/ SSWorks /
Career as a Clinician-Activist Kathryn Basham, clinician, educator and leader in military social work, is set to retire
[ ON RETIRING ]
As a student at UC Berkeley’s M.S.W. program in the late 1960s, Kathryn Basham had a clinical theory course with Lydia Rappaport on one side of the hall and a social policy course with Ron Dellums on the other. Although no longer literal, this facility in moving between these two sectors of social work has characterized Basham’s career ever since.
B Y ME G A N R U B IN E R Z IN N
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S M I T H COL L E G E SCHO O L FO R SO CIAL WO RK
“I did not experience this profound divide—either you’re a clinician or you’re a social activist—I was educated to be prepared to do both.” Basham worked as a clinician and educator for 15 years after completing her degree. She held positions working with impoverished and marginalized communities, as well as positions in the Outpatient Departments of Psychiatry at Montreal Children’s Hospital and the George Washington University Medical Center. This juxtaposition of environments gave her an extremely broad understanding of the field and the diverse communities social workers serve.
