 3.3 Autonomy 3.4 Responsible caring 3.5 Personal integrity 3.6 Social justice (NZAC, 2005)

For the purpose of this research, a definition of counselling was chosen which seemed to embody the tasks involved in the process, so that social workers could more easily operationalise and compare this definition to their practice. The definition used in questionnaires sent out to ANZASW members was:

A therapeutic process involving interaction between a counsellor and a client aimed at enhancing the quality of the client’s life by assisting them to overcome relationship difficulties, to deal with the consequences of trauma, to cope better with difficulties encountered in relationships in the workplace, or to change patterns of behaviour that are actually or potentially harmful to the client or others (Ludbrook, 2003, p.4).

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As discussed in the introduction, determining what to call the framework for naming individual therapeutic work with clients for the research described in this thesis was somewhat difficult, and the author eventually decided upon the term “counselling”. While psychotherapy, counselling and social work may have had shared or overlapping understandings and roots historically in Aotearoa and in other countries, the New Zealand tradition eventually saw the emergence of quite separate fields. These still proved difficult to name at times during the qualitative interviews. Gary Hermansson, seen as one of the founders of counselling in Aotearoa, described his impressions on what counselling is, but then went on to state that this may also apply to describing psychotherapy:

I see counselling as being, firstly a philosophy of engagement with people towards helping them look at what is happening which is problematic for them in life causing difficulties, inhibiting goals and meeting needs. Helping to identify what the specifics of those needs are for them and working with in collaboration with the person towards some resolution of that, which maybe an internalised resolution, some way of modifying thought processes, handling feelings and managing feelings or behaving in a way which is different, but also looking at that within the context in which they live in that particular way. So it’s looking at not just that as an isolated piece, but it’s the interaction between the person and their life environment, their life context, family, work, aspirations, whatever, and for me that’s what a good psychotherapist would be doing as well (Personal correspondence, 12/02/06).

At times, as has been discussed previously in chapter four, what we call ourselves and how we define what we do, is sometimes influenced by the perception of the status associated with each profession. Again, Gary Hermansson described this process below:

One of my students did a piece of study. Her project was to look at people who were providing services in the Manawatu community under the title of counselling or psychotherapy and to interview them, and basically found that both their training and their orientation were somewhat identical and it came down to the fact that you call yourself

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psychotherapist because that would help to maintain a more status identity and make it possible to charge fees that were commensurate with that kind of work. Whereas counselling seemed a bit like more general purpose stuff. But for all intents and purposes they are doing the same thing. Although there have been arguments, they would say about, “well we do more in depth work and that sort of stuff”, which is interesting (Personal correspondence, 12/02/06).

Psychotherapy and counselling were often seen as having a focus upon changing the individual. Kate van Heugten described some of her perceptions and dilemmas in terms of defining the terms:

It’s difficult and I think it’s contentious also and to some extent perhaps there is a distinction between counselling and psychotherapy in terms of the extent to which it is the self which is being aimed to be mended or changed and theextent to which we have a problem focus or an issue focus perhaps…I’m talking about counselling, it doesn’t fit so well with strengths perspective, using that terminology and psychotherapy perhaps is a more…we tend to think we may explore more unconscious issues, that the relationship possibly becomes a field in which issues are played out. So considerations of transference and counter transference-but there is a lot of grey. So when you come to narrative, is it therapy or counselling? People aren’t necessarily in one camp or the other (Personal correspondence, 01/02/06).

Focus on the internal is again a theme expressed by Ruth Manchester in looking at psychotherapy, but another theme which emerged involved the depth of the work which was being done.

Counselling, I think certainly involves the inner world of the person, what’s happening between them and their environment, but also…and particularly if it’s working with couples, the relationship between them. I don’t think the focus really is in the changing of the environment in quite the same way. Psychotherapy I see as working at a much

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deeper level and working with inner interactions or internal interactions that are not…that need to be worked on at a deeper level. And I can remember when I was doing my PSW training, we were told…and there was a lovely article, which I haven’t got, written in the ‘50’s of the boundary between casework…social casework and psychotherapy and where you in fact referred on, which was working again with…at a much deeper level with the person’s inner world (Personal correspondence, 06/02/06).

Psychotherapy

For some years, the psychotherapy, and counselling fields acknowledged a degree of overlap. The New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists, Counsellors and Behaviour Therapists (Incorporated) existed between 1974 and 1987 (Manchester & Manchester, 1996). This existed alongside the New Zealand Counselling and Guidance Association from 1974.

The following definition of psychotherapy is that maintained by the New Zealand Association of Psychotherapy and illustrates how some of the ambiguity around the roles of social work, counselling and psychotherapy remain. This definition takes in the role of environment and social context, as well as the systems surrounding an individual (consistent with social work), but the focus of working with the individual and their psyche is evident.

