I guess there is a relationship between psychoanalysis and
social work.It did play major in professionalization of social
work.Psychoanalysis provided social workers with a theory of
personality and human problems that helped them to understand their
clients’ often entrenched problems in new ways. Social work
practitioners, many of whom eagerly sought psychoanalytic treatment
and supervision, began to use many psychoanalytic techniques with
their clients.
But yes,there are criticisms too;clinical social work based on
psychodynamic theories was too narrowly psychotherapeutic rather
than psychosocial and focused on treating the concerns of the
‘‘worried well’’ rather than clients presenting with difficult
problems.