The Four Noble Truths for Social Work Practice

Social work clinical literature describes methods for developing clinical relationships that embrace flexibility, authenticity, and efficacy. Translation, or the private use of one's spirituality to inform engagement with clients, is an area of social work practice that can aid in fostering such relationships. The Four Noble Truths as described in Theravada Buddhism provide a model for the care of the self that practitioners can use to inform their practice. This paper explores these Buddhist principles in conjunction with the relevant social work literature so as to highlight the variables of effective clinical relationships.