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“Science is a creative enterprise, and sometimes it’s not viewed that way when it is thought about in the lens of quantitative research. It . . . ask[s]us to entertain more fluidity of knowledge. . . That is also a part of practice: you know, being able to be open minded to your clients, following the client, and beginning where the client is. That is all a creative, open minded kind of process.”

Dr. Jeane Anastas &
Dr. Cynthia Franklin

In this episode, Dr. Jeane Anastas and Dr. Cynthia Franklin discuss how our profession attempts to integrate practice and research. Framing the profession’s commitment to evidence-based practice as an ethical and accountability issue, these long-term practitioners and academics look back and then forward at Social Work’s response to the science of social work practice. Our guests comment on the factors that complicate practitioners’ adoption of evidence-based practices, discuss the struggle for those in the trenches of practice, and acknowledge the professional dynamics that limit social work research and who gets to initiate the questions.

Jeane W. Anastas, PhD, LMSW, ACSW, is a professor at the Silver School of Social Work, New York University, where she teaches in the MSW, PhD, and DSW programs. In her past, she was the president of the NASW. She has published on the science of social work, epistemology, and practice; the mental health needs of low-income pregnant teens; doctoral education and teaching in social work; and a range of women’s issues.

Cynthia Franklin, PhD, LCSW, is the Stiernberg/Spencer Family Professor in Mental Health and assistant dean for the PhD program in the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Franklin also holds a faculty fellow appointment at the Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk in the department of special education. She is the current editor-in chief for the Encyclopedia of Social Work, has over 150 publications in professional literature, and is the author of several books. Dr. Franklin’s research examines the practice and effectiveness of solution-focused brief therapy with children and adolescents. Over the past twenty-five years, Dr. Franklin has worked as a therapist, consultant, trainer, and researcher for schools and mental health agencies.

Interviewer: Tom Nochajski, PhD

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