Summer 2025 MSW Credit Course Electives

Current UB SSW students: Register through the Hub Student Center in the same manner that you register for all other classes.

Not a current UB SSW student? (Non-Degree or Non-Matriculated Students): Apply for non-degree status, which must be completed prior to registration. 

Billing is sent electronically to your buffalo.edu email address. Paper bills are no longer mailed by UB. If you do not check your buffalo.edu email and pay your tuition bill on time, you will be charged late fees by UB.

Review the in-state and out-of-state tuition and fees.

Field Educators with SUNY Tuition Waivers may use the waivers to pay for tuition costs. Waivers do not cover standard course fees or the nondegree application fee. For more information call the MSW Field Education Office at 716-645-1234 or email sw-field@buffalo.edu.

For more information visit the SUNY Tuition Waiver page.

• The Buffalo Niagara Summer Institute courses are considered non-standard courses. Please refer to the Office of the Registrar's non-standard session dates for add/drop dates. 
• Full attendance is required for credit. 
  

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an evidence-based psychotherapy that incorporates mindfulness and behavioral strategies to help clients increase their psychological flexibility.  ACT takes a non-pathological approach to clinical presentations and aims to help clients engage in values-based behavior while simultaneously making space for unwanted internal experiences, such as painful thoughts, feelings, body sensations, memories, etc.  Through this, clients learn to put less effort into fighting against their symptoms and put more effort into living the life they want.  This course focuses on the origin, theory, components, and application of core ACT skills to help adults and adolescents from diverse populations and a variety of life problems organize their lives around what matters to them, rather than avoidance of unwanted experiences.  

This course is designed as an introduction to the basic principles of ACT.  No previous experience with ACT is necessary.  Learners will acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to utilize this method appropriately and effectively with diverse client populations and problems.

This course focuses on the origin, theory, components, research and application of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, a treatment method originally developed for treating trauma and now being applied to a range of client problems. Students will acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to utilize this method appropriately and effectively with diverse client populations and problems. Such use is based on an understanding of the theoretical bases of EMDR, client safety issues, integration with a comprehensive treatment plan, and supervised practice with the components of EMDR as well as its various applications. Prerequisite: Participants should be either students who have completed at least the first year of a graduate level professional human-services degree program (e.g. MSW foundation year) or licensed/ certified mental health professionals.

This is a skill focused course on how to assess and respond to adults with psychiatric emergencies where there is a risk of lethality (suicidal/homicidal/self-harm). It will include identification of high risk factors and how to conduct lethality assessments for individuals, including those who are diagnosed with severe and persistent mental illness and/or under the influence of substances. Participants will learn the levels of lethality; how to use lethality assessment tools and rating scales; how to complete documentation of services which reflect clinical assessments in accordance with the most current evidence and best practices; how to create an intervention plan for identified lethality, and when it is appropriate in professional social work practice to break confidentiality based on a current lethality assessment.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a therapeutic model that views the mind as composed of multiple "parts," each with distinct beliefs, roles, feelings, and perspectives, alongside a core Self that embodies healing qualities including compassion. The IFS model helps individuals explore and heal wounded or protective parts by working with the core Self to find balance within the internal system. Through this process, IFS empowers individuals to address inner conflicts, heal trauma, and cultivate greater emotional resilience and self-awareness.

This course provides an overview of the theory and practice of the IFS model.  Concepts and skills will be taught through a combination of lecture, experiential learning, and video of IFS session excerpts to demonstrate key concepts.  Students will have the opportunity to learn and practice IFS techniques that can be applied to clinical practice. 

The purpose of this course is to provide a practical knowledge of the Schema Focused Therapy Model.  Students will become acquainted with the nature of each of the Lifetraps or early maladaptive schemas, their domains, the pathogenic early learning in their origin, and the ways they play out in self-defeating behaviors of the adult.  An overview of the model, components of assessment, case conceptualization, and phases of treatment will be presented.  At the conclusion of this course, students will have an understanding of the model and the steps for incorporating this integrative tool for the treatment of a wide range of clients who have histories of psychological trauma and meet criteria for personality, other mental health and/or substance use disorders.