| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This course examines families as a primary context for understanding health and health-related behaviors. Major topics include: 1) substantive and ethical overview of families and health, 2) historical perspectives on the family, 3) demographic trends in family structure, 4) family diversity with respect to social class, race/ethnicity and culture, and sexual orientation and their implications for understanding health phenomena and family models and theories, 5) families as the context for socialization to health beliefs and practices, 6) the provision of family-based care, 7) health profiles of family members and family roles, and 8) family-based skills, programs, and practice concepts. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host), Welfare of Children & Families |
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| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This course introduces the fundamental knowledge and concepts for working with victims of all types of family violence. Students will learn about the factors that contribute to child abuse, teen dating violence, intimate partner violence, and elder abuse; the long term consequences family violence, and common treatment approaches. Interconnections between the forms of violence will be explored. Most family violence organizations work on multiple levels, such as macro, mezzo, and micro levels, and they frequently come into contact with a variety of fields of service, primarily the legal, health and mental health, housing, public assistance, and child welfare systems. Therefore, models of inter-system and interprofessional coordination will be presented. Federal and state policies related to family violence will be explored, and opportunities for advocacy will be highlighted. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse, Social Work Practice with Older Adults and Families from a Lifespan Perspective, Welfare of Children & Families (Host) |
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| Credits: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This course presents advanced topics in Welfare of Children & Families. The topics may include emerging practice issues and advanced application of specific methods. |
| Credits: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This advanced action-based learning course will focus on direct practice and implementation of interpersonal psychotherapy for mood disorders. The focus of this course is on the concepts, theory, principles and practice to the assessment and interpersonal psychotherapy of adults and adolescents with mood disorders in a variety of practice settings. The course content reflects advanced material of current relevance for effective and evidence-based clinical social work practice. Specifically, this mini-course will provide updated training in the Interpersonal Psychotherapy treatment of mood disorders. This course will review diagnostic criteria and assessment, but will mainly focus on clinical skills and will be an interactive seminar type class. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host) |
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| Credits: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | Suicide is a leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Suicide risk assessment, risk formulation, and treatment are consistently difficult in practice and greater attention to this public health issue and prevention efforts are needed, especially so, by social workers who provide the majority of mental health services in the U.S. This one-credit course is designed for MSW students who are focused on interpersonal practice and will cover the following topics: the critical issue of suicide (prevalence), suicide-risk assessment (risk and protective factors, warning signs, components of the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale scale), formulating suicide risk (determining a level of suicide risk for subsequent alignment with appropriate action), and prevention approaches including evidence-informed interventions (including multi-level prevention at the universal, institutional, and individual levels). Students will have the opportunity to apply knowledge and practice skills with use of case vignettes, roleplays, and simulations. Learning Objectives: 1. Differentiate between suicide risk factors, protective factors, and warning signs. 2. Facilitate suicide risk assessment using evidence-informed screening and assessment tools. 3. Formulate a case conceptualization to determine suicide risk level. 3. Develop an intervention plan based upon suicide assessment and case conceptualization. 4. Explain and implement evidence-informed suicide prevention strategies. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host), Social Work Practice with Older Adults and Families from a Lifespan Perspective, Welfare of Children & Families |
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| Credits: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | Social workers and other service providers will gain an understanding what human trafficking is and how they can help victims of human trafficking that they encounter in their field of practice, with a particular emphasis on healthcare settings. We will explore the root causes of human trafficking, and our role in perpetuating and combating the underlying causes. We will take a critical perspective on what it means to help a victim of trafficking, as well-intentioned interventions can unwittingly cause the individual's arrest or deportation. Further, we will examine guiding principles for successful engagement with this population, including trauma-informed care, cultural awareness, and harm reduction. Finally, we will hear about local resources that providers can use if they suspect a client is a victim of human trafficking. In this course you will have the opportunity to develop an idea to solve this real world human rights problem. Teams are organizationally the functioning unit of the course. Students will work collaboratively across disciplines to create tools to increase identification of victims in health care settings. Class sessions will focus heavily on prototyping potential solutions and collaboratively generating ideas and next steps. Students will also be expected to spend significant time outside of class working in teams to reach out to relevant stakeholders, conduct research, draft documents, and otherwise work toward the creation of the intervention. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host) |
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| Credits: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This advanced action-based learning course will focus on direct practice and implementation of the cognitive-behavioral treatment with children and youth with anxiety disorders. Several case examples will be utilized and students will engage in role-play and detailed class discussion focused on these techniques. Emphasis will be given to practical application of therapy techniques and troubleshooting difficult and challenging clinical cases. The course will also include strategies for enhancing adherence to behavioral homework exercises. An overview of empirically established cultural adaptations of CBT with children and youth with anxiety disorders will also be provided. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host) |
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| Credits: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | DBT is an empirically supported treatment for individuals with severe emotionally regulation problems. Part of the treatment consists of teaching individuals specific skill sets in mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotional regulation and crisis management. This advanced action-based learning course will focus on direct practice and implementation of dialectical behavior therapy for borderline personality disorder and other psychiatric and psychological problems. This course will cover dialectical behavioral therapy approaches to address suicidal thoughts and actions, self-harm, emotion dysregulation, behavioral dysregulation, cognitive dysregulation, and self-dysregulation. Emphasis will be given to practical application of therapy techniques and troubleshooting difficult and challenging clinical circumstances. An overview of cultural considerations for dialectical behavioral therapy will also be provided.Students will learn an overview of these skills and strategies to integrate these skills into their clinical practice in a variety of individual and group therapy settings. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host) |
