Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse

This course is intended to develop knowledge and skills for practice with children, youth and families, with special attention to assessment. Students learn about varying approaches to assessment, the various contexts in which assessment takes place, and the assessment skills used with children, youth, and families. Students will be familiar with both strengths and limitations of assessments, and how assessments are used (e.g., in school, juvenile justice, and child welfare forensic assessment) including assessments for intervention recommendations.

This course will present prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation practice theories and techniques emphasizing culturally responsive and evidence-informed interventions that address diverse groups of infants, children, and youth within their social contexts.(e.g., peer group, school, family, neighborhood, and communities).

This is intended to develop skills for child welfare practice, with special attention to child maltreatment. Students learn about the various contexts in which child welfare practice takes place and the skills and modalities that are used with children, youth, and families who are the focus of child welfare intervention. This course will prepare students to work with diverse client populations and will help them appreciate the imbalance of power between client and professional. Understanding the needs and responses of involuntary clients is an integral part of the course.

This course will examine practice theories and techniques for working directly with children ages eighteen months to nine years, and their caregivers, via play therapy. This course will emphasize evidence-based play therapies that address diverse groups of young children. Special attention will be given to the meaning of play across cultures, as well as the role of play in the healthy development of children.

Microaggressions are the everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages toward marginalized groups and minorities, including but not limited to race, religion, disability, sexual orientation and gender. This course will examine racial microaggressions and their impact on the delivery of human services with a focus on prevention and intervention strategies.

This course has a clinical focus and practical orientation; therefore, we will examine basic neuropsychopharmacology, neurotransmitter systems, drug metabolism (i.e, absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion), and the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of psychotropic medications to only a limited degree. Our emphasis will be primarily on understanding the physiological actions, therapeutic effects, and potential toxicities associated with prescribed pharmacotherapies for major classes of mental disorders affecting youth, adults, and older adults.

This course has a clinical focus and practical orientation; therefore, we will examine basic neuropsychopharmacology, neurotransmitter systems, drug metabolism (i.e, absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion), and the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of psychotropic medications to only a limited degree. Our emphasis will be primarily on understanding the physiological actions, therapeutic effects, and potential toxicities associated with prescribed pharmacotherapies for major classes of mental disorders affecting youth, adults, and older adults.

This course provides a framework of knowledge, values, skills and experiences to promote culturally competent, ethical, spiritually-sensitive Social Work practice which takes into account diverse expressions of spirituality. In adopting a holistic perspective to guide practice, spirituality will be viewed as a vital and essential dimension of the bio-psycho-social assessment and treatment planning process.

The Evidence Informed OUD/SUD Interventions course is designed to introduce students to assessment, intervention, and specialized practice skills to effectively engage and treat clients experiencing addictions (e.g., alcohol, opioids, cannabis, illicit drugs) and who may also present with additional complex and comorbid mental health and physical health needs. The course will also cover Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorders.

Transitional age youth, defined as the transition period from adolescence to young adulthood, represents a developmental period characterized by, among other things, increased risk taking and vulnerability for behavioral and mental health conditions. Yet the social work theoretical, empirical and practice literature remain underdeveloped, particularly for transitional age youth with behavioral health and mental health conditions. Social work practitioners and researchers alike play an essential role in ameliorating behavioral health conditions among transitional age youth.