| dc.description.abstract | Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a major shaping influence in clinical social work
practice, in relation to economic policies, and in professional education. The definition
of EBP remains contested; professionals still fail to distinguish EBP as a practice
decision-making process from a list of treatments that have some type of
research support (which are correctly called empirically supported treatments). All
mental health practitioners should understand what EBP is, what it is not, and how
it shapes both client options and their own practice experiences. This book explores
EBP in depth and in detail. Our focus includes case exemplars that show how the
EBP decision-making process is done in practice.
There are many recent books about evidence-based practice in social work and
in other mental health professions. In reviewing these books, it appeared to us that
most of the books on EBP have been written by researchers, bringing a particular
point of view and expertise to the technicalities of EBP. These books are important
to social workers and other mental health professionals because EBP involves a lot
of technical details about research design, methods, and interpretation that are not
always covered in other social work texts. On the other hand, the lack of a more
direct practice and clinical viewpoint seemed to leave out a lot of the day-to-day
realities clinical social workers confront in learning and using EBP in practice.
Recent books also lacked much in the way of a broad and critical perspective on
EBP as a social movement shaping policy, agency practice, and views of what
constitutes “good” research. As we explored other books as resources for our students
and for our own practice, we missed both a larger or meta-perspective on
EBP and a lack of attention to doing it in clinical practice. This book seeks to
illustrate through several cases how important clinical knowledge and expertise are
in doing EBP well. We seek to introduce the core ideas and practice of EBP and
then illustrate them by applying the concepts and processes to real-world cases.
We also take a critical look at how EBP has been implemented in practice, education,
and policy. | en_US |
