Clinical Social Work Practice in Mental Health and Substance Use 1

Catalog description

This course provides students with knowledge of assessment based on the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association; psychotropic medications; and social worker roles when interacting with people with mental health issues and interdisciplinary teams. This course will provide students with an understanding of the correlates of the physiological and psychological effects of drugs and mental health focusing on the significance of treatment planning in diverse settings. Clinical Social work skills and knowledge of the individual, group, and family counseling strategies as they are applied to behavior change and relapse prevention. Students learn about the diagnostic criteria of mental health, substance use and addictive behavior, models of etiology, and approaches to treatment. Clinical social work practice in Mental Health and Substance Use is a specialization track that will provide students with foundational concepts, knowledge, values, and skills in clinical social work practice with mental health and substance abuse. In the first semester, the course emphasis is on the development of practice knowledge and competency for working with mental health and substance use. In the second semester, the emphasis shifts to diagnosing, treatment planning, intervention, and evaluation. Integral to both course content and skills with a special emphasis on the identification of theories, practices and,/or policies that promote social justice, illuminate injustices and are consistent with scientific and professional knowledge. Through the use of a variety of instructional methods, this course will support students in developing a vision of social justice, learning to recognize and reduce mechanisms that support oppression and injustice, working toward social justice processes, applying intersectionality and intercultural frameworks and, strengthening critical consciousness, self-knowledge and self-awareness to facilitate learning. Consideration will be given to the ways in which diversity factors such as age, race, ethnicity, disadvantage, gender, sexual orientation, sexual identity, class, immigration status, ability, family status, geographic location, ethnicity and, culture interact with and impact health, mental health and, behavioral health impact assessment and screening. Culturally responsive engagement in the assessment process will be a focus.