Contexts of Life-course Development: Childhood, Adolescence, and Early Adulthood
This course will examine the development of life course in stages, from conception to early childhood (0-6), middle childhood (7-12), adolescence (13-18), and emerging adulthood (18+). Students will explore how development unfolds, with a particular emphasis on how adversity shapes the experiences of children from a young age. Key theories used to understand human development and behavior include those focused on attachment, trauma, and resilience. Special attention will be given to the relationships between critical life conditions, (i.e., race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic class
Interpersonal Practice Interventions in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse (Adults)
The course will build on intervention therapy and practice from the foundation semester and promote more advanced intervention skill level of engagement, goal setting, use of evidence based and informed interventions, and the termination and evaluation phases of treatment. Particular focus will be on advanced clinical competency development regarding: 1. Engagement and rapport building, 2. Goal setting and problem solving, 3. Identifying and implementing appropriate intervention approaches, and 4. Termination and evaluation of treatment.
This course focuses on skill building to provide a
Advanced Evidence-Informed Interpersonal Practice with Families
This advanced practice course builds on content from the previous foundational course(s) and focuses on family functioning within diverse client populations. The focus of this course is on the development and utilization of family-focused skills and interventions with diverse families in the context of a variety of practice settings such as healthcare, mental health, and other community-based settings.
To inform practice interventions, this course will be grounded in the integration of various current family theories (i.e. attachment theory, general systems theory, communication theory
Advanced Evidence-Informed Interpersonal Practice with Groups
This advanced practice course builds on content from previous foundational courses and focuses on the processes of group interventions with diverse client populations, across various client concerns and in a variety of practice settings such as healthcare, mental health, and other community-based settings. The focus of this course is on the development and utilization of group skills and interventions.
Particular attention will be given to the recruitment and composition of group members, leadership structure of groups, phases of group development, and group processes such as decision-making
Working with Latinx Families
Latinx constitute the largest ethnic minority group in the United States. The United States Latinx population is immensely diverse, with members originating from over twenty countries. Latinx sub-populations tend to reside in different areas of the United States, have different cultural practices/norms, immigration experiences, and varying levels of economic attainment. These sources of internal variation are important, as they have implications for many social outcomes and social work practice with Latinx families. This course focuses on the theoretical, empirical and practice literature on
Adventure/Experiential Based Therapy
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
Suicide Assessment and Prevention
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
Advanced Evidence-Informed Interpersonal Practice with Families
This advanced practice course builds on content from the previous foundational course(s) and focuses on family functioning within diverse client populations. The focus of this course is on the development and utilization of family-focused skills and interventions with diverse families in the context of a variety of practice settings such as healthcare, mental health, and other community-based settings.
To inform practice interventions, this course will be grounded in the integration of various current family theories (i.e. attachment theory, general systems theory, communication theory
Attachment Theory in Clinical Practice through the Lifespan
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.
Basic Skills for Dialectical Behavior Therapy
DBT is an empirically supported treatment for individuals with severe emotional 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