Clinical Practice Concentration

The clinical concentration prepares students for advanced practice with individuals, families, and small groups. The program asks students to think critically about different theoretical systems, research findings, and practice methods. Students learn how to monitor progress and evaluate outcomes of interventions and how to determine which approaches are most effective. A defining feature of the program is the focus on the social, cultural, political, and economic contexts of vulnerability and need. Students are led to explore the organizational contexts of intervention. Advocacy is crucial, and courses consider the social worker's role in helping organizations, communities, and society become more responsive to human needs. Direct practitioners serve a variety of roles in a wide range of settings, and graduates assume supervisory, management, and consulting responsibilities.

Required Courses

Students who elect the concentration in clinical practice take the following courses:

A two-quarter course sequence in one practice method and at least one additional course in a different practice method sequence: behavioral (40402 or 40403, and 43212, 40922 or 43800), cognitive (41300 and 41400 or 40922), family systems (40800 and 41700, 40212, or 43401), or psychodynamic (41000 and 41100, 41200, or 44301). A one quarter course in Evidence-based Clinical Practice (43212), Comparative Perspectives in Social Work Practice (42401), or Theoretical Foundations of Social Group Work (62300) can also be taken to fulfill the one quarter course requirement.
One Clinical Research class: 44501 Clinical Research: Using Evidence in Clinical Decision Making; 44503 Clinical Research: Evaluating Intervention Outcomes; or 44505 Clinical Research: Integrating Evidence into Practice.
One advanced human behavior in the social environment course (e.g., 42100 Aging and Mental Health; 42500 Adult Psychopathology; 42600 Diagnosing Mental Disorders in Children and Adolescents; 43300 The Exceptional Child).
A clinical field placement intended to provide students with an opportunity to develop, apply, and test practice knowledge by working under the guidance of a supervisor in a clinical practice setting. Field instruction involves a minimum of 640 hours, usually 24 hours a week.

Electives

Students have the opportunity to take elective courses in areas of special interest. Courses may be selected from the curriculum offerings on particular fields of practice, theories of behavior, treatment modalities, social problems, target populations, research methods, or from courses in the social administration concentration. Crossover courses - those courses likely to be of interest to both clinical and social administration students - bear on issues of supervision, management, and understanding organizational dynamics. Students also have the opportunity to gain interdisciplinary perspectives by taking courses in other graduate programs and professional schools of the University.

Areas of Special Interest

Students are expected to tailor their coursework to prepare for career interests and their individual learning goals. This can be organized around work with a particular client population or a field of practice. Courses in the curriculum naturally cluster around populations and problems. Building on the required theory, research and advanced human behavior courses, students can shape their course of study around areas of practice.

The following areas of practice with recommended electives are intended as examples only. Students may select from all electives offered at SSA and relevant courses within the University.

FAMILY and CHILD WELFARE

41700 Clinical Treatment of Abusive Family Systems
42201 Advanced Seminar on Violence and Trauma
42322 Child and Adolescent Substance Use
42912 Work and Family Policy: Policy
Considerations for Family Support
47101 Child Welfare: Practice and Policy
60800 Child and Adolescent Trauma

FAMILY and COMMUNITY SUPPORT

42201 Advanced Seminar on Violence and Trauma
42322 Child and Adolescent Substance Use
42700 Family Support Principles, Practice, and
Program Development *
42912 Work and Family Policy: Policy
Considerations for Family Support *
60800 Child and Adolescent Trauma
61100 Seminar in Violence Prevention

*Required for Family Support Specialization

HEALTH

40722 Death, Loss, and Grief across the Life
Course
43401 Family Systems: Health and Mental Health
43900 Disability: Medical, Ethical, and Psychosocial
Issues
46600 Special Problems in Health Care
Management

MENTAL HEALTH

40000 Clinical Intervention in Substance Abuse
40212 Couples Therapy
41700 Clinical Treatment of Abusive Family Systems
42001 Substance Use Practice
42500 Adult Psychopathology
42600 Diagnosing Mental Disorders in Children and
Adolescents

SCHOOL SOCIAL WORK

40300 Treatment of Children
41600 Public School Systems and Service
Populations *
41900 Treatment of Adolescents: A Contextual
Perspective
42201 Advanced Seminar on Violence and Trauma
42322 Child and Adolescent Substance Use
42600 Diagnosing Mental Disorders in Children
and Adolescents
43300 The Exceptional Child *
44800 Urban Adolescents in Their Families,
Communities and Schools: Issues for
Research and Policy
46500 The Youth Gang Problem: Policy, Programs,
and Research
47222 Promoting the Social and Academic
Development of Children in Urban
Environments
60800 Child and Adolescent Trauma
61500 Urban Education and Educational Policy
61600 Strategies for Working with Infants,
Toddlers, and their Parents
61700 Group Work with Children

*Required for School Social Work Program of Study

For more information on our program for School Social Work, CLICK HERE

OLDER ADULTS

40722 Death, Loss, and Grief across the Life
Course
42100 Aging and Mental Health *
49012 Aging and Public Policy*
61200 Introduction to Aging: 21st Century
Perspectives

*Required for Older Adult Program of Study

For more information on our program for Older Adult Studies, CLICK HERE