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The content of the social work curriculum inherently pulls for students to use a varied set of tools that they themselves embody: intellect; emotions; behaviors; interpersonal skills; and self-perception. Undergraduate social work students were surveyed to identify the associations between attachment styles and the capacity to accurately read other people, and how various styles of reflective thinking were used throughout their social work training. Findings revealed that student's with increased social work training used higher levels of critical reflection. However, insecure attachment was associated with a lowered capacity to accurately read others, regardless of the amount of social work training the student had received. Trends suggest that attachment style is also associated with different styles of thinking, particularly as social work experience increases and students' make sense of their burgeoning practice knowledge. This book focuses on how to identify students in need of additional support, and strategies to implement throughout the classroom and field education sequences of the academic experience.
About the author
Nora Padykula, Ph.D., LICSW is the Director of the BSW Program at Westfield State University, USA. Trained in DBT, EMDR, and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, her research focuses on applying attachment theory to social work students in training. She received her MSW from Springfield College and her Ph.D. from Smith College School for Social Work.
