The ‘Self’ and ‘Use of Self’ in Social Work:
A Contribution to the Development of a
Coherent Theoretical Framework
Pamela Trevithick*
Department of Social Work, Buckinghamshire New University, High Wycombe,
Buckinghamshire, UK
*Correspondence to Dr Pamela Trevithick, Department of Social Work, Buckinghamshire
New University, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract
This paper explores the ‘use of self’ in social work and what is meant when referring
to the concept of a ‘self’. It begins by looking at infant psychological development
and theories that attempt to explain how, as human beings, our unique self is formed
and what factors play a part in this process. It considers whether experiences in
infancy later shape who we are as people and professionals, and how we might come
across to others. This first focus, which reflects a Western/Eurocentric perspective,
explores three themes: the core, multiple, authentic, private, public, true and false
features of the self; Bowlby’s concept of ‘internal working models’; and feminist writing on the gendered characteristics of the self. The paper then looks at coverage of
the term use of self in selected social work publications, some of which point to the
absence of a coherent theoretical framework from which to teach, research and apply
this subject in direct practice. It explores how this gap could be bridged by developing
a conceptual framework that links the term use of self to the concept of internal
working models; a gendered perspective; theories relating to non-verbal forms of
communication; and the importance of self-awareness.
Keywords: Use of self, feminism, self-awareness, internal working models, non-verbal
communication
Accepted: September 2017
# The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of
The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved.
British Journal of Social Work (2018) 48, 1836–1854
doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcx133
Advance Access publication November 28, 2017
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Introduction
Some social work publications on the subject ‘use of self’ sidestep what is
meant by the term ‘self’ and how this ‘self’ comes into being. Yet, without some understanding, it is not possible to identify which aspect of the
‘self’ is being referred to—or being ‘used’—and why, or to develop a
sound theoretical framework from which to understand and apply
this subject in practice. To address this gap, this paper looks at theories
relating to infant psychological development that describe how, as human
beings, we come to acquire a ‘self’. It describes how we are shaped by
the relationships we encounter in early infancy—and throughout the
lifespan—and how these encounters lead to a ‘sense of self’ or a personal
autobiographical history. The reason for concentrating on the development of the ‘self’ in infancy is to explore the extent to which early experiences influence who we are as people and professionals, and how our
use of self might come across to others. One way to understand how
experiences become character forming can be found in Bowlby’s conceptualisation of ‘internal working models’, which describes how relationship
experiences inform the assumptions and expectations we make about
ourselves, others and the world we inhabit. An additional perspective on
the character-forming nature of early experiences and social processes
looks at the development of a ‘gendered self’ from a feminist perspective.
(Supplementary material on the development of a ‘gendered’ self’
is available in the online version of this paper.) How these influential
experiences come to represent ‘who we are’ can be found in the
thoughts, feelings and behaviour, particularly in the non-verbal communication patterns that we and others adopt. This paper suggests that linking
the concept of internal working models with theories relating to non-verbal communication and the importance of self-awareness could provide a
valuable contribution to any theoretical framework developed and the
use of self that we and others present.
The early development of the self
What is meant by the term ‘self’ is a subject that has attracted a range
of different theories. They attempt to understand and explain how, as
human beings, our unique self is formed or developed and what factors
play a part in this process. Almost all contemporary writers in this field
view human development in terms of genetic potential that is shaped by
environmental experiences—environmental experiences that begin with
the earliest infant–carer relationship and the quality of the contact or essential ‘bond’ that the infant establishes with the mother or primary
care-givers. Without these early relationships, it is not possible for the
self to come into being because, as Winnicott noted, ‘a baby cannot exist
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alone, but is essentially part of a relationship’ (1964, p. 88). This emphasis on relationships means that ‘our psychological development is
thoroughly embedded in our social relationships’ (Howe, 1995, p. 16).
This sociological perspective is evident in all human beings, including
parents, and is represented in the internalisation of social systems, and
the values and norms of society.