The current view of psychotherapy is psychotherapy is about the changes and constancies of human relationships. These relationships can be with oneself, with others, and with the world.

Psychotherapy is a treatment and healing approach for psychological disturbance and dysfunction within an individual and within systems of human relating. Therapy may involve the individual and/or parts of the social network to which they belong, since public and private relationships can range from a state of mild but persistent difficulty to one representative of major dysfunctional disorder. The concern of treatment is therapy of the psyche - which can be understood as the

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interrelated physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of being human. The foundations of psychotherapy are associated with basic human impulses concerned with existence, meaning and self- realisation.

Psychotherapy also recognises the social and cultural contexts of human experience. It encompasses past, present and future, and acknowledges various forms of consciousness.

Psychotherapy is concerned with a set of disciplines and attitudes of inquiry that are aimed at helping clients face into the deep experience of their lives. In so doing, they examine and change established patterns of living, and begin to express their potential patterns of being.

As a field of inquiry and as a medium for change, psychotherapy orients itself towards an examination of its own evolution, including the extent to which it may shape and be shaped by the wider social context (NZAP, 2005).

There is not a clear differentiation here about how this differs exactly from the definition of counselling provided by the NZAC or by Ludbrook as described previously, except perhaps in reference to the “deep experience of clients’ lives.”

The British Psychotherapy Association’s definition is more succinct than the Aotearoa version.

Psychotherapy is the provision by qualified practitioners of a formal and professional relationship within which patients/clients can profitably explore difficult, and often painful, emotions and experiences. These may include feelings of anxiety, depression, trauma, or perhaps the loss of meaning of one’s life. It is a process which seeks to help the person gain an increased capacity for choice, through which the individual becomes more autonomous and self

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determined. Psychotherapy may be provided for individuals or children, couples, families and groups (BPA, 2004).

This definition clearly sits within personal change, and emphasises autonomy and self determination. Little mention is made of context, other than when context has impacted upon the individual in such ways as having had traumatic experiences. The theme of depth is seen elsewhere in New Zealand psychotherapy literature with the following quotation from the Manchesters’ book on the history of psychotherapy.

The psychotherapist was identified as a person working at greater depth than a caseworker, counsellor, or social worker who established capacity and competence through exposure to appropriate theoretical training and supervised practical experience (Manchester & Manchester, 1996, pp.52-53).

This did not necessarily mean that counsellors and social workers could not conduct psychotherapy, and in fact, some of the earliest members of the psychotherapy associations, such as Ruth Manchester and Merv Hancock were trained social workers.

Interviewees again, referred to the depth of work involved in their understanding of the differences. Below are three excerpts from the qualitative interviews, which emphasised this point.

And I guess you could look at it in terms of the intensity of training in the interpersonal, it is this level in social work, at that level in counselling and that level in psychotherapy, (hands moving, showing increasing depth) so there’s an increasing depth, if you like (K. Daniels, personal correspondence, 01/02/06).

Well psychotherapy is the planned work at length and in depth with people (M. Hancock, personal correspondence, 2/11/05).

You could look at this as being slightly more in depth…a psychotherapist might be looking much more consistently at the internalised dimensions of that, rather than the life space dimensions (G. Hermansson, personal correspondence, 12/02/06).

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Social Work

As discussed in chapters three and four, social work has been attempting to define itself from its very inception. The tensions between those at Toynbee Hall in the UK or the Settlement movement in the US and their respective Charity Organisation Societies began early to shape the course of social work’s development. Some of these tensions have given rise to new definitions within social work such as “community worker” and “clinical social worker”.

“Friendly visiting” soon evolved into social casework, as Mary Richmond sought to increase the quality of service provided to clients. This model aligned itself with science and soon began to be associated with psychodynamic perspectives in social work. Contrary to popular belief however, Richmond acknowledged the importance of the environment right from the beginning:

That field is the development of personality through the conscious and comprehensive adjustment of social relationships, and within that field the worker is no more occupied with abnormalities in the individual than in the environment, is no more able to neglect the one than the other (Richmond, 1922, p. 98)

For her, social casework recognised the value of working with both the internal and the external worlds. She defined the central roles of casework as:

A. Insight into individuality and personal characteristics;

B. Insight into the resources, dangers and influence of the social environment;

C. Direct action of mind upon mind, and

D. Indirect action through the social environment (Richmond, 1922, pp. 101-102).

Despite the alignment to psychodynamic practice, some definitions of casework continued to hold the role of the environment, while there had been some shift to having the locus of change located more within the individual. The following definition by Biestek illustrates