Direct Practice Concentration
The Direct Practice concentration prepares students for advanced professional practice with diverse populations in varied settings. Advanced practice is designed to enhance the ability of individuals, families and small groups to ameliorate bio-psychosocial and interpersonal problems and affect environmental conditions that contribute to problems. Our professional values guide us to educate and train advanced social workers in a context of supporting client strengths, pursuing social justice and facilitating empowerment. These values also direct our faculty members to discover and create new practice knowledge and to seek the best available evidence to inform their practice expertise. On these bases, faculty members engage students in learning about, implementing and evaluating practice in work with individual clients, families and systems. Our program educates students to serve client groups across the life span and at all socio-economic levels. It emphasizes collaborative work with at risk populations in fields such as mental health and settings such as services to children, families and elders. Our program also teaches students to seek and use supervision and consultation effectively in advanced social work practice with individuals, families and groups.
Concentration Objectives
The direct practice concentration prepares social workers for advanced practice who:
- Recognize and understand the needs, responses and strengths of people who experience oppression due to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, social class, public assistance status, national origin, physical and mental abilities, age, religion and spirituality.
- Understand the function and scope of one or more settings for direct practice service delivery.
- Understand social work and other appropriate theory and implement practice methods based on theory.
- Practice in a manner that supports client strengths, incorporates social justice and facilitates empowerment with individuals, and/or families and/or groups.
- Practice ethically and promote the values of the social work profession as embodied in the NASW Code of Ethics.
- Apply advanced skills in differential assessment, intervention and practice evaluation with individuals and/or families and/or groups based on the best available evidence.
- Practice collaboratively with populations at risk in settings such as child and family welfare, adult mental health, and services to children, families and elders.
- Seek and effectively use supervision, consultation and ongoing professional growth and development in advanced social work practice with individuals, and/or families and/or groups.
Direct Practice Curriculum
Curriculum Overview:
- Advanced Practice Setting - 3 credits required
- Advanced Practice with Diversity - 2 credits required
- Advanced Research - 2 credits required
- Advanced Human Behavior and the Social Environment - 3 credits required
- Advanced Social Policy - 3 credits required
- Field - 6 credits required for full program / 8 credits required for advanced standing
- Skills Electives - 3-6 credits required
- Other Electives - up to 3 credits for full program / 7-10 credits for advanced standing
The Direct Practice Concentration offers three areas of specialization within the concentration that relate to specific domains of practice: Child Welfare, Family and Children's Service, and Health/Mental Health. Classes that relate to these areas of specialization have been identified and students may consult these selections as they choose classes for their concentration. Students may take classes other than those listed in the specializations, however, they must also meet the requirements of the concentration for course work in specific curriculum areas.