SOCW 801 Clinical Practice I (2 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

Clinical Practice I examines the seminal contributions of drive theory and ego psychology to psychodynamic clinical practice.  While much modified and expanded in both theory and practice, the concepts in these early models continue to shape much of clinical psychodynamic practice today.  Indeed, the core ideas of Freud’s drive theory and of the early ego psychological theorists laid down principles that today are so embedded in practice that they often are not recognized as the original ideas they were at their inception.  By following the development of these practice principles from their beginnings, the clinician gain breadth of application in contemporary work. At the same time, the critiques that modify and/or extend these original concepts in new ways to embrace a wider and more complex view of person-in-situation give the clinician solid grounding.  This course addresses both the original conceptualizations and the ways in which new discoveries and expanded socio-political-cultural perspectives have altered applications.

Summer 1 - SSW

SOCW 802 Clinical Practice II (2 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

Building on the Advanced Psychological Theory II course, the Advanced Clinical Practice II course will review and critique differential approaches in treating clients with early developmental impingements and injuries that shape both internal and interpersonal relationships, or object relations. It focuses on the contributions that object relations theory and self-psychology, as articulated by Ferenczi, Balint, Klein, Winnicott, Fairbairn, Kohut, and their followers, have made to treatment theory and technique. We will emphasize the role of the clinician in establishing compensatory reparative therapeutic relationships specifically designed to facilitate development and self-cohesion within a social context and a racial justice/anti-racism perspective. Consideration will be given to the role of intersectionality including issues of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation, ability, age, religion/spirituality, immigration status, and language of origin. Attention is also paid to the influences of trauma and substance use/misuse in clinical social work practice. Complex biopsychosocial-spiritual/structural assessments are introduced to provide a scaffolding for treatment plans, crafted in both agency-based and theoretical-languages. The conscious use of self provides the underpinning for clinical case discussions that address clinical issues and ethical dilemmas regarding effective interventions and enactments. In addition, consideration will be given to research methodology that examines clinical processes.

Summer 2 - SSW

SOCW 805 Intersectionality: Clinical Social Work with Historically Marginalized Populations (2 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

This course examines the formation of an effective working alliance with persons who are members of groups who have experienced oppression resulting from their demographic differences e.g., race, ethnicity, gender, social class and/or sexual orientation among others. Through the analysis of critical race theory and intersectionality, students will come to understand the reasoning for this emphasis. The course begins with an analysis of racism from structural, social, psychological and applied perspectives. The impact of clinical processes (e.g., intersubjectivity, transference and counter-transference, the use of defenses) on the formation of the working alliance with such clients will also be examined. Using case material from their own practice, fellows will have the opportunity to reassess the impact of their clinical interventions with members from these population groups using a variety of perspectives.

Summer 1 - SSW

SOCW 810 Clinical Theories I (2 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

This course explores seminal theories that have informed psychodynamic thinking ever since they were first articulated.  These theories introduced models of inner lives that develop in sequence, encoding patterns of self-experience and of interpersonal relating, across the life span, with earlier internalized experience informing subsequent developmental stages.  The specific contents of each individual’s internal narrative and relational patterns are shaped by earliest intimate relationships, including the way that relationship is shaped by the caretakers’ own narratives, and increasing exposure to wider and wider relational configurations, including how those configurations convey socio-political assumptions and practices.   While this first course is steeped in the language of psychodynamics that is being first expressed in these theories, it does include the beginning shift from the singular deterministic intrapsychic dynamics of drive theory to the more interpersonally and socially determined dynamics of ego psychology.

Summer 1 - SSW

SOCW 811 Clinical Theories II (2 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

This course will explore those psychological theories which help illuminate the inner and interpersonal lives of individuals. Object relations theories serve as a central paradigm in contemporary psychoanalytic theory and practice.  Early beginning in the Hungarian School featuring Ferenczi and Balint followed by the emergence of the Middle School in Great Britain that includes Klein, Winnicott, and Fairbairn. Self psychology emerged at a parallel time in the United States as Kohut developed his influential model focused on the tripolar self as structure with narcissism as a separate line of development. Using object relations theories and self-psychology, students examine how theories are transformed by the internal and external critiques which revise them. These developmental theories are taught in their historical and sociocultural contexts, with attention paid to their strengths and biases especially they relate to populations marginalized by poverty and oppression based on diverse social identities. The following themes are addressed: (1) focus of theory; (2) nature of individual; (3) structural constructs; (4) developmental constructs; (5) nature of resilience, problems and conditions; (6) nature of change (7) treatment goals; (8) treatment principles and interventions; (9) nature of therapeutic relationship/alliance; and (10) applicability with populations served. The influences of postmodernism and social theories are considered on psychoanalytic theorizing.