There is no agreement among authors writing in this field about when
the ‘self’ or sense of self emerges in infancy, although several theories
proliferate. One range of theories describe human development in terms
of the ‘stages’, with some proposing that each stage should be completed,
if not dismantled, before progressing to the next. Examples include:
Erikson’s eight stages of psycho-social development; Piaget’s five stages
of cognitive development; Kohlberg’s six stages of moral development;
Freud’s six psychosexual stages of psychological development; Maslow’s
eight stage hierarchy of needs; and Mahler’s three main stages in children’s development. The main difficulty with these conceptualisations is
that they can fail to take full account of individual variations and the
complex internal and external variables that lead to developmental stages
or milestones being achieved. A different conceptualisation describes the
development of the self not as distinct stages, but as ‘sensitive periods of
development’ (Sroufe, 1996, p. 158) or Bowlby’s ‘sensitive phases’. This
describes human development in terms of patterns of behaviour, and the
systems or ‘conditions, both internal and external to the organism, which
govern the pattern’ (Bowlby, 1979, p. 30). The self that emerges is conceptualised by Bowlby in his ‘internal working models’, covered later.
Stern also preferred a ‘phases’ perspective but one he conceptualised in
terms of five ‘layers’ of which Stern considered the fifth ‘narrative self’
to be most important because narrations ‘become the official history of
your life. They constitute your autobiography’ (Stern, 1985/2000, p. xxiv).
For these authors, the ongoing development of the self and ‘ways-ofbeing-with-another’ are shaped by the quality of adaptation and consistency in the infant-carer relationship, and the way that reciprocal relationships are sustained by mutual participation.
Attachment theory and the infant–carer relationship
Bowlby defined attachment theory as follows:
. . . intimate attachments to other human beings are the hub around
which a person’s life revolves, not only when s/he is an infant or a
toddler but throughout adolescence and the years of maturity as well
and on to old age (Bowlby, 1980, p. 442).
A key feature of this attachment process is the extent to which infants’ experiences of others come to shape their inner ‘representational’ world and
how infants take in and store these experiences. It is the quality of this
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internalisation process that is central to the four attachment classifications:
(i) secure attachment; (ii) insecure attachment: avoidant; (iii) insecure
attachment: ambivalent; and (iv) insecure: disorganised attachment.
The original theories put forward by Bowlby and his colleagues have been
advanced by several influential researchers to the point where, according
to Schore, Bowlby’s work now occupies a dominant position in developmental psychology:
Bowlby’s attachment theory . . . represents the most successful integration
of psychoanalysis and the biological sciences . . . . His concepts now lie at
the heart of developmental psychology, which is also currently
intensively studying the long-enduring effects of early emotional
development (Schore, 2003b, p. 219).
For the self to emerge calls for a capacity for infants to build on their experiences with others because ‘we are wired neurologically to register our
experience from moment to moment in our bodies and in our emotions’
(Gilligan and Richards, 2009, p. 195). For this registering to occur implies
an innate ‘self-regulating organisation’ in infants, but one where central
importance is placed on the ‘caregiving system’ and the ‘caregiver’s synchronisation with the infant’ (Sroufe, 1996, p. 21). The psychoanalytically
oriented writers cited in this paper view the mother as central to an
infant’s emotional development:
The child’s first relationship, the one with the mother, acts as a
template, as it permanently moulds the individual’s capacities to enter
into all later emotional relationships. These early experiences shape the
development of a unique personality, its adaptive capacities as well as its
vulnerabilities to and resistances against particular forms of future
pathologies. Indeed, they profoundly influence the emergent
organisation of an integrated system that is both stable and adaptable,
and thereby the formation of the self (Schore, 1994, p. 3).
One reason put forward to support the unique position held by the
mother is her biological tie to her infant during pregnancy, but also in
the weeks and months that follow. For example, breastfeeding mothers
are known to produce milk at the sound of their infant crying. However,
most authors acknowledge that care-givers can also provide an emotionally sensitive and responsive connection and a ‘secure base’ in ways that
adapt to the developmental needs of the infant. What is important is the
quality of the infant–care-giver relationship and care-giving system or
‘good-enough environment’ that is provided:
. . . a good-enough environmental provision in the earliest phase enables
the infant to begin to exist, to have experience, to build a personal ego,
to ride instincts, and to meet with all the difficulties inherent in life. All
this feels real to the infant who becomes able to have a self (Winnicott,
1958, p. 304).
