Continuing Education Course Catalog

The Online Certificate in Disability Inclusion and Accessible Design (DIAD) is designed for social workers and other professionals who are interested in developing skills and sharpening their lens related to disability inclusion, and who strive to make their practice more accessible to and relevant for people with disabilities. The program faculty includes scholars, activists, and others working on the frontlines of disability inclusion and accessibility. Participants will learn about pertinent policy issues affecting people with disabilities, anti-ableist language and practices, accessible interpersonal clinical practice skills, disability inclusive community organizing skills, how to create inclusive management structures and organizational policies, among other topics. Participants will also receive training on American Disability Act (ADA) guidelines, understand the limitations of ADA standards, and gain the knowledge and skills to evaluate and assess built environments and institutional policies for ADA compliance and beyond.

Course created 9/9/2021

The Certificate in Political Social Work is designed for all social workers, regardless of area of primary practice, to fulfill their ethical obligation to engage in social and political action. Participants of this certificate program will learn how politics impacts the lives of those that they serve on both a micro and macro level, practice skills for advocating to policymakers, gain tools to empower clients to become politically engaged, and explore opportunities for running for office.

Foundations of Political Social Work: This module will include the historical and current role of social workers in the political process as well as knowledge that is core to political social work practice. Topics include: emerging political social work research and theory, political justice, ethics in political social work, and foundational skills in communicating political information.

Tools for Political Social Work: This module will cover skills and strategies that social workers can apply to their current practice as well as tools to enhance their political engagement. Topics include: identifying and combating fake news, advocacy and activism, and running campaigns.

Special Knowledge Areas for Political Social Work: This module covers important topic areas social workers should be familiar with when engaging in political social work practice, including organized labor and immigration. This module is intended to be responsive to emerging political topics relevant to social work.

Course updated 5/20/2021

This workshop will provide an introduction to Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) and its uses in client lead healing related to trauma and a myriad of other presenting problems. Learners will explore an overview of the EMDR process and how it fits within a larger collaborative clinical framework. Case studies will explore how the process is client lead and allows for self determination within the goal development and healing process.

Course created 10/21/2021

This webinar on emerging telemental health practice addresses: 1) ethical and legal concerns related to digital mental health interventions, 2) access to care and quality of care issues, and 3) core evidence informed practice skills and interventions for telemental health practice.

Course created on 2/7/2022

This course will serve as an introduction to the foundations of sport social work. It will explore how social work and sport have worked in parallel to combat racism, oppression, inequality, and discrimination which has been an integral part of our society's history and development. The course will examine the intersection of the history of social work and the professionalization of athletics. Foundational knowledge of understanding sport social work practice will include identifying the role of sport social workers, defining sport social work practice, and looking at Social Work's Values and Ethics and CSWE competencies through a sport social work lens. With the role of social workers being to serve and advocate for vulnerable populations, athletes will be identified and defined as a vulnerable population and key human development theories will be applied to sport social work. Finally, evidence-based practices will be discussed throughout the course, but specifically, research trends, the current state and future directions of sport social work will be analyzed.

Course created 9/9/2021

In this online workshop, participants will learn how to support infants, very young children, and older children who are who have differences in sex development (intersex variations) and their parents. This training will address the importance of affirming language and avoiding stigmatizing language.

This session will focus on self-determination and, centering the voice of the child with intersex variations and deferring decisions on medical care when there is no life-threatening condition.

This workshop will focus on the importance of implementing child-centered, gender-affirming care so that all children can live healthy, affirmed lives. It is designed to equip providers to help families and children quickly and effectively during these sensitive moments.

Social work, a profession with roots in advocacy and social justice, is uniquely positioned to adopt a leadership role in providing evidence-based, ethically informed services to persons with intersex variations.

Introduction to Integrated Behavioral Health and Primary Care - In this module, participants will learn about the nature and implications of integrated care, and will become fluent in the key terms that have come to describe it. Topics will include key public policies affecting the integrated care movement, including the Affordable Care Act; successful models of integrated care; population health management and health disparities; and ethical challenges and opportunities in integrated care. The transition to integrated care will be framed as a paradigm shift from disease-oriented to recovery-oriented service delivery, resulting in new opportunities and challenges, and direct implications for consumers and their families.

Integrated Health Systems and Implementation - In this module, participants will obtain knowledge and skills related to the implementation of integrated care services. Implementation of integrated team-based collaborative care presents challenges and opportunities for providers and managers, with significant implications for access to care and patient satisfaction. Topics include basics of integrated health implementation; telepsychiatric consultation; culturally responsive practice; Patient Centered Medical Home recognition; oral health for collaborative care; and provider mindfulness and self-care.

Bidirectional Integrated Care - In this module, participants will build upon their knowledge of integrated care implementation in adult healthcare settings. Topics will include the Wagner Chronic Care Model; collaborative care; stepped care; care coordination; and billing in integrated health environments. Participants will learn the "care coordination standard" for integrated primary care and discover new roles in primary care for the behavioral health consultant.

Assessment in Integrated Care
Initial and follow-up assessments play a critical role in effective integrated care. This course addresses free-form interviews such as biopsychosocial-spiritual assessment, structured screening tools such as the PHQ-9 and the AUDIT-C, and mixed assessment and intervention models such as SBIRT. The strengths, weaknesses, benefits, and limitations of common assessment tools in integrated health environments are reviewed.

