Judith Bul

For more than 150 years, empowering practices have been used by social workers in their work with families, but the techniques of today differ significantly from those of the pioneers or even from those of a few years ago. Today's practitioners recognize that empowering others is impossible; social workers can, however, assist others as they empower themselves. This book integrates time-honored approaches with today's more modest goals, mindful of what empowerment can and cannot do. Synthesizing several theoretical supports--the strengths perspective, system theory, theories of family well-being, and theories of coping--the author responds to the question "What works?" with today's families in need. Practice illustrations are provided throughout to bring concepts to life and, more important, to present families describing their own experiences with achieving empowerment.

Judith Bula Wise, professor emerita, has held academic positions at Columbia University and the University of Denver. She is the coeditor, with Marian Bussey, of Trauma Transformed: An Empowerment Response (Columbia University Press) and has developed and served as the first coordinator of the Trauma Response Certificate Program at the University of Denver.