Continuing Education Course Catalog

This 13-week course presents advanced knowledge and skills essential to providing effective school social work interventions. Students will learn to identify, select, and apply evidence-based prevention and intervention methods for use with individuals, groups, families, school personnel, and communities to enhance student learning, development, and school success. You will practice skills that advance social justice and educational access, trauma-informed practice models, positive behavior supports for school-wide programs and individuals, crisis prevention, planning and intervention, and behavior intervention planning; mediation, conflict resolution, and collaborative problem-solving methods. Specific interventions to support students with Autism Spectrum Disorder, emotional impairments and other disabilities covered under the Individuals with Disability Education Act will be incorporated. Ways to promote family engagement and collaboration will be explored. Skills to enhance collaboration and consultation between teachers, families, and other school personnel will be addressed. School social worker intervention methodologies will include ways to promote human rights and educational access, fostering school climates that are inviting, supportive, and inclusive of diversity. You will acquire the skills needed to effectively practice as a school social worker to enhance student learning and achievement.

Content in this course includes multi-tiered practice methodologies that promote socio-emotional and academic success. Interdisciplinary approaches designed to strengthen individuals, groups, and families within larger social contexts such as the school and community will be presented. Methods that increase student and family access to education and educational resources will be explored. School-wide interventions such as the implementation of positive behavioral supports, restorative practices, family engagement, inter-group dialogue, positive conflict resolution skills, and coordination and collaboration with youth-serving agencies in the community will be discussed. Effective classroom-wide, small group, and individual interventions will be practiced.

Note: This semester course, in conjunction with School Social Work Assessments (SW626), is intended to help professionals meet the Michigan school social worker requirements. Participants will be enrolled in this course alongside MSW degree seeking students. Participants who successfully complete both school social work courses will meet the required competencies for practice as a social worker in Michigan. Participants will need to earn passing scores on all required assignments in order to demonstrate the competencies. These courses also award continuing education hours to participants who meet the course attendance requirements, including full participation in live Zoom sessions and completion of required recorded content.

It is far easier for a person of any age to say “No” to what they do not want sexually or relationally when they know with clarity and certainty what “Yes” is for them at their current age and stage of development. However, adolescents are bombarded with multiple and conflicting messages about sex from a variety of both reliable and unreliable sources. For a teen, this creates tension about who they are, what they “should” or “should not” be interested in, and for many— who may not have a strong knowledge base or parent or community scaffolding, sexual and relationship decision making may seem impossible—resulting in compliance-based choices or coercive experiences.

This workshop will support social work professionals engaged with adolescents to take a deep dive into a nuanced, multi-faceted approach with teens towards greater ability to navigate the intersection of consent and boundary articulation. Participants will learn activities for teaching embodied self assessment skills aimed at consent certainty, verbal strategies for articulation and negotiation, and physical exercises and skills to use with teens to increase a teen’s sense of what is right for them when faced with making sexual and relationship decisions as well as skills to “back those boundaries up” with assertive strategies for use when necessary.

Safety is subjective and context dependent, and as such, a structured physical safety training program tailored to empower social workers enables social workers from all different backgrounds and life experiences to protect themselves. And, by equipping social workers with the skills and knowledge needed to navigate various safety challenges, we can ensure a more comprehensive and responsive approach to service delivery in both micro and macro social work settings.

Physical Safety Training for Social Workers will provide participants with tools to appropriately address work-place physical safety risks through practice of verbal boundary setting and physical self-defense skills. The skills taught in this course are intended to be easy to use and easy to remember; and are meant to be accessible for a range of physical abilities, and adaptations will be taught as needed.

Note: This course is available for free to U-M SSW alumni as part of our Alumni Webinar Series, which features invited alumni speakers. Please know that non-alumni participants are welcome to register as well!

This training will provide an introduction to Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP), a form of brief experiential dynamic psychotherapy. This approach is affect-focused, attachment-based and experiential, providing in-the-moment change for the client in each therapy session. This overview will discuss how to identify and resolve the root cause of symptoms and problems through ISTDP-informed interventions. Primary interventions covered include how to deepen clients' experience of their emotions, identifying and regulating anxiety, and restructuring maladaptive defenses. These interventions unlock the unconscious mind, heal unresolved traumas and internal conflicts, and generate lasting change to their character, relationships, and life.

This course introduces participants to the fundamental principles and knowledge necessary to practice Animal Assisted Social Work interventions effectively and ethically. It includes the theoretical foundations and current evidence base for services integrating the animal-human bond, relevant definitions of terms used to describe various aspects of the work, and emerging competencies within the field of Animal Assisted Services. This course also explores social justice issues associated with animal assisted healing work, including the historical contributions of communities of color, and people with disabilities. The legal implications and standards of partnering with animals, risks, and administrative issues are also considered in this introductory course.

Note: This course meets on two Thursday mornings, October 16th and 30th.

This session shares results from the Meetings Masters/Decision Maestros Research Project intended to help social workers conduct more effective meetings. The first part of the session highlights practices from Meeting Masters, including the Menu Agenda, and the Agenda Bell. Principles of the Meeting Masters help social workers in the four phases of meeting - preplanning, facilitating/running the meeting itself, processing items for the next meeting, and follow up and implementation of decisions and actions.

The second portion reviews several examples of "decision rottenosity" and outlines the process of decision crystallization to produce regular high quality decisions.

Evidence suggests that women face unique leadership challenges. Marginalization based on gender, family structure, and other social identities conflicts with societal expectations both in women personal and professional worlds.

This course will examine the social, structural, and personal dynamics that differentially impact women as leaders. It will prepare participants to identify women's specific needs and challenges. We will provide time for reflection about participants' social work skills, personal strengths, and their leadership development journey.

Parents of transgender and gender-diverse youth are facing increasing barriers to evidence-based, gender-affirming care due to political shifts, misinformation, and policy changes. This session will address today’s reality—including the impact of gender care bans, executive orders, and misleading reports like the Cass Review, the discredited concept of Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD), and other harmful narratives used to undermine gender-affirming care. ROGD, a theory claiming that adolescents suddenly identify as transgender due to social influence, has been widely debunked by major medical organizations. Despite this, it continues to be used alongside other misleading claims to justify restrictions on gender-affirming care.

Participants will gain practical strategies to help parents navigate these obstacles, counter misinformation, and support their child’s mental health. This session will also provide guidance on how parents can be a strong, affirming presence in their child’s care plan, working collaboratively with providers to ensure their child’s well-being. Social workers are uniquely positioned to offer families the knowledge and advocacy tools they need, making this training essential for those working with trans and gender-diverse youth and their families.