Summer 2 - SSW

SOCW 820 Introduction to Quantitative Research Methods (3 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

Quantitative research utilizes numerical data to describe a phenomenon, identify patterns or relationships between variables, or make predictions that may be generalized to the larger population.  This course is an introduction to quantitative research methods. Students in this course will develop an understanding of the ethical, theoretical, practical, and social justice issues that inform the development and implementation of a quantitative research study. Discussion of course reading will focus on the choices researchers made when designing a study and their implications for social work policy and practice.

Summer 1 - SSW

SOCW 821 Introduction to Quantitative Data Analysis (3 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

In anticipation of future work using quantitative data, students will learn how to generate and interpret basic descriptive and inferential statistics commonly used in social science research.  For descriptive statistics, concepts to be covered include an understanding of variance, different ways to illustrate how data is distributed (histograms, charts, boxplots, graphs, etc.), correlations, reliability and validity.  To understand inferential statistics, we will review hypothesis testing, probability, and tests of significance (confidence intervals, tests of difference, and analysis of variance).  For optimal learning, students will be acquainted with the various available statistical software programs for analyzing quantitative data and will gain valuable experience working with and managing data.  Course assignments will require students to communicate results of their analyses in writing, through the use of tables and data visualization, understanding and following APA7 reporting guidelines.

Summer 2 - SSW

SOCW 823 Qualitative Research and Inquiry I – Premises and Methods Overview (3 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

What we label as qualitative research is a diverse family of loosely related approaches that vary in purposes, epistemologies or worldviews, and specific methods.  Qualitative research and inquiry may seek to be scientific or not, and may draw on Indigenous or western perspectives of knowledge. It generally aims to understand meaning making and processes among people in specific social groups. This course, the first of a sequence of four courses, will first critically examine what is knowledge and how it is located and linked to cultures.  The importance of self-awareness and reflexivity regarding one’s own culture, biases, and perspectives is emphasized.  The course will then shift to an overview of six types of qualitative research approaches widely found in the social work literature.  The six approaches are 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.  Criteria for assessing the quality of qualitative research are introduced.

Summer 1 - SSW

SOCW 824 Qualitative Research and Inquiry II – Content Analysis and Thematic Analyses (3 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

This second course on qualitative research will begin by examining content analysis in which qualitative coding of existing texts is analyzed using various methods (e.g., statistical, interpretive).  Thematic analysis that applies qualitative coding to a variety of texts, often based on semi-structured interviews is explored.  Issues of deductively shaping research questions, sampling, coding, and writing up results are addressed.  Ethical issues are also identified and examined.  Research quality criteria are critically examined using published reports.

Summer 2 - SSW

SOCW 828 Metaperspectives on Clinical Social Work: Paradigms for Social Work Practice (2 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

This course will examine the construction and production of social work’s professional knowledge base and its implications for clinical social work practice. Various ontological and epistemological perspectives will be presented and examined, to explore how they affect the nature of the clinical social work encounter and treatment process. Relations of power, including domination, subjugation, marginalization and oppression will be explored in relation to, and through, specific epistemologies, to then reflect on clinical social work practice. This course is designed as a seminar course. Students will apply course readings during class discussions to examine how the various conceptual paradigms manifest in their professional work. Brief lectures will be provided to facilitate direct integration of conceptual content; however, the aim of the course is to engage in active discussion, critical analysis and self-reflection.

Summer 2 - SSW

SOCW 830 Clinical Internship in Casework & Research (15 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

The clinical internship affords the opportunity to study and apply advanced practice methods to a range of clients, and to study clinical theories and processes in depth. Ideally, fellows also gain experience in clinical teaching and contribute to theory development.

Winter

SOCW 832 Supervision, Faculty Field Advising and Consultation in Social Work Education (2 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

This course invites SSW doctoral students to consider the roles of the supervisor, consultant, and advisor in Clinical Social Work practice (knowledge, skills, and values) across the continuum of professional development and practice. Fellows will examine their multicultural/intercultural development to appreciate how their competency in this area of development informs their supervisory and clinical relationships. Fellows will be encouraged to consider differential supervisory styles that are theoretically informed by the various psychodynamic perspectives and by the developmental needs of supervisees. Similarities and differences in the expectations of settings where clinical social work teaching and practice occurs, whether academic or agency based will be explored. Discussions and role plays of clinical supervision, faculty academic and field advising and consultation will be a regular part of class interactions to promote greater understanding of educational assessment and evaluation of teaching/learning needs, and the use of self in these contexts.

