Summer 2024 Seated and Hybrid Electives

This course is organized primarily as a seminar that will highlight motivational interviewing approaches to help clients build commitment and reach a decision to change behavior. This course provides a forum for case presentation and discussion with an emphasis on discussing cases from students' field placements or practice settings. Theories of behavioral change will be discussed, and the transtheoretical model of intentional behavior change will be highlighted as an integrative framework for understanding the process of behavior change.

Motivational interviewing is an evidence-based practice for addictive behaviors, but applications have been extended to behavioral change in general, including social work, mental health, health promotion, general medical care, corrections, and community and organizational settings. In addition, the course will discuss motivational interviewing's application to practice with “mandated” clients.

This course is approved for CEUs.

The purpose of this course is to provide a practical knowledge of early maladaptive schemas, their origins, and the ways they play out in self-defeating behaviors for adults. An overview of schema models, components of assessment, case conceptualization and treatment strategies will be presented. At the conclusion of this course, students will have an understanding of integrative tools for the treatment of a wide range of clients who have histories of psychological trauma and meet criteria for personality and other mental health and substance use disorders.

This course is approved for CEUs.

This course is designed to provide the student with an overview of social work practice in public schools. Students will examine the history of school social work, state and federal education laws, educational issues and policies, conceptual frameworks (such as the ecological approach), and service delivery models. Evidence-based programs, interventions and practices will be highlighted, in particular those that optimize the student's potential for growth and learning. The course is intended to develop the student's awareness and understanding of the unique role that the school social worker has and how it impacts the lives of children, families, school staff and communities.

This course is approved for CEUs.

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.

This course is approved for CEUs.

In this interprofessional course, students work alongside students from other health professions at community-based clinics and other settings working toward racial equity in the delivery of basic health care services. Students may be working with students from other university schools or departments to conduct assessments, provide psychosocial information, coordinate services and advocate for the community. Students will use social work skills learned in classroom and field education, including a trauma-informed and human rights lens, to assess the macro forces that impact health and health care in economically challenged neighborhoods.

This course will offer an in-depth exploration of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy and essential concepts in trauma psychotherapies. Designed for students seeking to deepen their understanding beyond general brief counseling models, the course provides an examination of trauma-focused interventions, modalities and delves specifically into the application of EMDR therapy in clinical practice. Individual clinician readiness, interest and therapeutic fit will be explored.

This course is approved for CEUs.

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 approved for CEUs.

This course will focus on the trajectory of serious illness and the accompanying experience of grief. Throughout the course students will utilize a life course perspective, discussing the impact of not only age but also developmental stages (individual and family), race, culture, ethnicity, and overall social context. Incorporating a trauma-informed and human rights perspective, students will increase their knowledge, assessment skills, clinical skills, and self-awareness, in order to best serve this population in various practice settings.

This course is approved for CEUs.

Part 1 is a two-day training that will cover the Theoretical & Therapeutic Foundations of CBT as well as Evidence-Based CBT interventions for youth “internalizing” disorders including depression, suicide prevention, various anxiety disorders and trauma/PTSD. The Theoretical & Therapeutic Foundations component will include topics such as how to formulate a CBT Case Conceptualization, the art of Socratic Questioning and Cognitive Restructuring with youth, how to involve parents in the child’s treatment, and how to integrate more recent “Third Wave” CBT therapies such as DBT, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy, Positive Psychology and Polyvagal Theory & Therapy into an integrated treatment approach. Methods to involve parents in the youth’s treatment will be addressed. Attendees will have the opportunity for skill building through didactic instruction and various immersive learning opportunities such as role play and small group application of treatment skills.

This course is approved for CEUs.

Part 2 is a two-day training that will cover diagnosis specific, Evidence-Based CBT approaches for various “externalizing” child & adolescent disorders including Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Pediatric Bipolar Disorder and Substance Use Disorders. The emphasis will be on teaching highly practical interventions clinicians can readily apply in their clinical practice with youth. Methods to involve parents in the youth’s treatment will be addressed. Attendees will have the opportunity for skill building through didactic instruction and various immersive learning opportunities such as role play and small group application of treatment skills.

This course is approved for CEUs.