Social Work Live ― Theory and Practice in Social Work Using Videos

Social Work Live accesses multiple approaches to student learning: experiential, visual, and auditory. Carol Dorr emphasizes the important role of self-reflection and critical thinking in social work practice by paying special attention to process recordings and observing how the social worker reflects on her own reactions in the moment with the client. Students also can appreciate the important role of reflecting on their own interventions with clients after their sessions, acknowledging what went well and what could have been done better.

Social Work Live encourages a constructivist perspective to practice that calls attention to the many possible interpretations and approaches to working with clients. The classroom provides an ideal opportunity for students to explore with each other different ways of making meaning out of clients' stories and intervening with them.

Carol Dorr, PhD, has a private practice in Watertown, MA. She is an Associate Professor at Regis College where she was Director of the Social Work Program for 17 years.