Behavioral Intervention in Integrated Care
Common elements often form the basis of evidence-based behavioral health interventions. This course teaches and reviews behavioral intervention skills relevant to everyday clinical practice across disciplines and practice settings. Brief interventions around motivational enhancement, psychoeducation, cognitive restructuring, mindfulness, and values-based behavior change can help promote adaptive health behaviors in support of improved wellness. There is a strong emphasis on feasible brief interventions in a fast-paced clinical context and on adapting interventions to each consumer's unique biopsychosocial, socioeconomic, and cultural context.

Biomedical Aspects of Integrated Care
Many presenting medical problems are deeply influenced by health behaviors, and a growing body of evidence suggests that mental health consumers, especially those with serious mental illnesses or substance use disorders, are faced with a broad range of physical health disparities. In this module, participants will deepen their understanding of bidirectional integrated care for medical issues such as diabetes and obesity, and behavioral health issues such as substance use disorders and depression. This courses emphasizes the medical sequelae commonly associated with behavioral health diagnoses and psychotropic medications. There are special sections on primary care psychopharmacology and prescription drug abuse.

Introduction to Integrated Behavioral Health and Primary Care - In this module, participants will learn about the nature and implications of integrated care, and will become fluent in the key terms that have come to describe it. Topics will include key public policies affecting the integrated care movement, including the Affordable Care Act; successful models of integrated care; population health management and health disparities; and ethical challenges and opportunities in integrated care. The transition to integrated care will be framed as a paradigm shift from disease-oriented to recovery-oriented service delivery, resulting in new opportunities and challenges, and direct implications for consumers and their families.

Integrated Health Systems and Implementation - In this module, participants will obtain knowledge and skills related to the implementation of integrated care services. Implementation of integrated team-based collaborative care presents challenges and opportunities for providers and managers, with significant implications for access to care and patient satisfaction. Topics include basics of integrated health implementation; telepsychiatric consultation; culturally responsive practice; Patient Centered Medical Home recognition; oral health for collaborative care; and provider mindfulness and self-care.

Foundations of Pediatric Integrated Health Care - Although "pediatrics" describes the age range from birth through 18 years of age, children develop through a number of distinct developmental, psychological, and social stages. The Pediatric track explores how to address the most common issues of these stages using a pediatric integrated health model of care. Topics include an introduction to the model, the role of the pediatric behavioral health consultant, pediatric social determinants of health, and interventions in the medical setting.

Pediatric Interventions - As the health care system is transformed from non-integrated to integrated, many services and interventions can be provided directly to the pediatric population as well as their parents in the medical clinic. Although many clinicians know typical child and adolescent diagnoses from a clinical perspective, this module helps participants develop an integrated understanding of typical topics that may present in the medical setting. Topics include ADHD, pediatric asthma, DD-autism, anxiety, depression, trauma, and adverse childhood experiences.

Adolescence - Many adolescents are required to attend at least one physician appointment a year, presenting an annual opportunity to engage them in management of their own health care and in the detection and early intervention of risky behaviors which can have lifelong consequences. Adolescents can be best engaged in self-management when their unique social, developmental, physical and psychological needs are considered. Topics include adolescent-centered medical homes, adolescent sexual health, substance abuse, suicide, eating disorders, and school-based health centers.

Bidirectional Integrated Care - In this module, participants will build upon their knowledge of integrated care implementation in adult healthcare settings. Topics will include the Wagner Chronic Care Model; collaborative care; stepped care; care coordination; and billing in integrated health environments. Participants will learn the "care coordination standard" for integrated primary care and discover new roles in primary care for the behavioral health consultant.

Assessment in Integrated Care
Initial and follow-up assessments play a critical role in effective integrated care. This course addresses free-form interviews such as biopsychosocial-spiritual assessment, structured screening tools such as the PHQ-9 and the AUDIT-C, and mixed assessment and intervention models such as SBIRT. The strengths, weaknesses, benefits, and limitations of common assessment tools in integrated health environments are reviewed.

Behavioral Intervention in Integrated Care
Common elements often form the basis of evidence-based behavioral health interventions. This course teaches and reviews behavioral intervention skills relevant to everyday clinical practice across disciplines and practice settings. Brief interventions around motivational enhancement, psychoeducation, cognitive restructuring, mindfulness, and values-based behavior change can help promote adaptive health behaviors in support of improved wellness. There is a strong emphasis on feasible brief interventions in a fast-paced clinical context and on adapting interventions to each consumer's unique biopsychosocial, socioeconomic, and cultural context.

Biomedical Aspects of Integrated Care
Many presenting medical problems are deeply influenced by health behaviors, and a growing body of evidence suggests that mental health consumers, especially those with serious mental illnesses or substance use disorders, are faced with a broad range of physical health disparities. In this module, participants will deepen their understanding of bidirectional integrated care for medical issues such as diabetes and obesity, and behavioral health issues such as substance use disorders and depression. This courses emphasizes the medical sequelae commonly associated with behavioral health diagnoses and psychotropic medications. There are special sections on primary care psychopharmacology and prescription drug abuse.