Joan Berzoff, MSW, LICSW, Ed.D, Faculty
I graduated from Smith College School for Social Work in 1974 with a Masters in Clinical Social Work and from Boston University in 1985 with a doctorate in Human Development. I have lived and worked in Northampton, Mass, where I served as a faculty member of the Smith College School for Social Work for 37 years. There I co-chaired the Doctoral Program, chaired the Human Behavior in the Social Environment Sequence, and developed and ran the End-of-Life Certificate Program. While at Smith, I lectured nationally and internationally including in Bulgaria, Hong Kong, Sweden, England, and Canada. I was very honored to receive a Social Work Leadership Award from the Project on Death in America and the writing award from the American Association for Psychonalysis in Clinical Social Work (AAPCSW).
I joined ICSW five years ago, wanting to contribute to a school that was committed to psychodynamic theory and practice. I began at ICSW by teaching two courses: on Suffering and on Attachment and Loss. I also taught a seminar for ICSW faculty on Intersubjectivity for two years. I have supervised and consulted with over a dozen ICSW doctoral students. I had the wonderful opportunity to also co-lead a faculty retreat with Ida Roldan on becoming a more racially inclusive school. I was delighted to be the graduation speaker in 2019 as well! Since then, I have served on two committees: The Faculty Advisory Committee and an ad hoc committee to develop a theory mentoring course for doctoral students.
My scholarship has largely been about psychodynamic theory and practices in multicultural contexts. I recently published the 5th edition of Inside Out and Outside In: Psychodynamic Theory in Multicultural Contexts (2021). I also co-authored a textbook: Living with Dying: A Handbook for End-of-Life Care Practitioners ( 2005), Falling through the Cracks: Psychodynamic Practice with Vulnerable and Oppressed Populations ( 2015), and another book, Dissociative Identity Disorders: Controversies in the Diagnosis and Treatment ( 2000). I have authored 47 clinical and theoretical papers around such issues as women’s development, racial, compassion fatigue, countertransference, intersubjectivity, relational theories and practice, suffering, bereavement, women’s friendships, supervision, international social work, and many others. Currently I am working on a paper about intersubjectivity as applied to clinical practice.
For students who want an education that attends to both the inner lives of individuals, couples, and families, as well as to the external challenges and exigencies that they face, I would highly recommend ICSW. It has been a pleasure to take as a given, ICSW’s commitment to understanding social and psychological pathologies and health from psychodynamic perspectives. I have found the students whom I have supervised and taught to be curious, open, and very interested in the application of these theories to their clinical practices. I have especially enjoyed thinking critically with students about what the theories include, and whom and what they may omit. I have also found the faculty to be collegial, warm, smart, and very committed to student learning.
For these reasons, I highly recommend ICSW!