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| Credits: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This course will examine practice theory and techniques relevant to social work in a rural setting. There are many definitions of what might be considered a rural community. For the purposes of this course, we will define communities as rural that have a population size of 2,500 to 20,000 with no major metropolitan area within hour of the community. Rural communities are often plagued with similar problems as vast metropolitan areas such as high poverty rates, inadequate housing, and inadequate access to health care. However, the scarcity of resources and professionals including medical providers, socio-economic underdevelopment, and physical distance from services and lack of public transportation are frequently identified as compounding factors of living in a rural community. The impact of differences in 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 will be examined, within the context of practicing in a rural community. This course will also emphasize issues of ethical practice as defined by the social work code of ethics within a rural community. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host) |
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| Credits: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | The term “post-truth,” the Oxford Dictionaries 2016 Word of the Year, reflects an era where everyone is a few clicks away from information that supports any goal, belief, or outcome desired whether or not that information is factual. Evaluating information and recognizing “fake news” is a critical skill for everyone. For social workers, advocates, policy makers, and others responsible for human well-being, it’s essential to find reliable data and other evidence to promote best practice and avoid the dangers of inaccurate information. Skill in locating and evaluating information can also help a practitioner work with clients and others who bring incorrect information into an interaction. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Community Change, Management & Leadership, Policy & Political Social Work (Host), Program Evaluation and Applied Research |
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| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | Through a team-based, experiential, and interdisciplinary learning model, small groups of U-M graduate and professional students work with faculty to explore and offer solutions to emerging, complex problems. This course is offered through the Law School’s Problem Solving Initiative and the topics vary by semester. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse, Policy & Political Social Work (Host), Program Evaluation and Applied Research |
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| Credits: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | In this course, students will participate in a simulation in which they will take on the role of policymakers, policy advocates, and community stakeholders. Students will be assigned a role, will research their character, and will engage with the other participants as that character throughout the duration of the simulation. Students will engage with each other in person as well as utilize an online platform to develop coalitions and attempt to sway those with differing positions to their side. Simulation topics vary by semester. The class may be taken multiple times for credit as long as a different topic is selected. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Policy & Political Social Work (Host), Social Work Practice with Older Adults and Families from a Lifespan Perspective |
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| Credits: | 3 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | Understanding the implications of early childhood relationships on adult functioning can provide a powerful framework for creating goals and intervention in adult psychotherapy. Using attachment theory as the foundation, this course will address relationship-based intervention with adults. Students will learn the role of attachment in the development and maintenance of cognitive, emotional and behavioral strategies that adults use to manage needs for autonomy and connection, in social, family and romantic relationships. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host) |
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| Credits: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This one credit course will focus on the use of an experiential and adventure practice approach (theories, models, tools and techniques) for therapeutic purposes with individuals, groups and families. Students are expected to come with a foundational understanding of clinical work (in particular, some knowledge of clinical group facilitation), and experiential learning. Theoretical models of clinical experiential and adventure practice will be offered and discussed in tandem with clinical social work theories and models of practice. Evidence-based literature will be reviewed that promote nature-based, experiential and adventure interventions that build on strengths and resources of individuals and their families, and that integrate components of other evidence-based practices into the experiential and adventure methodologies. Inclusive and accessible practices will be discussed and demonstrated, especially due to the outdoor and natural setting involved and the physicality of many of the tools used in the approach. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host), Welfare of Children & Families |
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| Credits: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | ACT is an evidence-informed approach that utilizes acceptance, mindfulness strategies and commitment to engage clients in behavioral change strategies. This approach has been established as effective in treating clients with a variety of clinical diagnoses. This course will explore foundational ACT concepts as they apply to clinical assessment and clinical interventions with clients including self-acceptance, cognitive defusion, being present, self as context, values clarification and committed action. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host) |
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| Credits: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | Understanding the implications of childhood relationships on adult functioning can provide a powerful framework for creating goals and intervention in adult psychotherapy. Using attachment theory as the foundation, this course will address relationship-based intervention with adults. Students will learn the role of attachment in the development and maintenance of strategies that adults use to manage needs for autonomy and connection, in social, family and romantic relationships. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host), Social Work Practice with Older Adults and Families from a Lifespan Perspective, Welfare of Children & Families |
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| Credits: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This mini course will provide an overview of social work practice in higher education settings and will cover micro, mezzo, and macro practice. Content will include how social work values, concepts and interventions are able to be applied in campus based settings. Course participants will explore the various opportunities to practice social work competencies using the interdisciplinary approach within the post-secondary education culture. Special attention will be given to the ways social workers are uniquely trained to respond to emergent issues and populations on college campuses including students in recovery, first generation college students, under-represented students, sexual misconduct policy and response and implementation of diversity equity and inclusion initiatives. This interactive course will use lecture, guest speakers/panelists, and group discussion to explore the roles social workers may hold on college campuses and how they adhere to social work values and ethics while also translating their skills to this unique setting. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host) |