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Two important changes, supported by research findings, are said to
occur in these early phases of life that influence the development of
other capacities. The first is the extent to which infants, from an early
age, are highly active in eliciting the kind of care and experience that
they are seeking (Howe, 2008, p. 52). This early sense of ‘self-agency’
(Stern, 1985/2000, p. 71) and motivation to evoke and shape the nurturing and responsive behaviour of others is thought to be a basis from
which an ongoing sense of agency and self-confidence, and trust in
others is established (Sroufe, 1996, p. 200). The second change relates to
the ‘separation–individuation phase’ (Mahler et al., 1975) located at
around six months of age. For some writers, this marks the point when
an infant begins to establish a firm sense of separation and differentiation from the mother or care-giver and the development of a separate,
‘individuated’, unique self or personhood. Through the care-giver’s ability to set clear boundaries and to say ‘no’, the infant learns to recognise
the reality of the situation and that others and the world are not within
his or her control. The mother-care-giver’s task is to survive—to remain
reliable, responsive and to avoid retaliation when confronted with an
infant’s wilful demands. This is thought to mark a sense of a shared
reality and capacity to negotiate change. The ‘separation–individuation
phase’, covered later, is considered to mark a point where a ‘gendered’
sense of self begins to emerge.
The core and adaptive features of the self
There are numerous ways that the concept of self has been described by
different authors, such as: the authentic self (Rogers, 1961); core sense
of self (Howe, 2008, p. 128); proto, core and autobiographical self
(Damasio, 2000, p. 17); situated self (Froggett et al., 2015, p. 145); public
and private self (Siegel, 2012, p. 211); true self/false self (Winnicott,
1965, p. 148), and so forth. A central focus within these terms is
whether, as human beings, there is a part of our being that has more
permanent, consistent and identifiable characteristics or whether no core
exists and, instead, the self is made up of features that are ultimately
fluid and totally adaptable. For example, Siegel, writing from the field
of inter-personal neurobiology, has argued that studies in child development suggest that ‘the idea of a unitary, continuous “self” is actually an
illusion our minds attempt to create’ (Siegel, 2012, p. 209). McNamee
and Gergen, writing from a postmodern perspective, share the view that
a ‘permanent self is merely an illusion that we cling to, a narrative
developed in relation to others over time that we come to identify as
who we are’ (1992, p. 209). These writers emphasise adaptive characteristics and the fact that human beings have ‘multiple and varied “selves”,
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which are needed to carry out the many and diverse activities of our
lives’ (Siegel, 2012, p. 209).
A different argument states that there needs to be some aspect of our
being that is capable of recognising and organising experiences, memories, events, thoughts and feelings in ways that demonstrate both the
capacity for continuity and the capacity to adapt when required. This
more continuous and constant aspect or ‘core self’ acts as home for
subjective experience which Stern conceptualised as follows: ‘A sense of
a core self would be ephemeral [fleeting] if there were no continuity
of experience. . . . The infant capacity necessary for this form of continuity is memory’ (Stern, 1985/2000, p. 90).
This ‘core’ sense of self, which includes the body’s capacity to remember
experiences, links us to the past, present and future options. It enables us
to recognise the more consistent characteristics and patterns of behaviour
that are evident in statements such as ‘I’m not myself today’ or ‘He’s back
to his old self’. These features are more commonly referred to as an
individual’s personality which in this paper describes the more distinctive,
relatively consistent and often typical patterns of behaviour, thought and
emotion that people display.
Authentic, public or private, or true and false self
Authentic self
Stern links authenticity with being spontaneous (Stern, 2004, p. 372).
It describes being true to oneself—which again presupposes an
awareness of the self and how it can be nurtured by truthfulness.
Personal authenticity is about ‘feeling real’ and often linked to being
genuine, honest and coming across as such—as opposed to feeling a
fraud. The Rogerian core conditions of authenticity, empathy and
respect are often mentioned in this regard but what is missing from the
account is the extent to which the context influences the capacity to
be authentic in ways that lead to a sense of ‘emotional integrity’
(Howe, 2008, p. 67).
Public or private self
These terms are often linked to Jung’s introvert and extrovert personality types and in general describe people who turn their thoughts and
feelings inward, towards themselves, and those who turn them outward,
towards others. Most people do both, although it is thought that ‘extreme forms of introversion border on the pathological’ (Reber et al.,
2009, p. 399). The extent to which people feel comfortable to reveal
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themselves is often shaped by their history, although, again, what messages or interpretation the context communicates is vitally important
(Matsumoto et al., 2013, p. viii).
True and false self
The work of Winnicott is often cited when referring to the true and false
self but frequently misunderstood. Winnicott described the two categories of true and false selves as ‘ideas’ to aid differentiation, stating:
‘There is but little point in formulating a True Self idea except for the
purpose of trying to understand the False Self’ (1965, p. 148). Within
this contrast, the task of the false self is to hide and protect the true self,
which is achieved by compliance and copying others but at the cost of
people feeling unreal and disconnected from other people and themselves. The other main task of the false self is to ‘find a way of enabling
the True Self to start to live’ (Winnicott, 1965, p. 148) by trying to create and maintain a safe environment for the true self to be revealed. In
this conceptualisation, the idea of the true self represents the authentic
self of an individual—a person who feels real, genuine, open and alive
to experience, creative, intuitive and spontaneous. For Winnicott, ‘the
spontaneous gesture’ is the true self in action (1965, p. 145).
