Advanced Clinical Practice Series
Leadership Series
Teaching Pedagogy Series
Supervision and Mentorship Series
Applied Research Series
Note that all classes are 3-credits with the exception of the opening intensive, which is 2-credits
Year 1: Fall Semester
Year 1: Spring Semester
Year 2: Fall Semester
Year 2: Spring Semester
Year 3: Fall Semester
Year 3: Spring Semester
SWCL 800: Advanced Clinical Theory: Historical Perspectives and Current Contexts (3 credits)
This course examines personality development in terms of behavior, emotions, and cognitions and how these interrelated constructs influence present adaptations and the process of change for clients. Students will explore the underlying values, assumptions, methods, and research evidence for each practice theory. The focus of this class is on theories that were prominent during the early and mid-twentieth century, through selections of original contributions from id or drive psychology, attachment, ego psychology, object relations, self-psychology, family systems, behavioral, narrative, cognitive/behavioral therapy, NMT and interpersonal neurobiology. Drawing primarily from original sources, students will consider key assumptions, constructs, and propositions of each theory in terms of its congruence with social work’s principles, values, and mission, as well as its application and relevance to the identities and experiences of the communities and contexts of which each student is a part.
SWCL 801: Neuro-Biological Basis of Human Behavior (3 credits)
This course provides an overview of the neurobiology shaping behaviors that inform clinical social work practice. Students will explore the impact of genetics, neuroanatomy and physiology in the etiology of emotional disorders and behavior. The course will review basic neuroanatomy, behavior physiology, and neurodevelopment. The course explores the mind and body connection in moderating a person’s mental health and psychological wellbeing. Special attention will be given to the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics and trauma theory including the NMT metrics of sensory integration, self-regulation, relational function, and cognition. This course will be co-taught by interprofessional faculty.
SWCL 803: Psychopharmacology and Complimentary Therapeutics (3 credits)
This basic course in psychopharmacology will be co-taught by faculty from University of Maryland, Baltimore’s School of Social Work and School of Pharmacy. Students will be introduced to the basics of pharmacotherapy addressing the more common DSM-5 diagnoses. Key medications with their clinical indications, symptom management, and dosage will be addressed. Students will be introduced to commonly used medications to treat mood disorders, anxiety, PTSD, personality disorders and schizophrenia. The course will emphasize the mechanism, action, contraindications, interactions with other medications and side effects of each class of medications. This course will require the completion of SWCL 801 as a prerequisite. The sociocultural context relevant to psychopharmacological interventions including access, demographic disparities, cultural beliefs
about medication, and their use as a complement to psychotherapeutic interventions will also be discussed. This course will require the completion of SWCL 801 as a prerequisite.
SWCL 804: Adapting Foundational Models for Practice (3 credits)
This seminar-style DSW course offers an in-depth study of three foundational psychotherapy frameworks: psychodynamic/relational, behavioral, and cognitive models. Students will examine their historical roots, sociopolitical contexts, and core clinical skills. Emphasis is placed on justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) and integrating anti-racist, anti-oppressive (ARAO) approaches in practice. Learners will also explore innovative delivery methods like telehealth and digital platforms to expand access to care. Through case conceptualization, video demonstrations, and collaborative projects, students will apply and adapt these models to their specific populations and practice areas.
SWCL 809: Innovations in Clinical Practice (3 credits)
This seminar-style course explores third-wave and integrative clinical models such as Narrative Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing, Internal Family Systems, Schema Therapy, Healing Circles, and indigenous practices. Students will deepen skills in trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and values-centered care, focusing on meaning-making, mindfulness, brain-body connection, and critical consciousness. Through case conceptualization, video simulations, and collaborative projects, students will apply and adapt a chosen modality to their population of interest, emphasizing antiracism, equity, and innovation in clinical social work. Students will choose a modality in which they would like to develop deeper knowledge and skill, concentrating on its application within their own area of focus or population of interest. Each student will create and present a case conceptualization; a simulated demonstration video implementing the skills associated with their chosen modality and identify questions or discussion topics for consultation and discussion amongst course participants.
SWCL 812: Integrative Practice (3 credits)
Traditionally, clinical education has focused on the provision of therapeutic services through specific frameworks or modalities. However, in practice most clinicians develop their own style of integrating clinical tools, philosophies, and interventions to fit the unique and diverse needs of the individuals and communities with whom they work (Zarbo et al., 2016). Openness to integrative, flexible, culturally responsive practice is in line with efforts to decenter more rigid western-colonial perspectives and meet the unique needs of each person or community in their specific context. This course will explore different frameworks for integrative practice and give students the opportunity to consider and articulate what aspects of different traditions, tools, and evidence-supported frameworks might be most helpful in their own area of focus or population of interest. As part of this course, students will research different aspects of effective practice within their specific area of focus including multiple forms of evidence: scholarly research, clinical trainings, and community voices, feedback, and narratives. Each student will develop a training guide, demonstration video, or scholarly paper focused on the application and adaptation of clinical modalities within the sociocultural context of the communities or populations they work alongside, with an emphasis on integrative person or community-centered practice.
