Class Descriptions

Interpersonal Practice with Adult Individuals

SW628

Course Description

This course will approach work with individual clients from a person-in-environment perspective and build on the content presented in course 521. The stages of the treatment process (i.e. engagement, assessment, planning, evaluation, intervention, and termination) will be presented for work with individual adults. The relevance and limitations of various theoretical approaches will be reviewed as they apply to assessment, planning, and intervention methods. This course will focus on empirically evaluated models of intervention and will teach students how to monitor and evaluate their own practice. Special attention will be given to issues of the key diversity dimensions such as "ability, age, class, color, culture, ethnicity, family structure, gender (including gender identity and gender expression), marital status, national origin, race, religion or spirituality, sex, and sexual orientation" including identification of one's own social and cultural identities and group memberships, and how these relate to working with clients, colleagues, and other professionals. The course will emphasize time-limited treatment methods, and practice with involuntary clients.

Objectives

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:

1) Describe how theory informs and shapes the kinds of intervention strategies that may be employed when working with individual adults, including the indications and contraindications of various IP models. (Practice Behaviors 3.IP, 6.IP)

2) Assess the effectiveness of various kinds of intervention models and procedures that may be utilized with individual adults. (Practice Behaviors 6.IP, 10.c.IP)

3) Demonstrate social work skills [with individual adults] in the pre-engagement, engagement, assessment, intervention, ending and evaluation phases of interpersonal social work practice. Critically apply in a practice setting a minimum of two empirically supported IP theories. (Practice Behaviors 3.IP, 10.a.IP, 10.b.IP, 10.c.IP, 10.d.IP)

4) Conduct an assessment of coping resources and strengths; biophysical, emotional, behavioral and cognitive functioning; intra-personal and environmental systems. Assess life-threatening problems, such as addictions and violence; and forms of oppression clients' experience. Identify and assess the effects of diversity dimensions (including ability, age, class, color, culture, ethnicity, family structure, gender (including gender identity and gender expression), marital status, national origin, race, religion or spirituality, sex, and sexual orientation). (Practice Behaviors 4.IP, 9.IP, 10.b.IP)

5) Demonstrate their ability to form worker-client alliances and collaborations, communicate empathically, and help enhance motivation for change, cultivate hope, and address ambivalence and internal and external barriers to change. (Practice Behaviors 1.IP, 2.IP, 10.a.IP)

6). Identify ways to match or modify intervention methods effectively with [adult] client problems, across diverse populations, cultural backgrounds, sociopolitical contexts and available resources. (Practice Behaviors 4.IP, 9.IP, 10.c.IP)

7) Identify one's own social and cultural identities and group memberships, and how these relate to working with clients, colleagues, and other professionals. (Practice Behaviors 1.IP, 4.IP, 5.IP)

8) Evaluate the efficacy of interventions used with adult clients including the use of specific evaluation measures. (Practice Behavior 10.d.IP)

9) Apply and articulate social work values, ethical standards, and principles unique to interpersonal practice interventions [with adults] involving diverse populations and settings. (Practice Behavior 2.IP)

Design

This course will employ a number of pedagogical strategies to promote knowledge and skill development, such as reading assignments, case analyses, interactive media simulations, in vivo exercises, role play simulations within the classroom, modeling and video demonstrations, didactic presentations of theory/models/procedures. Whenever possible, graded assignments will be tied to the field placement experiences of students.