The self in Bowlby’s internal working models
Internal working models describe a system where ‘the developing child
builds up a set of models of the self and others, based on patterns of interactive experience’ (Holmes, 1993, p. 78). It describes the sense of self
that is likely to emerge and the way we internalise—or take in and
store—representations of the thoughts, feelings, behaviour and attitudes
of others. These interactive experiences—positive and negative—lead to
patterned expectations and predictions about how to relate to others in
the different situations we encounter. Bowlby saw the separation–individuation stage of development to be the point when internalised working models begin to emerge, which is when the child is:
. . . busy constructing models of how the physical world may be expected
to behave, how his mother and other significant persons may be
expected to behave, how he himself may be expected to behave, and
how each interacts with all others (Bowlby, 1969, p. 354).
He emphasised the importance of self-esteem as a central feature of a
person’s internal working model where a key feature is whether the individual feels ‘acceptable or unacceptable . . . in the eyes of his attachment
figures’ (Bowlby, 1973, p. 203). This focus on self-esteem is taken up by
Holmes, who noted:
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Looking at adverse experiences in childhood, those who, despite loss
or difficulty, manage to maintain a sense of self-esteem do well.
Self-esteem in turn rests on two main foundations: self-efficacy and good
relationships. Good self-esteem means a child will be likely to
cope . . . and the fact of coping will in itself enhance self-esteem (Holmes,
1993, p. 53).
Bowlby described the beliefs and expectations that are constructed in
terms of attachment patterns which, without the input of others, will
tend to persist relatively unchanged throughout life. Where these
patterns involve negative features about the self and others, he noted
that individuals can actively enlist the kind of negative reactions they
have internalised and grown to expect. An example might be the person
who rejects someone for fear of being rejected. ‘Such biased perceptions
and expectations lead to various misconceived beliefs’ (Bowlby, 1979,
pp. 141–2) about the self and other people. Bowlby noted that several
internal working models could be created, with each having different
features in terms of their source, importance and the extent to which
the individual is consciously aware of their existence. He also noted that
‘inappropriate but persistent representational models often coexist with
more appropriate ones’ (Bowlby, 1979, p. 142).
Bowlby’s emphasis on actual experiences as a ‘fair reflection of the
types of experience he has had in his relationships with attachment
figures’ (1973, p. 297) put him in conflict with his psychoanalytic
contemporaries who placed considerable importance on fantasy but paid
‘scant attention, or absence of any attention, to the child’s real-life experience’ (Bowlby, cited in Young and Figlio, 1986, p. 39). The ‘symbolic’
representations that form part of the internal model created can involve
interactions that correspond to actual experiences but do not always
describe a specific situation or accurate account when trying to identify
the underlying ‘truth’ of an event, hence the need for caution when
trying to link cause and effect. These representations can be triggered
by associations and perceptions that link to the senses, such as hearing,
sight, touch, smell and taste (Schore, 1994, p. 312). However, they often
involve distortions that are masked by conscious and unconscious
defences (Trevithick, 2011), such as when children feel compelled to
conceal abusing or neglectful experiences to protect their parents and/or
themselves, or when parents succumb to ‘strong pressures towards
forgetting and distorting, repressing and falsifying, exonerating one party
and blaming another’ (Bowlby, 1979, p. 150).
Schore noted that Bowlby saw ‘uncovering and reassessment of early
internalised working models [to be] the essential task of psychotherapy’
(2003b, p. 168). It describes a theoretical framework from which to
analyse and work with the strengths that individuals have acquired and
the difficulties that endure from the impact of formative experiences.
More generally, it provides a basis from which to ‘understand how
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developmentally based, affective focused psychotherapy can alter early
attachment patterns’ (Schore, 1994, p. 69). Bowlby believed that to
achieve this change involved providing a ‘secure base’ and resisting the
desire to blame so that greater understanding could be reached.
