Information for Contributors

The purpose of Beyond the Couch is to facilitate the communication of psychoanalytic ideas with the wider social work community. Unconstrained by the commercial and editorial parameters of academic publishing, Beyond the Couch emphasizes literate, experience-near and jargon-free contributions that are of interest to social workers with little knowledge of psychoanalytic theory and practice as well as to experienced analytically-trained social workers. Also, besides applications of psychoanalytic thought to conventional psychotherapy practice, Beyond the Couch welcomes submissions that highlight the use of psychoanalytic ideas in a wide range of social work practice settings, including child welfare, case management, residential treatment, healthcare, geriatrics and organizational consultation.

Beyond the Couch welcomes a wide range of literary formats: case reports, personal reflections, historical discussions, interviews, fiction, poetry, reviews, and responses to current events.  All submissions will be reviewed by our Editorial Board and we will attempt to respond within one month to all submissions. The Editorial Board also welcomes ideas for publications and will be glad to discuss proposals in advance of a completed project.

All published articles and other materials will remain the property of the author. Authors will be free to publish their material in other venues (i.e. as a chapter in a book), but we ask that all acknowledge its prior publication in Beyond the Couch.

All communications with the Beyond the Couch should be addressed to Manuscripts should be submitted as email attachments in MS-Word formats, double-spaced. When used, references should be appropriately used in APA format.

Notes on confidentiality: Authors will be aware that there is a conflict between the privacy of patients on one hand, and the need when writing up cases for publication to provide lucid and transparent clinical material, on the other. No perfect solution to this dilemma exists, although there are a number of methods which authors tend to use: disguising material, consent from patients (preferably written), composite material from a number of comparable cases, or the report of colleagues or supervisee's clinical cases, are various methods in use for protecting confidentiality. None of these is entirely satisfactory and you will have to choose which one, or more, you need when using material from your patients, groups or institution. Which method(s) you use will also depend on the kind of evidence or illustration that your paper needs in order to clarify your points. All authors are requested to consider the best alternative in the particular circumstances, but above all, you should consider the clinical situation of the particular patient or client(s), and choose carefully which method(s) you use to preserve confidentiality in each of the cases reported. It is important not to overdo the details, which both risks recognizing the patient or client, and can risk making the paper long-winded. At the same time, enough detail must be given for readers to assess for themselves the claim you are making in your paper.

Papers are accepted for submission and for review on the grounds that authors have considered these delicate matters carefully. We would request that when patient's consent is asked and given that you indicate this to the Editor.