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The World Outside: Its Impact on the Treatment Setting

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Contemporary Clinical Practice

Part of the book series: Essential Clinical Social Work Series ((ECSWS))

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Abstract

In these uncertain times, external events have profoundly altered patients’ physical circumstances as well as their emotional states. As therapists, we too are affected by pressuring outside forces—the economy, health care, threats to individuals’ rights, war—and we must be aware that our patients bring the same outside world with them when they cross our threshold into the treatment setting. Therefore, as we help patients examine their pasts and their internal states, we must also include examination of the world outside and its effect on their lives. Further, we need to explore the secondary impact of hearing their concerns upon us. We can no longer ignore the elephant in the treatment room.

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Correspondence to Ellen Ruderman .

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Ruderman, E. (2012). The World Outside: Its Impact on the Treatment Setting. In: Ruderman, E., Tosone, C. (eds) Contemporary Clinical Practice. Essential Clinical Social Work Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4124-3_1

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