In recent years, attachment theory has become mainstream in social
work teaching and training, largely promoted by the scholarship of
Howe (1995, 2005) and others. However, the current focus on assessing
where a child or parents are positioned in one of the four attachment
categories may detract from looking at how we might work with the
internal working models that children and adults demonstrate. What is
needed is the opportunity to develop a more whole-person approach
and systemic perspective on how different internal working models are
being represented, triggered and reinforced by family dynamics and
external factors. Family therapy, which Bowlby promoted in his work at
the Tavistock Centre, can be very important in this regard. Family
Group Conferences also offer a wider systemic perspective on patterns
of behaviour and family dynamics.
The sense of self as amenable to change
The position put forward, particularly from a psycho-social perspective,
promotes the view that the capacities developed in infancy in a responsive, adaptable and nurturing ‘caregiving system’ (Sroufe, 1996, p. 3),
‘facilitating environment’ (Winnicott, 1965) or ‘secure base’ (Bowlby,
1979) constitute growth-enhancing experiences that can be carried forward from infancy into adulthood. It suggests that, if all goes well in this
developmental process, the sense of self that an individual develops is
likely to lead to the capacity to engage in meaningful, reciprocal and
mutually satisfying relationships, based on a sense of agency, resilience,
sense of worth, self-confidence and concern for others. However, this
position can be criticised for being too simplistic and one that places too
much emphasis on the role of parents, particularly mothers, at the
expense of exploring other factors. Some individuals with seemingly
‘good-enough’ beginnings can find themselves struggling in life, whilst
others from a seemingly not ‘good-enough’ beginning can appear to
cope well and to flourish. It is not possible to know with confidence the
impact that experiences can have on an individual. Not all experiences
are remembered or their conscious or unconscious meaning and impact
recognised by the individual or by others. Nor is sufficient emphasis
placed on the importance of external factors that influence behaviour,
such as the impact of social inequalities, disadvantage and deprivation.
Most authors cited in this paper believe that, as human beings, we can
grow and develop throughout the lifespan, and that nurturing and caring
relationships play a key role within this process. It is a view that has
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been supported in recent years by the findings of neuroscience where
research has identified the dominant influence that relationship experiences can have on the brain and brain functioning (Siegel, 2012, p. 33).
In addition, research findings on the plasticity of brain structures
describe the changes to the brain that can happen throughout the
lifespan. These occur when synapses in the brain form connections that
link neurons to one another. The synaptic connections become strengthened by repeated activation in ways that lead to increased brain
functioning—‘cells that fire together, wire together’, although the
brain stays healthy through synaptic pruning, which means that unused
synapses can wither and die away—named the ‘use it or lose it’ principle
(LeDoux, 2002, p. 79).
The gendered characteristics of the self
What is missing in this account is the point at which the ‘self’ comes
into being assumes a gendered form, leading to the development of masculine and feminine characteristics. This more sociological appraisal is
essential because ‘emotional development must be studied in concert
with cognitive and social development . . . the individual functions as a
totality, and no part can be understood in isolation’ (Sroufe, 1996, p. 8).
A gender analysis attempts to understand the extent to which the terms
‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ are socially constructed and to identify the
socialisation processes—how this gendered sense of identity is assigned
by others, or interpreted and taken up by individuals and within societies. For example, by about three or four years of age, it is thought that
a core gender identity between girls and boys has been established and
that this includes an awareness and internalisation of differences and
disparities in status, esteem, power and authority. This paper is focused
primarily on infant development but gender differences in adolescence
mark a second important period in young people’s sense of self and
identity.
The influential analysis put forward by feminists on the gendered characteristics of the self that began in the 1970s placed considerable focus on
the role of mothers and ‘mothering’ (Chodorow, 1978) within society, and
the role of patriarchal assumptions in children’s emotional development.
This looked in some depth at the separation–individuation phase in infant
development, and the link between patriarchal assumptions and expectations and the sense of identity, gender role and subordinate place in society taken up by women, particularly in the Western world, but not
exclusively. It examined the part played by wider social, economic and
relational factors in the construction of the multiple identities within masculinity and femininity, and how these could be thought to shape the development of a ‘gendered’ sense of self. In her influential text, Chodorow
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(1978) argued that the separation from mothers takes a different form for
boys and girls. For girls, it means remaining connected to the mother and
the world of relationships whereas, for boys, it means separating from the
mother and learning to be autonomous and independent—that is, to be
‘not-feminine, or not-womanly’ (Chodorow, 1989, p. 109). For Chodorow,
‘the sexual division of labour and women’s responsibility for child care are
linked to and generate male dominance’ (1978, p. 214)—a situation that
could be significantly altered by increasing men’s involvement in childrearing. (See online only ‘Supplementary material’ on the gendered characteristics of the self).
