Rosemary L Farmer, Neuroscience and social work: The missing link

Abstract

Keryn and I met when she was a student in my social work class on practice with individuals. During this first semester of classes, Keryn was feeling that her choice for a profession might not be the best fit with the interests that she had. We had a couple of very enjoyable discussions where I began to learn that Keryn was hungry for more health-connected course work but specifically she had a fascination for neuroscience, and pondered why social work did not include this in the curriculum. I have also held this interest in neurocognition and have published two articles exploring neurocognition and community functioning in individuals with schizophrenia (Brekke et al., 2007;Gioia, 2009;Gioia and Brekke, 2009), and welcomed the chance to begin a conversation. Below are some of Keryn's thoughts on her journey to explore this topic:''As a first year social work student, I sat in class trying to listen while my mind wandered to neuropsychological phenomena and the organization of the brain. Having majored in psychology, and brain and cognitive sciences while in undergrad, I learned everything from the developmental stages of the brain to the theoretical underpinnings of consciousness. I vividly recall learning about a neurological defect called simultagnosia-a visuospatial processing disorder characterized by an inability to comprehend more than one element of a scene at the same time or integrate the parts into a whole. Once I began learning about these types of endless possibilities regarding the 'black box', I was hooked.I had intended to combine my interest in the brain with a master's in social work, but my google searches only brought me to the same few research articles, and this one book, titled, Social Work and Neuroscience by Dr. Rosemary Farmer at Virginia Commonwealth University. To my surprise, this book was not just about the details of how these two subjects intersect, but it also serves as an argumentative essay for why there should be more overlap across the disciplines than there currently is. The author packs a lot of information into just seven chapters, and makes a very thorough case for how neuroscience is applicable, and necessary for quality social work practice today.