Excerpts from the Rosemary Lukton Memorial Lecture
Sunday, June 22, 2003 CICSW Spring Convocation

I have had a wonderful and varied career as a social worker stretched over a 50-year period. I have been asked to share some of my experiences with you and to reflect on what I see as the future of social work. In spite of the pessimism in our era of gloom and doom, I am very hopeful. Social work has always been able to move to new vistas, remain resilient in its ability to identify the changes of a troubled world, experiment with new interventions, test the old, integrate theoretical perspectives from established ideas, and develop fresh ways of thinking.

My work over the years as a peer reviewer for the Council of Accreditation for Families and Children Services has brought me in touch with hundreds of private and public social and mental health agencies throughout the U.S. As I have experienced those agencies – most in states other than California – I am in awe of the comprehensive social work services that are provided in other parts of this country. A Family Service Agency in Tennessee integrates object relations theory in their group home program for young, formerly addicted mothers and their babies. In depth psychotherapy, interactive day care, education, and parent training are components built into the counseling services.

A group home program in Connecticut integrates group methods in the classroom for children with learning problems, who also work with individual counselors. In Missouri, an independent living program for runaway girls provides individual and group services. These agencies are offering the best of integrated mental health services.

In the last 10 years I have been most fortunate to act as a consultant, assuming leadership as interim executive director of several organizations which were in trouble in the areas of finance and personnel. The previous executives of these organizations were not social workers, and had lost sight of the mission of their organizations. The directors had trouble in relating to their boards and disavowed the expertise of their staffs. Primarily, the directors lost touch with the needs of their clients, supported services out of their personal biases, and became isolated from their communities. Limited understanding of group dynamics perpetuated staff insecurities, anxieties, and frustrations. I believe the directors had come into the organizations with their own agendas and were not able to "start where the organization was" in their evaluations. Because of this, they were unable to provide a psycho-social perspective which could have led to positive solutions. Schisms developed with the key players who had a stake in the organizations and who were left out of the dialogue. Serious problems developed, even in the two agencies that had a solid financial base.

So it isn’t always the lack of funding that puts agencies in jeopardy. The sources of the funds are not bottomless and they do require oversight and accountability. Unfortunately, it is true that financial resources are more in jeopardy today than they have ever been in my professional lifetime.

I was reminded over these last few years, during the time I was a troubleshooter for organizations in transition, that there was much confusion about their organizational identity and focus. We project the trouble as only a financial curse. I believe many of the ailments start with leadership and a confusion of course and purpose.

I have been struck with how powerful systems are, how power can stifle instead of create, how loss of professional identity leads to confusion and infighting, how projections split, and how easy it is to forget our history.

The center near Chicago where I was last year provides a current example. It was started over 50 years ago by a social worker and psychoanalyst, Irene Josselyn. The mission of the center was to provide mental health psychiatric services to the poor in an otherwise affluent community. The multidisciplinary staff had always included social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists, etc., all committed to team practice. That tradition lost its way after many years of social work leadership.

When I took over as interim director, I was able to change that trend by engaging the board and staff in a dialogue about who we were, our roots, our community, and the mission of a service organization. Where to focus our efforts consumed much debate and discussion as we planned for the future. After a year of intensive work and struggle, the agency is again realizing its primary commitment to working with populations at risk: children with serious learning disorders, as well as a cadre with serious psychological problems, including adults and children with bipolar condition, schizophrenic disorders, clients and patients with disabling depression, a large population of clients with dual diagnosis who are receiving both individual therapy and case management services along with medication management and recovery programs. I believe this agency now provides integrative services that represent the best of social work practice.

There has always been tension in our society over who is responsible for the common good. Where we, as a society, spend and divert our resources has always been of social work concern. These times require more advocacy to push for services and stop the massive cutback threats we read about daily. It is that social work commitment which we must look at. It is beyond psychotherapy and demands our professional attention.

I am committed to best practices as you are. Developing relevant social policy is a professional responsibility and must assume – and if you will, consume – our thinking and direction. When you are reviewing the vicissitudes of psychotherapy, I urge you to look at the broader issues of social thought. I urge you to maintain a social work perspective as you integrate developmental and psychological theories. I urge you to keep in mind that your educational efforts must be applicable to all populations.

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Chester Villalba, M.S.W., L.L.D., a member of the Board of Trustees and the recipient of an Honorary LLD from CICSW, provides organizational consultation to social service and mental health agencies.

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