Summer 2 - SSW

SOCW 836 Neurobiology of Behavior: Essentials for Social Work (2 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

This course will provide an overview of the neurobiology of behaviors that are essential for clinical social work.  It will begin with an examination of the significance of neuroscience to the central concerns of social work. It will offer foundations in basic neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and neurodevelopment. It will apply these foundations to understand psychoactive medications, drugs of abuse, and the neurobiological basis of addiction. The course will then examine the psychobiology of stress and its connection to issues such as racism, income inequality, and both physical and mental health. The second half of the course will consider the important influence of relationships on neurobiological functioning. First, we will learn about how attachment and mentalization shapes the developing nervous system. Finally, we will learn how to leverage our clinical relationships to restore healthy functioning to disordered nervous systems.

Summer 1 - SSW

SOCW 837 Contemporary Trauma Theory and Practice (2 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

This five-week intensive course will cover the basic tenets of trauma theory and its application in clinical settings.   The course will offer a historical and political context for clinical theory and address the developmental lines of current trauma theory.  Integrating research on the physiology of trauma with attachment theory, developmental psychology, and the trauma literature, the course will build an integrated model of trauma treatment with a focus on relational models of treatment.  As part of the relational focus, there will be significant attention paid to the person of the therapist within the therapeutic relationship, especially on the constructs of countertransference and vicarious traumatization.

Summer 1 - SSW

SOCW 843 Relational Theory in Practice: Roots & Emergence of a Dialogue that led to a “Turn” in Psychodynamic (2 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

Relational Theory integrates and further develops many aspects of Object Relations and Interpersonal Traditions, referencing much of Ferenczi’s early writings. This “Relational turn” includes extensive reflection and writing about clinical process and work. The writing and dialogues that began more than forty years ago have evolved into new ways of thinking about the clinical dyad, the nature of therapeutic action and the importance of cultural and social forces to personal, interpersonal and clinical dynamics.

Summer 2 - SSW

SOCW 847 Qualitative Research and Inquiry III – Grounded Theory, Participatory Action Research and Mixed Methods Research (3 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

This third course in qualitative research first examines grounded theory, an inductive approach to describing populations and developing new concepts and theory.  Shaping research questions where participants are assumed to be more knowledgeable than is the researcher, three purposefully iterative forms of sampling, three iterative methods of data analysis and writing up results are each explored.  Ethical issues and challenges are identified and examined.  Second, participatory action research (PAR) is examined.  PAR seeks to empower participants in generating research questions and methods to best meet local knowledge needs.  PAR applies aspects of other qualitative approaches and methods, all shaped to engage and empower local participants.  Ethical issues are identified and examined, along with the challenges for researchers who must share key choices with participants.  Research quality criteria are critically examined using published reports and different settings.

Summer 1 - SSW

SOCW 848 Qualitative Inquiry: Photovoice, Autoethnography and Performance Inquiry (3 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

This fourth course in qualitative research first examines qualitative research synthesis – methods to combine the findings of multiple studies to expand their reach and impact. Next, qualitative inquiry – which may or may not seek to be scientific – is addressed. Emphasis is on immediacy, verisimilitude, and reporting personal experiences in their social contexts. Photovoice, which links qualitative inquiry and PAR, puts cameras in the hands of participants who document their own lives and add short captions. The idea is to give voice and to empower participants, and to share their often unknown experiences with the public. Aesthetic and persuasive aspects matter more the ‘science’ or ‘objectivity’.  Autoethnography seeks to present one’s inner life directly – writing about the self – but always located in social context. Again, literary and aesthetic concerns may be more important to effective and persuasive work than is method.  Performance inquiry is a general term for reports that expand how we share our own lives – often to emphasize both our differences and our shared needs and attributes.  Performances may be in text, or embodied and enacted. Methods to affirm diverse voices are detailed. Ethical issues are identified and examined, along with the challenges for researchers. Inquiry/research quality criteria are critically examined using published reports.