Drawing on the work of Chodorow, the research findings of Gilligan
(1993) summarised men’s orientation as one that ‘protects separateness’
and women’s as being one that ‘sustains connectedness’: ‘Since masculinity is defined through separation while femininity is defined through
attachment, male gender identity is threatened by intimacy while female
gender identity is threatened by separation’ (p. 9).
Do gender differences lead to different attributes and abilities in
adulthood?
Gilligan summarised ‘men’s social orientation as positional while women’s as relational and personal’ (1993, p. 16) but it is an open question
as to whether men’s and women’s attributes or choices in later life can
be attributed to the mother–child relationship and early socialisation
process. Some evidence suggests that it does and in ways that could be
important for social work. For example, some non-verbal communication
research findings indicate that ‘females consistently outperform males on
measures of nonverbal sensitivity’ and emotional recognition (Thompson
and Voyer, 2014, p. 1165). Similarly, some research suggests that, on
average, women are better at picking up on empathic cues and
‘empathic opportunities’ than men (Howe, 2008, p. 19). In a similar vein,
‘Men also consistently score lower than women on interpersonal sensitivity—a broad concept involving accurate perception of others and
related appropriate interpersonal interaction’ (Green, 2016, p. 781).
Other studies suggest that, in general, women tend to use self-disclosure
more than men (Hargie, 2011, p. 264). Finally, the fact that women dominate in the take-up of occupations in the so-called ‘caring professions’
suggests an orientation towards the world of relationships. The reason
for these differences is complex (Parker and Crabtree, 2014). Some
life choices may be imprinted in early infancy but it is essential to consider other factors, particularly the extent to which the categories of
masculine and feminine identities overlap and take different forms.
Also, the complexities that surround trans, transgender and other fluid
representations of gender/sexual identity warrant consideration.
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Social work publications on the use of self
This section looks at how the term use of self has been described in selected social work publications on this subject. At the outset, what is noticeable in these publications is a lack of consistency in the language
used to describe the term, such as the intuitive use of self (England,
1986, p. 40), purposeful use of self (Ward, 2008, p. 67), professional use
of self (Trevithick, 2012, p. 110), reflexive use of self (Froggett et al.,
2015, p. 137), conscious and unconscious use of self (Schneider and
Grady, 2015, p. 53) or simply the use of self (Howe, 2008, p. 159).
A common theme covered in many of these publications is the personal
learning acquired by practitioners and students on university training
programmes, on placement and in practice. Publications written from
a psycho-social perspective, where use of self has its roots, highlight
the importance of concepts such as transference, counter-transference
and projective identification, and the significance of conscious (aware)
and unconscious (unaware) elements in direct practice (Schneider and
Grady, 2015). Others explore specific themes, such as the importance of
a ‘holding environment as a facilitative structure for learning’ (Ward,
2008), power inequalities between service users and social workers
(Mandell, 2008) and the impact of managerialism on social workers’
effectiveness and capacity to create meaningful relationships
(Froggett et al., 2015; Trevithick, 2014).
These papers cover a range of important issues but most tend to sidestep what is meant by the term ‘self’ and how it comes into being, but
with some notable exceptions (Mandell, 2008; Reupert, 2009). They also
often fail to provide a clear account of what the term use of self includes—thereby leaving the subject ill-defined. This lack of conceptual
rigour has made it difficult to recognise, teach, assess and research the
way in which practitioners and students are ‘using’ themselves—and how
their specific knowledge, skills and values are being applied effectively
and meaningfully in ways that meet agreed or desired outcomes. This
gap has been noted by Froggett et al., who call for the use of self to ‘become an object of research as well as clinical inquiry’ (2015, p. 135)—a
view confirmed by others who cite the limited in-depth analysis on its
application in direct practice (Reupert, 2007; Mandell, 2008).
A contribution to the development of a coherent
theoretical framework
In order to address this theoretical gap, it is important for a framework
to be developed that can be applied and used creatively within social
work. In this paper, I propose that three contributions could be
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significant to any framework developed: Bowlby’s concept of internal
working models; what we can learn from communication theory and
practice, particularly non-verbal forms of communication; and the part
played by self-awareness within this process. These contributions are
described in more detail.
