Adrian Ward works is the Programme Director of the qualifying MA in Social Work at the Tavistock Centre, London. His background is in residential child care and he has written extensively about residential care, group care and therapeutic approaches to social work, and co-edited several books in this field; he was editor of the journal Therapeutic Communities from 1999 to 2005.

Relationship Based Social Work (2nd Edition) builds on the persuasive and powerful arguments presented in the first edition of this seminal text. The book will be valued as a resource and as emotional and theoretical sustenance for those who seek to maintain an emphasis on the relationships that are at the core of social work practice regardless of context or situation. Such a commitment can be beset by challenges, compromises and difficulties but this book provides reassurance and clarity to help guide practitioners, students and academics alike. This should be on every social work bookshelf.

• Foreword, David Howe, Emeritus Professor of Social Work, University of East Anglia, UK. Introduction. Adrian Ward, The Tavistock Centre, UK, Gillian Ruch, University of Southampton, UK, and Danielle Turney, University of Bristol, UK. Section 1. Setting Out the Terrain: Historical Trends, Conceptual Models and Frameworks. 1. The Contemporary Context of Relationship-Based Practice. Danielle Turney and Gillian Ruch. 2. Theoretical Frameworks Informing Relationship-Based Practice. Gillian Ruch. 3. The Use of Self in Relationship-Based Practice. Adrian Ward. Section 2. Working with the Relationship in Practice. 4. Brief Encounters: Working in Complex, Short-Term Relationships. Ravi KS Kohli, University of Bedfordshire, UK and Jane Dutton, NHS Trust, UK. 5. Sustaining Relationships: Working with Strong Feelings I: Anger, Aggression and Hostility. Martin Smith, Buckinghamshire Social Services, UK. 6. Sustaining Relationships: Working with Strong Feelings II: Hopelessness, Despair and Depression. Clare Parkinson, University of East London, UK. 7. Sustaining Relationships: Working with Strong Feelings III: Love and Positive Feelings. Danielle Turney. 8. Long-Term Complex Relationships. Linnet McMahon, retired from University of Reading, UK. 9. Endings are Different from Outcomes: Working with Endings in Relationship-Based Practice. Robin Solomon, formerly of The Tavistock Centre, UK. Section 3. Sustaining, Supporting and Developing Relationship-Based Practice in a Reflective Context. 10. The Learning Relationship: Learning and Development for Relationship-Based Practice. Adrian Ward. 11. Service-User Perspectives on Relationships. Jeremy Walsh, South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust. 12. Relating and Relationships in Supervision : Supportive and Companionable or Dominant and Submissive. John Simmonds, CoramBAAF, UK. 13. Professional Leadership for Relationship-based Practice, Anna Fairtlough, Goldsmiths University of London. 14. What Future? Organisational Forms, Relationship-Based Social Work Practice and the Changing World Order. Andrew Cooper, The Tavistock Centre, UK. Conclusion, Danielle Turney, Adrian Ward and Gillian Ruch. Bibliography. About the Contributors. Index.