Educating for critical social work practice in mental health

Abstract

ABSTRACT Practising critically in medically dominated settings has been identified as a radical challenge for social work. While commonly acknowledged that the biomedical model dominates most mental health settings, social workers continue to try to carve out a more distinctive role for our profession that aligns with the values of social justice. This paper explores how social work education (specifically critically reflective pedagogies and methodologies), can support transformative learning that, at least in this case, generated possibilities for critical practice in mental health. It articulates a co-constructed process in which the educator (Author One) and the student (Author Two) use critical reflection to unearth opportunities for mental health social workers to practise critically. This paper discusses the broader implications for social work education and practice, thus generating practice-based evidence that extends current theorising and social work practice in mental health.