The self/use of self demonstrated in internal working models
Bowlby’s concept of internal working models offers a whole-person conceptualisation of personality development and ‘provides a basis for understanding how infant attachment patterns develop into adult personality patterns’
(Hill, 2015, p. 87). Several models can be developed and become evident,
thereby resisting the idea of a person’s personality as something fixed or
one-dimensional. Instead, it provides a view of people’s thoughts, feelings
and reactions in terms of a systemic perspective—their autobiographical history, but also the importance of the context and external triggers that lead
to certain reactions and behaviour patterns being demonstrated. Once these
imprinted memories are triggered, they guide attention and activate prior
experience in ways that lead to the playing out of embedded expectations
and assumptions. This reminds us that, in any two-person interaction, both
individuals—the service user and social worker—are in effect triggering
reactions in the other.
This perspective introduces a two-person focus to the current
one-person orientation on practitioners’ ‘professional journey’ and
‘theoretical, practical and emotional learning’ (Froggett et al., 2015,
p. 135). The learning acquired by practitioners is important but, in any
two-way encounter, there should be two people learning if a meaningful
interaction is to occur—two ‘selves’ that are likely to reveal different
‘core’ and adaptable features in ways that have been ‘shaped by personal
history and psychological and emotional experiences’ (Mandell, 2008,
p. 237). To place the use of self of service users alongside that of social
workers highlights the importance of mutuality and reciprocity. It
describes an ‘interaction of two minds’ (Stern, 2004, p. 156)—a belief
that the mind of one person can be changed by the mind of another
through being able to ‘share common states, feelings, or experiences’
(Benjamin, 1995, p. 183). Howe describes this as the ‘co-creation of
experience’:
The co-creation of experience, recognition and understanding is a
‘sloppy’ business, full of stumblings, reachings-out, steppings-back,
gaucheness, false moves, poor turns-of-phrase, and occasional warmth,
connection and sudden self-awareness. . . . Practice is never text-book
smooth. And yet in the human desire to be mind-read and to mind-read,
however clumsily pursued, lies potential movement and psychological
progress (Howe, 2008, p. 164).
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This ability to ‘mind-read’ the thoughts, feelings and reactions of another person describes the ability to empathise and to ‘attune’ ourselves
to a person’s inner world of sensations and to experience his or her
emotional state and the ‘quality of feeling that is being shared’ (Stern,
1985/2000, p. 142). It is, as Howe suggests, a basis from which personal
change can occur—for both parties. However, for emotions, feelings and
non-verbal sensations to be given the importance they warrant calls for
these to be viewed as evidence which, like ‘hard facts’, need to be tested
against other forms of evidence in order to unravel the meaning being
communicated and how this is being conveyed in the behaviour
demonstrated.
The self/use of self demonstrated in non-verbal forms of
communication
The reference to non-verbal sensations introduces the importance of
communication theory and practice, particularly non-verbal forms
of communication. In this paper, the term ‘non-verbal communication’ is
defined as ‘the transfer and exchange of messages in any and all modalities that do not involve words’ (Matsumoto et al., 2013, p. 4), which,
depending on the research study, constitutes somewhere between 65 and
95 per cent of the total message conveyed (Matsumoto et al., 2013, p. 9).
It is a subject that recognises the importance of the spoken word, but
also how speech can be enhanced or inhibited, whether intentionally or
not, by other non-verbal dimensions that include ‘facial expressions,
vocal cues, gestures, body postures, interpersonal distance, touching, and
gaze’ (Matsumoto et al., 2013, p. 6). These dimensions make it important
for practitioners to be able to read and hypothesise about the non-verbal
cues or messages being demonstrated and to do so in ways that avoid
being simplistic or over-reading people’s behaviour.
In direct practice, our use of self and internal working model is likely
to be communicated in three forms, as conscious, non-conscious and unconscious behaviour. Conscious behaviour involves self-awareness and is
covered below. Non-conscious behaviour describes the expanse of
behaviour that lies ‘at levels beneath conscious awareness’ (Schore,
2003a, p. 67) yet capable of being brought into conscious awareness in
response to, say, a well-constructed question. For example, an experienced and skilful driver can often drive between locations non-consciously—with virtually no awareness of the journey unless asked to
recall some details. The same non-conscious awareness can be seen in
the practice wisdom demonstrated by a highly skilled practitioner.
Unconscious behaviour is more problematic because it lies beyond an
individual’s awareness and ‘there is no “direct route” by which we can
access the unconscious mind’ (Thiele, 2006, p. 285). However, an
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indirect but tentative route to unconscious influences can be found by
paying attention to the non-verbal cues in behaviour—their ‘affect,
gesture, posture, voice, and facial expression’ (Thiele, 2006, p. 285).
