The School of Social Work has developed two new innovative advanced concentrations for EDP students:
This advanced practice concentration prepares MSW practitioners to work with, and advocate for, children, families and elders across the life course within diverse communities. This groundbreaking approach integrates cross-generational issues with topics such as resilience, trauma, family violence, disparities and cultural relevance. This specialization prepares practitioners for a range of settings including, but not limited to, child welfare, schools, mental health, juvenile justice, assisted living, and elder and family services.
The concentration is family and community centered in its approach. Grounded within life course and human development perspectives, this specialization insures that social workers acquire the knowledge and skills to build upon cross-generational strengths and resilience in the delivery of services. A number of practice frameworks and models will be utilized, including: brief crisis interventions, solutions-focused social work practice, motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy, family support interventions, play therapy, and case management. Given the wide range of related practice and organizational settings, social workers will need skills, knowledge and values to analyze critique and advocate for policies and programs that support culturally diverse multigenerational families. This approach is aimed at strengthening reciprocity across generations and reducing risks experienced by vulnerable children, families and elders.
This advanced practice concentration prepares MSW practitioners to work across diverse health and mental health settings, to gain particular expertise in environment-mind-body-spirit-cultural integrative practice (mind-body complementarity). Utilizing an interdisciplinary, multi-component framework for health-mental health practice, this specialization integrates key perspectives of trauma/crisis/loss, stress-coping, bio-ecological-environment interaction, and resiliency and recovery in order to introduce MSW practitioners to cutting-edge, culturally relevant interventions, empirically supported interventions, and promising practices for diverse populations in diverse health and mental health settings.
The courses in this concentration deepen advanced practice skills in preparation for health and mental health settings, including multicultural engagement, assessment, intervention selection, treatment design, ethics, practice monitoring and evaluation skills. Critical cross-cultural and social justice issues will be addressed throughout all courses, including but not limited to stigma, racism, ableism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, xenophobia, and other forms of oppression and discrimination leading to health inequities, inequalities, and disparities. Courses will integrate feminist, multicultural, transcultural, decolonizing, and liberatory approaches to practice as well as resiliency and recovery-oriented frameworks. Specific to this specialization, courses will also integrate issues related to historical, intergenerational, social, and cultural determinants of wellness as well as practice and policy issues related to dual diagnoses, addictions, adherence, infectious, chronic, and acute illnesses.
Faculty and staff are still in the process of developing, finalizing, and incorporating feedback about these advanced concentrations. More information for prospective applicants, including advanced curriculum course descriptions, will be posted at a later date.
Please note that the EDP concentration choices, course sequencing, and schedule options may vary from year to year.