SWCL 818: Integration Seminar and Case Presentation (3 credits)
This course will engage students in progressively higher-level critical thinking and clinical decision making using a case-based approach along with simulation. This seminar will allow students to integrate their DSW academic course work with clinical experiences from their employment sites and work with their own clients. These seminars will emphasize not only the application of theory to clinical encounters, but also enhance the process of self-reflection, self-awareness, use of self and application of ethical principles including anti-racism and anti-oppression principles within their practice. Students will present and discuss client cases, their diagnoses, theoretical conceptualization of the presenting problems, treatment planning and specific interventions used. The group will provide feedback and assist in formulating effective interventions. Students will learn methods of effective consultation both in-person and using telehealth care devices. Students will learn the process of effectively triaging clients for services, identifying potential risks (health/behavioral health), developing skills in safeguarding risk, promoting safety plans and appropriate documentation of each case. Simulation and role play of client encounters will be used.
SWCL 821: Simulation and Case Consultation Lab (3 credits)
Clinical Social Work practice involves not only working with individuals and families but also working alongside other professionals (working interprofessionaly) in the care of clients. Effective interprofessional collaboration, teamwork and communication is necessary. This course will discuss how to conduct short-term consultative services, telehealth services, provide written and verbal feedback of assessments, and how to craft helpful recommendations for colleagues in support of clients’ well-being.
SWCL 813: Social Work Teaching and Training: Pedagogical Theory and Practice (3 credits)
The aim of this course is to provide students with the foundation and advanced knowledge of the theory and practice of social work teaching. The course focuses on the theoretical and technical aspects of delivering social work education. The focus of the course is to create, to the extent possible, the simulation of real-world teaching situations designed to help students develop their teaching practice through a process of critical reflection, integration, and application. The development of teaching skills is a critical focus of the course. The course covers social work teaching at both the BSW and MSW levels. The course includes theories of andragogy and reflective practice, curriculum development, teaching methodologies and techniques, general classroom activity, assessment and evaluation of students, testing methodology, ethical considerations, and professional academic development at BSW and MSW levels of social work education. Readings are drawn from social work education literature as well as from interprofessional perspectives, including teaching and learning in higher education.
SWCL 817: Course and Curriculum Design Lab (3 credits)
This second teaching course will be a practicum experience for DSW students. Students will be assigned to create and implement a social work training seminar or course at their employment site or through the UMSSW. For example, students may guest lecture in an appropriate social work course and provide at least one three-hour lecture on a topic reflecting their clinical specialty of interest. Lectures will be designed and discussed within the classroom format and will be implemented during the semester. Each student’s teaching activity will be observed by the instructor or videotaped for review along with detailed feedback of their teaching session. This course will be focused on the application and practice of teaching social workers and the activities this entails.
SWCL 811: Leadership Styles in Social Work Practice Lab (3 credits)
This course is designed to assist students in developing a personal philosophy and approach to leadership. The course will introduce historical and current theories on leadership, reflect on the various contexts in which leadership skills are exercised and consider leadership practices in multicultural environments. This course will align and interconnect leadership theory and development with leadership practice in the real world at the individual, relational and collective, and organizational levels.
SWCL 805: Supervision and Mentoring (3 credits)
This course will explore the principles, structures and practice of supervision, consultation, and mentoring in Clinical Social Work across the continuum of professional development. Students will explore a variety of supervisory approaches and the theoretical concepts underlying these approaches while learning how to integrate these styles in their work with students and supervisees. Models of individual and small group supervision will be demonstrated, practiced and discussed in detail. Issues of how to teach and mentor supervisees within a community setting will be discussed. Simulation of clinical supervision with standardized clients across academic and community settings will be employed by students as they discover their preferred approaches to supervision. Students will use exercises on self-awareness, reflective supervision, and learn to employ JEDI principles introduced in the introductory intensive weeklong course on the same topic.
