Celebrating Clinical Social Work

She recalls, “Most of the clinicians there were social workers, people with MSWs. I was very impressed with the work they were doing — mostly family and couples therapy. I decided right then and there to get an MSW.”

Initially, Edwards was drawn to working with children. She says, “I thought if you could correct the problems in childhood, they wouldn’t continue into adulthood.” GSSW offered strong field placements in settings with children, and that drew Edwards from Texas to Colorado for graduate school. She was hooked by the intellectual challenge of family dynamics; however, she ultimately built her career around couples therapy.

For more than three decades, Edwards had a thriving couples psychotherapy practice. She developed Neurodynamic Couples Therapy. According to her website, it is a framework for understanding how the emotional triggers between mates are inevitable and useful rather than avoidable and destructive. The approach interprets the dramatic interactions of a couple as neurobiologically programmed sources of growth and change.

Edwards authored the book Why Are You Driving Me Crazy?: How the Dramas of Marriage Can Change You for Good (Langdon Street Press, 2016), which argues that the challenges we experience with our spouses are the best way to achieve positive, permanent change in our lives.

Today, Edwards focuses on training other therapists in Neurodynamic Couples Therapy, hosting workshops, presenting and publishing her work, and promoting her book. The Colorado Society for Clinical Social Work has twice named Edwards its Most Distinguished Clinician, and GSSW has recognized her as a Master Scholar.

Edwards has been married for 42 years and observes, “It’s better today than the day we were married because we’ve worked on growing together.” She says one of the challenges facing marriages today is that people go into them thinking nothing will change, and they expect their spouse will make them happy all the time. “Couples aren’t there to make each other happy,” she explains. “They’re there to make it safe to be unhappy and to talk about it.”

Relationships need to be nurtured, she advises. They’re a “place to grow, not to just get gratified.”

Her advice refers to relationships with organizations as well as with people. Edwards is a passionate advocate for clinical social work and someone with a genuine heart for service. She is a member of the board of directors for the American Board of Clinical Social Work, the national standard-setting organization focused on education, advocacy and credentialing for the profession. She has also guest lectured at GSSW, served on several GSSW search committees, and on its Council of Advisors.

Several years ago, Edwards initiated an ongoing campaign to raise funds for an endowed clinical professorship at GSSW. The campaign also funded GSSW’s endowed Clinical Master Teacher Award, which was established in 2019 to recognize outstanding faculty whose teaching and training impacts the careers of future clinicians.

Approximately 80% of GSSW students enter the school intending to become a clinical social worker, Edwards notes, and mental health remains the school’s most in-demand specialization. According to Edwards, GSSW’s continual rise in the U.S. News and World Report rankings (GSSW is ranked No. 12) is connected to whether GSSW prioritizes the training of clinical social workers. “The final element that GSSW needs to provide the most sought-after clinical social work program in the country is an endowed clinical chair, who will coordinate comprehensive and cohesive clinical training, recruit the finest clinical social work faculty available and ensure the continuation of an excellent clinical social work program in perpetuity.”

One of the things that initially drew Edwards to social work was its people. Edwards recalls, “I liked that they weren’t judgmental, valued each human being and seemed to truly care.” She still feels that way today. “Social work is a wonderful career filled with wonderful people.”