Wheeler, Rebecca Marcus

A qualitative examination of the lived experiences of clinical social workers’ use of self in practice was completed. The current study was designed to examine how LCSWs defined and utilized use of self in practice. Additionally, the study was focused on how LCSWs’ use of self evolved from introduction in graduate education to postgraduate practice. Informed by Mead’s (1934) theory of self, as well as Walters’ (2008) distilled definition of Dewane’s (2006) operational definition of use of self, fifteen semi-structured interviews were conducted from a purposive sample of licensed clinical social workers from a southeastern region of the United States. Using constant comparative analysis to synthesize the findings, two themes emerged. First, participants described individual development of the use of self as clarified by subthemes of educational instruction and application in practice. Second, participants discussed how they integrated the use of self in practice, clarified by personal and professional factors of Dewane’s definition, such as personality traits and skills gained in social work education. With this study, the researcher aimed to contribute to the practice literature by systematically examining the operational definition of the use of self and to suggest implications to inform educational curricula and practice standards for professional development. Study limitations were discussed, in addition to implications for future research.