Leadership skills are essential to effectively interface within a larger institutional context and community settings to maximize their own organizational goals in meeting client needs. This course encompasses the theoretical and practical foundations of leadership and management in social work settings and prepares students to use community resources to support the mission of their organization or agency.
This course presents an advanced study and analysis of leadership roles in social work practice with emphasis upon administration and supervision in public and nonprofit settings. Management practice is examined, including employee supervision, employee evaluation, department supervision, and conflict resolution. Additional specific areas to be addressed include understanding theories of adult learning and the subsequent impact on organizations, management and supervision, effective use of personnel and fiscal resources, consultation, and professional development of staff.
This course examines the concept of human need as it relates to social justice and the cyclical relationships between social problems and public policies. A variety of strategies for effective social policy design, implementation and analysis are presented within the context of existing social welfare policies and services. Course content reflects the interdisciplinary efforts of the social, political, legal, economic, and administrative processes which are vital to policy making at all levels.
This course offers a critical analysis of theories which seek to explain human behavior and provide the foundation for current clinical change interventions. Students will also examine the empirical support for and efficacy of major treatment modalities used in social work practice.
The ability to effectively assess and accurately diagnose psychopathology and understand pharmaceutical interventions is critical to advanced clinical social work practice. This course examines the diagnostic classifications, criteria, etiologies, and the epidemiology of mental illness disorders and pharmacological treatment options for disorders. Medication related concerns of clients and families are identified as key to effective intervention as well as an understanding the role of biopsychosocial implications associated with pharmaceutical interventions.
Social workers must move beyond a conceptual understanding of theory to the practical application of theories that inform interventions with individuals, families, groups, and other client systems. This skills- based course prepares students to apply a variety of clinical theories to social work tasks such as: assessing and engaging clients, developing treatment plans (i.e., goals, outcomes), structuring and pacing interventions, and approaching the therapeutic relationship.
There has been unprecedented growth of new knowledge on the brain and its role in trauma responses, addiction and pervasive and chronic mental illness. Understanding of the brain, and the subsequent influence on behaviors, emotions and relationships, is critical to advanced social work practice. This clinical course provides a neuroscience framework for helping social workers understand lifespan development, attachment, trauma, addictions and other mental health disorders as well as psychoactive medications.
This course examines current bio-ecological research findings that inform our understanding of the pervasive impact of trauma, particularly as trauma relates to service members and their families. Emphasis is placed on examining biopsychosocial influences on the incidence, course and treatment of acute stress, trauma and PTSD, and the differential effect of these factors on diverse populations at risk.
In this course, students will examine the foundations of evidence-based interventions, methods of interventions, and implementation of evidence- based interventions. There is a particular focus on EBPS commonly used with service members and their families including CBT, DBT and CPT. Class content also includes diagnoses and treatment options for common mental health disorders seen within military populations including: post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), substance abuse, and suicide.
This course is the first of two exit colloquiums to help prepare students for their final capstone projects. This course goes beyond preparing students to critically consume and implement research evidence in practice and transitions students to develop skills for producing knowledge that informs practice. Students will learn the requisite techniques related to strategic dissemination of replicable and consumable information to stakeholders at all levels.
