This book introduces students, faculty, and practitioners to different ways of mastering the complex, yet key elements of successful practice. It refocuses the attention from teaching about practice to concentrating on how to support the development of field instructors, students, and practice teachers in understanding that their personal and professional growth is the instrument for the delivery of "good" or "bad" social work practice.

The book is divided up into three parts: Part I: Introduction to Critical Frameworks for Social Work Practice; Part II: The Centrality of the Professional Relationship; and Part III: Practice Models and Their Applications. The authors integrate multiple components into this work: a textbook that integrates theories, models, and a range of practice-based exercises and a workbook designed to focus on the instructor and the student as active participants in the helping process.

This innovative practice text is designed to be a core textbook for both the undergraduate and graduate social work curriculum.