This last point highlights the broad range of behaviour involved in
verbal and non-verbal forms of communication in direct practice that
can be thought to include: (i) facial expression, particularly eye contact;
(ii) quality of voice, its tone, intensity, speed and pitch; (iii) quality of
speech and choice of words; (iv) the gestures and body postures demonstrated; (v) dress, general appearance, clothing; and (vi) the impact of
specific actions, such as offers of practical help, lateness, touch, etc.
These aspects that express our use of self in action will be explored in a
later paper on this subject. Interestingly, the importance of non-verbal
behaviour has gained some prominence in attachment theory (Hill, 2015,
p. 85) and neuroscience because ‘nonverbal behaviour is a primary
mode in which emotion is communicated’ (Siegel, 2012, p. 146). In the
study of emotion, of significance is the message being communicated by
eye contact and facial expression and the fact that we are ‘hard-wired to
express emotion through the face’ (Siegal, 2012, p. 176). It is what we
communicate in our conscious, non-conscious and unconscious behaviour
that can lead to difficulties if how we want to come across is not what
others experience.
The self/use of self demonstrated in self-awareness
The concept use of self highlights the importance of self-awareness. This
describes the ability to recognise and name the emotions and feelings
that make up who we are, which in turn enable us to be aware of—and
to ‘read’—the emotional state of others. To have a self involves an
awareness of that fact. Kondrat describes the capacity for self-awareness
as the ability ‘to name one’s perceptions, feelings, and nuances of behaviour’ (Kondrat, 1999, pp. 452–3) which in effect describes the characteristics of an internal working model. Edwards and Bess make a similar
link to internal working models where they state that self-awareness
needs to inspire a ‘curious exploration of self’ of our ‘default characteristics’ in order for social workers to:
. . . engage in a systematic inventory of their personality traits and
characteristic behaviours which come to them as naturally as breathing.
They must be able to identify specifically how they act and what they
say that is unique to themselves as persons in relation to other persons
and that conveys the essence of their inner selves to their clients
(Edwards and Bess, 1998, p. 97).
To know the default characteristics that make up our internal working
models and our shortcomings as people and professionals calls for
honesty and the ‘capacity to tell ourselves the truth’ (Trevithick, 2012,
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p. 111) which in turn calls for an emotionally safe place to be created
(Ward, 2008) if further defensiveness is to be avoided. It also calls for us
to be able to name the emotions we have experienced in the process of
becoming who we are, for, as Cassam notes, ‘substantial self-knowledge
is knowledge of our own emotions’ (2014, p. 179). Said differently, if we
have never experienced empathy, and the feelings and sensations it
embodies, we are less likely to know whether, when and how to offer it
when needed. In addition to being aware of our emotions, we also need
to give them words by developing an emotional vocabulary which I consider to be a central feature of relationship-based practice (Trevithick,
2003). Cournoyer takes up this point by identifying a list of 885 ‘feeling
words’ (2011, p. 495) designed to enhance ‘empathic reflection’, many of
which indicate important cultural differences in relation to language.
Different conventions or ‘display rules’ in specific cultures can allow or
inhibit the expression of certain emotions.
Conclusion
This article has introduced and synthesised a range of theories to look at
what we mean when referring to the ‘self’ and the term ‘use of self’. It
has looked at theories on infant psychological development to consider
the extent to which early experiences influence who we are as people
and professionals, and how our use of self might come across to others.
This exploration includes an account of how the self has been conceptualised in terms of its core, multiple, authentic, private, public, true and
false characteristics, Bowlby’s concept of ‘internal working models’ and
what constitutes the gendered characteristics of the self. The paper then
looks at how the use of self has been covered in selected social work
publications. This reveals the need for greater analysis and a coherent
theoretical framework to be developed that link and integrate the range
of theories described above, including the importance of non-verbal
forms of communication, and self-awareness in direct practice. These
two last themes will be the focus of a later paper on the use of self
which will also question whether it is possible for social workers to communicate an authentic, open and honest sense of self when hampered by
the worst excesses of managerialism, neo-liberalism’s operating system.
Acknowledgements
My thanks to the following colleagues for their helpful comments on
this paper: Carole Adamson, Alison Chown, Sarah Corrigan, Lorna
Elliott, Anne Fulton, Douglas Gray, Lyn Heathcote, Kathryn Hind,
Geraldine Maughan, Maura O’Donoghue, Charlotte Paterson, John
Stead and Laura Steckley. I would also like to thank the anonymous
BJSW reviewers.
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