Clinical Practice with Adult Mental Health & Addictions

Clinical Social Work Practice Specialization

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These courses provide the foundations for advanced clinical social work practice with transitional age youth (18-25 years) and adults (26-64 years) affected by significant mental disorders and/or addiction. Taught by leaders in the field, we'll critically examine legislation, policies, mental health strategies and philosophies of care (e.g., trauma-informed, patient-centred and Indigenous approaches) and frameworks of mental health and illness (i.e., neurobiological and social determinants).

Experiential instruction that mirrors and critically reflects on various service settings (e.g., preventative, early-intervention, direct services) will teach you how to engage, assess, develop foundational skills to complete accurate formulations/diagnoses (i.e., DSM-5; MSE). It will also give you a chance to create, implement and evaluate evidence-based treatment plans in a manner consistent with social work values.

What will I learn?

Designed for those pursuing careers as mental health therapist/counsellors. Get educational requirements for clinical registries and for psychosocial interventions to treat substantial disorders of thought, mood, perception, orientation or memory.

Clinical Social Work Practice with Mental Health & Addictions

This course provides the base knowledge and skill for advanced clinical social work practice with transitional age youth (18-25 years) and adults (26-65 years) affected by significant mental disorders and/or addiction.

We'll critically examine the clinical social work identity, philosophies of care, frameworks/theories of mental health and mental illness, and the practice implications of legislation, policies and mental health strategies.

This course culminates with a practice-based exploration of the principles, processes and practices of clinical social work from engagement, assessment, formulation, diagnosis and treatment planning, implementation and evaluation.

Mental Health & Addiction Practice with Transitional Age Populations (18-25 yrs)

This course provides comprehensive training related to clinical social work practice with transitional age youth (18-25 years) affected by, or at risk for significant mental disorders and/or addictions.

Through a practice lens, we'll re-examine the theories, policies and practice models most relevant to this population and their diverse and complex developmental contexts.

Through experiential learning that mirrors real-world clinical practice, you'll learn how to engage, assess, and develop foundational skills to complete accurate formulations/diagnoses.

We'll focus on understanding and identifying risk and resilience factors and intervening with those concerns and/or diagnoses typically emerging during this developmental period, including the transition to adult-based health and social resources.

You'll also learn to develop, implement and evaluate evidence-based treatment plans regarding best-practices for this population.

Mental Health & Addiction Practice with Diverse Populations and Complex Contexts

Building on the preceding courses, this course will provide an in-depth exploration of clinical social work practice with people (18-64) living in diverse and complex contexts.

We'll explore processes, principles and practices for engagement, assessment, diagnosis and intervention. The aim is to address connections relating to diverse and complex contexts and clinical circumstances.

We'll also study evidence-based models of practise grounded in social work values and empirically-based understandings of mental health and illness (i.e., neurobiological and social determinants).

You'll learn about trauma-informed, person & family centred, anti-oppressive, cultural/diversity-informed and Indigenous approaches to mental health and mental health care.

Mental Health & Addiction Practice with Adult Populations (26-64 years)

This course will provide a comprehensive training related to clinical social work practice with adults (26-64 years) affected by or at risk for significant mental disorders and/or addictions.

Through a practice lens, we'll re-examine the theories, policies and practice models most relevant to this population and their diverse and complex contexts.

In relation to this population, experiential instruction that mirrors and critically reflects on various service settings will teach you how to engage, assess, and develop foundational skills to complete accurate formulations/diagnoses.

Attention will be given to understanding and identifying risk and resilience factors and intervening with those concerns and/or diagnoses most relevant to this population.