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Search results: 2011
The course will introduce clinical social work practice by addressing the fundamental purposes, historical and ongoing debates, functions, and practice methods. Links to clinical social work practice with groups are made in this course in addition to social work theory (including psychological and social theories), issues related to social policy, agency and community contexts, and advocacy work, as well as research (e.g., empirical evidence, evaluation).
This 10-week course is organized by three broad areas of social work practice competence:
- Principles of clinical social work practice
- Clinical competencies in the beginning phase of social work practice
- Introduction to clinical competencies in the middle and ending phases of practice
First, this course will focus on social work values, ethics, and other key principles, in clinical social work practice. Attention will be given to the clinician’s capacity for an intentional and effective use of self as well as understanding and addressing complex and intersecting nature of power and various social locations within a therapeutic process.
Next, the course will address foundational practice competencies required in the beginning phase of practice, namely interviewing skills for relationship building, assessment, case formulation, goal setting, contracting, and treatment planning. Understanding that much of clinical practice was built on Euro-centric, western, colonial epistemologies, instructors will invite students to critically appraise and identify ways to engage clinical skills responsibly from racial and social justice perspectives.
Finally, the last part of this 10-week course will introduce students to the competences relevant to the middle phase of practice, such as common tasks and processes involved with this phase of work, an introduction to several intervention models of working with individuals and families, case management (e.g., working with collaterals, resource development, referral), as well as the ending phase of practice, such as practice monitoring, evaluation, and termination. While several conventional intervention models (e.g., psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, trauma work) will be introduced, the course will also engage students in critically examining the utility and limits of these models, with a goal of centering practice decisions on the needs and voices of clients from marginalized communities. A variety of pedagogical methods, including lectures, discussions, the use of media, case-based learning, mindfulness exercises and role-plays, will be used to introduce practice principles, theoretical and empirical literature and competency-based skills. Throughout the course, student learning will be scaffolded, moving from learning aboutpractice to doing practice through various experiential methods, such as mindfulness exercises, case-based discussion and peer-to-peer role plays. Case materials used for discussion and role-plays will reflect individual and family practice in a range of service settings with a focus on the social and structural contexts surrounding marginalized communities.
- Instructor: Kenta Asakura
Welcome, all!
Group Theory and Practice introduces students to the history of social group work and focuses on applying the values, skills and knowledge of the social work profession to a variety of groups. Theoretical and practical principles of group work are introduced to enhance understanding and use of “group” as a complex system of roles and interrelationships. Students learn how to construct task and treatment groups and how to mobilize the resources of existing groups. Primary focus is given to those dynamics that are common to all groups, and students will begin to explore how issues of difference (gender, race, sexual orientation, age, culture, class, ability, spirituality) affect group processes.
- Instructor: Paul Gitterman
- Instructor: Megan Harding
- Instructor: Anthea Kim
- Instructor: Peggy O'Neill
- Instructor: Malcolm Pradia
- Instructor: Christopher Watkins
- Instructor: Zachary Wigham
- Instructor: Mark Williams
Course Description
The economic and political history of the United States, particularly colonialization and chattel slavery, provide the foundation for contemporary social welfare policy and service delivery. This course grounds contemporary social welfare policy in the history and resulting economic and political ideologies of the United States. These lenses will then be applied to a discussion of how poverty is conceptualized in the United States and how these conceptualizations shape policy approaches. Clinical social work is both governed by and operates within the context of social welfare policies, making an understanding of the ideology of social welfare provision, policies, and their origins critical to successful practice and navigation of professional ethics. The professional code of ethics demands that social workers advocate within these systems and for system change. This course will encourage students to engage their understanding of their role and power within these systems as social work professionals.
- Instructor: Stasha Rhodes
- Instructor: Esther Roth-Katz
- Instructor: Emily Sherwood
This course introduces students to the role of research and data within social work practice. Students will assess this relationship, both historical and current, through the liberatory lenses of critical theories about race, Indigenous approaches to research and knowledge, and intersectionality. The goal of this course is to critically analyze research theories, methods, and findings in a way that advances the social work profession’s goals of racial and social justice. Students will strengthen their understanding of current research landscapes and approaches to knowledge building, with the aim of achieving self-determination for marginalized clients and communities. Examples throughout the course will be practice-oriented and build an understanding of research justice as a strategic framework for evaluating and recalibrating social work practice at micro, messo, and macro scales.
- Instructor: Rory Crath
- Instructor: Megan Harding
- Instructor: Di Yoong
- Instructor: Katya Cerar
- Instructor: Alexis Evwynne
- Instructor: Janae Peters
- Instructor: Katya Cerar
- Instructor: Arianne Napier-White
- Instructor: Katya Cerar
- Instructor: Alexis Evwynne
- Instructor: Katya Cerar
- Instructor: Alexis Evwynne
The required First Year Practicum Learning Seminar is designed to help students successfully enter into and engage in the learning of the first-year internship. The seminar will address issues related to the Essential Attributes and Abilities and is designed to support students in achieving the defined learning objectives and to deepen their understanding and integration of content from summer coursework. Students are expected to use the seminar as a forum to discuss their clinical work and to actively integrate theory and practice as relevant to their internship setting. The course meets for 10 sessions September-April for 2 hours/month.
- Instructor: Katya Cerar
- Instructor: Alexis Evwynne
- Instructor: Shveta Kumaria
- Instructor: Katya Cerar
- Instructor: Alexis Evwynne
- Instructor: Alberto Guerrero
- Instructor: Katya Cerar
- Instructor: Alexis Evwynne
- Instructor: Janae Peters
- Instructor: Katya Cerar
- Instructor: Alberto Guerrero
- Instructor: Arianne Napier-White
- Instructor: Marybeth Stratton
- Instructor: Katya Cerar
- Instructor: Alexis Evwynne
- Instructor: Katya Cerar
- Instructor: Arianne Napier-White
- Instructor: Janae Peters
- Instructor: Marybeth Stratton
- Instructor: Katya Cerar
- Instructor: Alexis Evwynne
- Instructor: Michelle Fortunado-Kewin
Meeting ID: 360 453 5228
To join by computer, click this link: https://smith.zoom.us/j/3604535228
- Instructor: Katya Cerar
- Instructor: Alexis Evwynne
- Instructor: Katie Potocnik Medina
- Instructor: Katya Cerar
- Instructor: Jessica Ricardo
- Instructor: Marybeth Stratton