SWCL 810: Supervision Mentoring Lab (3 credits)
This second supervision course will be a practicum experience for DSW students. Students will be assigned to supervise a group of social work students working within their field placement. A second option will be for DSW students to use their employment environment to employ their supervision strategies. The goal is for students to apply their learning with actual social work trainees/workers, present these experiences to the group, obtain feedback to improve this supervisory experience. At least one supervision session will be videotaped for discussion and evaluation. Justice Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
SWCL 806: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Social Work (2 credits)
In this weeklong DSW intensive, students engage with anti-racist, anti-oppressive (ARAO) frameworks to build justice-centered, inclusive clinical practices. The course explores systemic oppression, intersectionality, bias, privilege, and identity through the lens of the Social Change Ecosystem and Restorative Practices. Students will develop a personalized ARAO vision and action plan to guide their equity-driven work throughout the DSW program.
SWCL 802: Philosophy of Science in Social Work (3 credits)
This course examines the assumptions, history, and development of scientific methods within social work. The course will cover methods of scientific inquiry and how knowledge is accumulated and validated. Students will explore how theory is constructed and its importance in explaining and predicting behavior. The course provides an in-depth exploration of ontological and epistemological foundations within social work and behavioral sciences. Discussion of theory development and construction along with methodological approaches to testing theory will be explored. Students will discuss important controversies within the field of philosophy of science, the role of values in research and methodological strategies along with the limitations of measurements used in the social sciences. The course will identify and evaluate the building blocks of social science - definitions and concept-formation, descriptive strategies, traditions of interpretation, measurement of variables, strategies of inference, ethics and Forms of explanation of findings.
SWCL 807: Summer Weeklong Intensive Seminar Series Year 2: Publication and Grant Writing Lab (2 credits)
This weeklong workshop will provide students with the necessary information to outline and write a publishable paper, including the selection of a topic, target audience, and appropriate journal. Students will develop skills in organizing content and preparing for the review process. Emphasis will be placed on the development of a literature review for publication in one’s area of expertise/interest. Each student will be required to start or complete a paper that expands on work done for a practice course or that reflects their interest and supports the student’s clinical practice and/or Capstone project (e.g., a traditional case study or a single system design study).
SWCL 814: Research Methods: Quantitative Approaches in Clinical Social Work Practice Settings (3 credits)
The purpose of this course is to cover the essential concepts of quantitative research methods. This course will focus on research ethics, building a conceptual framework, question and hypothesis formulation, research design, sampling, level of measurement for variables and scale construction. Students will learn how to design research related to social work practice. The course will review the selection and development of outcome measures, intervention manuals, and fidelity measures as appropriate. It will closely examine the use and development of practice guidelines, evidence-based practice, and meta-analytic procedures. Each student will identify a substantive research area related to clinical practice and logical steps toward formulating key research questions. Aspects of conducting literature reviews leading to the articulation of a substantive research area will be taught.
SWCL 819: Research Methods: Qualitative Approaches in Clinical Social Work Practice Settings (3 credits)
This course will provide an overview of six types of qualitative research approaches widely used in social work inquiry: 1) content analysis, 2) template analyses, 3) grounded theory, 4) participatory action research, 5) Indigenous and decolonizing methods and 6) immersion approaches. These methods illustrate key differences in research purposes, epistemologies, ethics, and methods. In general, the course will provide an exploration of foundational qualitative research methods and strategies. Students will be introduced to ontological, epistemological structures and theoretical assumptions underlying these methods. Students will learn how appropriately apply these methods with particular emphasis on use within the clinical setting. Students will learn how to both acknowledge and document the lived experience of participants.
SWCL 815: Summer Weeklong Intensive Seminar Series Year 3: Capstone Development Lab. (2 credits)
This course is focused on developing an idea for their final capstone project. This pro-seminar will encourage students to discuss, research and present their proposals for the capstone project. The instructor will provide instruction and consultation to each student around their area of interest and assist them to formulate a project that is clearly defined and doable within the period allocated. By the end of this seminar, students are expected to have a solid draft of their proposal.
SWCL 816: Capstone Project Seminar (3 credits)
This second seminar is dedicated to the refinement and submission of student’s capstone proposal and the initiation of their proposed project including clear documentation of goals and objectives, procedures and methods, expected outcomes, and timeline for completing the project. Each proposal will be presented to the class who will provide feedback and suggestions.
SWCL 820: Capstone Project Seminar (3 credits)
This seminar is the culmination of the capstone project and a student’s last step before being certified for graduation. The first half of the class will be dedicated to assisting students to complete and write up their capstone project. The second half of the class each student will make a formal presentation of their project along with comments about their struggles, learning, and future directions of this interest. These presentations along with the student’s defense of their findings and/or accomplishments will be graded (pass/fail)
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Dr. Ed Pecukonis
DSW Program Director
Dr. Samantha Fuld
DSW Program Associate Director
