Is there a way to use the DSM-IV that leads to greater understanding and connection instead of relational disconnection and dehumanization? How do we balance our desire "to know" with our need to stay open to new understandings that may emerge only if we allow ourselves to not know? And how can we translate the cold precision of the DSM into warmth which heals? The course is Psychopathology. 

Trauma survivors need to be heard while we, despite our best efforts and intentions, often need not to hear. How can we be present when being present is too painful? How does being present help anyway? And if being present does help, how can we survive and even thrive in the face of what we must then confront?  In addition to these questions we also explored transference, countertransference, making mistakes, and self-disclosure in the Trauma Course. 

Good research is crucial in helping us understand the impact of social forces on individuals, families, and communities. Unfortunately, little of the research upon which we base our interventions was conducted by social workers. I have tried to inspire people to include research in their professional activities through both introductory and advanced graduate research courses.

How do people become who they are? Is there really such a thing as adolescence, an id, or a marginal person? And what is the impact of poverty, racism, gender, and sexual orientation on individuals, families, and communities? These and hundreds of similal questions are explored in  Human Behavior in the Social Environment.