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| Credits: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This mini-course will acquaint students with the basic and advanced facts about HIV/AIDS and sensitize students to the multitude of public health, social policy and social service delivery issues that AIDS presents, and provide US and global perspectives to HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention. Students will be sensitized to the special challenges AIDS presents for social work practice. Students will be presented with an approach to evidence based practice, and will review the state of HIV related evidence based prevention practice from national and global perspectives. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Global Social Work Practice, Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Host) |
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| Credits: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This course presents advanced topics in Policy & Political Social Work. The topics may include emerging practice issues and advanced application of specific methods. |
| Credits: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | Photovoice is a process in which people typically those with limited power due to poverty, language barriers, race, class, ethnicity, gender, culture, or other circumstances use video or photo images to document their environment and experiences and share them with others. It uses visual methods to communicate lived experience and to create a basis for discussion and action. The images are often used, with captions composed by the photographers, to bring the realities of the photographers lives home to the public and policy makers and to spur change. However, PhotoVoice can also be a method used direct practice, evaluation, and management settings. This course will cover basic methods for using Photovoice methods with individuals, groups, and communities. The course will provide an overview of the method and its application in different contexts, both domestic and intergenerational, and how visual images can be a powerful form of communication. This section of the class will include a walk through the School of Social Work's collection of documentary photography. The ethical dimensions of this method will also be covered. The remainder of the class will teach methods for photovoice and engage students in their own photovoice project. We will end with an exhibit of photos from the course that will take place in our School of Social Work. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Community Change (Host), Program Evaluation and Applied Research |
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| Credits: | 1 |
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| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This course teaches students about the role of social media in social change. Students will explore research that demonstrates the ways that social media has changed/is changing the social world. This will include an exploration of the harmful changes that can result from social media (such as mental health issues, and increases in extremism, polarization, and misinformation), as well as the anti-oppressive changes that are possible (such as increases in social connection and community, and the use of social media for activism). Throughout this course, students will also develop their own skills in effective digital presence and activism. Core competencies including critical thinking, social justice, and social equity are also examined and discussed. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Community Change (Host), Management & Leadership, Policy & Political Social Work |
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| Credits: | 1 |
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| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This course is designed to increase students awareness, knowledge, and understanding of issues related to diversity and social justice, including race, ethnicity, class, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, ability status, and the intersections between these social identity groups. Additionally, students will gain an understanding of dialogue as a method for peacefully resolving conflict that may emerge due to cultural misunderstandings or oppressive dynamics, as well as skills for effectively engaging in dialogue. The topics of this course include social identity development; difference and dominance and the nature of social oppression; our personal and interpersonal connections to power, privilege, and oppression; understanding and resolving conflicts or resistance; the process of dialogue and coalition building across differences; and its applications in multicultural social work settings. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Community Change (Host), Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse |
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| Credits: | 1 |
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| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | Participatory facilitation is the process of increasing participation of diverse people within groups and community contexts. Emphasis will be placed on understanding theories of group work and group process. In this course, students will develop skills and techniques to strengthen participatory facilitation practices, including understanding intergroup dialogue, liberating structures, participatory planning activities, and alternative forms of facilitation including world cafes and online facilitation practices. Students will explore examples as well as practice skills. Special focus will be on the role of power, privilege, and social identities within a facilitation context. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Community Change (Host), Management & Leadership, Policy & Political Social Work, Program Evaluation and Applied Research |
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| Credits: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This course is aimed to create the following impacts on student learning: increased knowledge of the history of community based art and design in the US; increased knowledge of methods for collaborative community based art and design; develop skills in collaboration with community groups in developing community based art and design projects; Knowledge and skills to evaluate the impact of community based art and design activity. Our class is organized around principles of andragogy (adult learning), empowerment, and collaboration. We will develop a co-learning environment that will include presentations, skill building activities and exercises, speakers, and different media. Experiential activities will be central to the structure and process of this course. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Community Change (Host) |
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| Credits: | 1 |
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| Prerequisites: | None |
| Course Description: | This course will describe the values/ethics, processes, outcomes and dissemination strategies used in participatory research (i.e. community-based participatory research, Photovoice, digital storytelling, participatory action research, participatory evaluation). Students will learn how to develop research steering committees (or other guiding and decision-making bodies made up of stakeholders), engage partners in assessing community strengths, priorities and issues, and use research and evaluation as a tool for action. The course will include how to work with interested community partners to develop key research questions to solve (or better understand) prioritized problems. It will also explore different participatory approaches to engage community in each step of the research and evaluation process. |
| Pathway Elective For: | Community Change (Host), Program Evaluation and Applied Research |
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University of Michigan
School of Social Work
1080 South University Avenue
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1106