SOWK 8230 - Evidence-based Social Work Practice in Adult Mental Health

Two credit hours.

Evidence-based Social Work Practice in Adult Mental Health builds on Assessment & Differential Diagnosis and provides knowledge of evidence-based practice approaches for adult clients who have a DSM- IV-TR diagnostic condition. This course will cover those psychiatric disorders commonly encountered in social work practice: anxiety, personality, mood, substance use, and psychotic disorders. Emphasis is placed on cultural and social aspects of mental health and issues important to populations at risk. An ecological and bio-psychosocial perspective is utilized to develop assessment and treatment strategies that are evidence-based and consistent with cultural and other issues related to diversity. The course will explore mental health care as it is delivered in a variety of settings: outpatient versus inpatient, residential and day treatment, acute versus long term, and private practice versus the community mental health setting. The course will enlighten the student to the range of issues, ethical and otherwise, that impact this population: legal, economic, relational, medical, and educational.

Prerequisites: graduate standing.