Summer 2 - SSW

SOCW 852 The “Relational Turn” in Psychoanalysis: Emergence & Evolving Concepts in Social & Cultural Context (2 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

This course will explore the origins, emergence and developments of Relational Theory and practice, including its key concepts and their implications for clinical work in social and cultural context(s).  We will begin with an overview of the emergence of contemporary Relational Theory and its antecedents in Object Relations and Interpersonal Theories (Ferenczi, Klein, Fairbairn, Winnicott, Sullivan). We will then consider early papers and ideas that were written in the 80’s and 90’s, contributing to a shift in the conceptualization of the clinical dyad and a different perspective on clinical work.  With these origins of Relational constructs as a base, we will step back and reflect on the larger context of philosophical and social thinking in which this dialogue of ideas has emerged (e.g., social constructivism and new views on the self in relational and embedded in social context, feminism and more). These changes in our philosophical and social understandings, as well as social actions and movements, have shaped Relational Theory as it continues to evolve.  The core constructs of contemporary Relational theory will be explored, including: new ways of viewing transference and countertransference, mutuality and asymmetry in the clinical dyad, understandings of enactment and emergent experience, the analyst’s use of self, disclosure and restraint, possibilities for considering the self as multiple, shifting ideas about therapeutic action and change, as well as reflections on work with trauma from a Relational perspective. We will discuss how these and other constructs have evolved in dialogues between voices in what is now a Relational tradition. While the importance of our social embeddedness and the consideration of difference in clinical work will be discussed throughout our study of Relational theory and practice, several sessions will focus on the space that has opened for writing and dialogue that deconstructs and focuses on gender, race, class, intersectionality and social justice in both work with individuals and in our larger social worlds.  We will conclude with readings and discussion of recent critiques of Relational theory and practice, keeping an open mind and posing questions about what’s next or how the work and ideas can continue to evolve.

Summer 2 - SSW

SOCW 855 Health Disparities:  Policies and Their Impact on Practice (2 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

Health and behavioral health disparities are a difference in outcomes between populations.  The social determinants of health constitute the social and structural factors that drive the health status of individuals and communities.  Social determinants such as structural racism and economic inequality have a documented relationship to health disparities.  This course will prepare leaders in clinical social work practice to begin to address inequities in health and behavioral health care.  Students will first explore how health disparities are defined and measured.  They will examine conceptual frameworks that identify factors contributing to health and behavioral health disparities in the clinical context.  The course will then explore structural interventions designed to ameliorate such disparities, centering those that have been designed and implemented by communities of color. Finally, students will be asked to identify a disparity in their own clinical context and propose a structural intervention to address it.

Summer 1 - SSW

SOCW 857 Research Focused Seminar I (2 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

This seminar will provide dedicated time to work on the written comprehensive exam. This process will entail regular meetings with the seminar instructor as well as with the faculty advisor to develop the topic and structure of the comprehensive exam. Students will be expected to gather during the first and final weeks of the term in a seminar style to present their topics and progress.

Summer 2 - SSW

SOCW 858 Intermediate Quantitative Data Analysis I (3 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

The primary goals of this course are to develop a solid understanding of generalized linear regression models and how to apply them for social work research. The course builds on an introductory level of statistical knowledge (correlation, bivariate tests of group differences) and extends this knowledge into a simple linear regression model framework including evaluating assumptions of regression models. The latter part of the term extends to multivariable regression models, including confounding, moderators and interaction terms. A focus throughout will be on communicating the regression results in writing, tables, and data visualization and in APA style. There will be regular application of these concepts with real social work data using statistical software, including principles of data cleaning and documentation.

Summer 1 - SSW

SOCW 859 Intermediate Quantitative Data Analysis II (3 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

The primary goals of this course are to extend the generalized model to non-linear relationships. The course will investigate transformations of independent and dependent variables, including the logistic transformation. Binary and categorical dependent variables will be modeled with simple and multiple logistic regression; students will develop understanding of odds, odds ratios, and probabilities and how to interpret each. A focus throughout will be on communicating the regression results in writing, tables, and data visualization and in APA style. There will be regular application of these concepts with real social work data using statistical software, including principles of data cleaning and documentation.

Summer 2 - SSW

SOCW 860 Clinical Internship in Casework & Research (15 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

The clinical internship affords the opportunity to study and apply advanced practice methods to a range of clients, and to study clinical theories and processes in depth. Ideally, fellows also gain experience in clinical teaching and contribute to theory development.

Winter

SOCW 864 Perspectives on Teaching & Learning in Social Work Education (2 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

While this seminar is a unique course, it is both a companion to and extension of SSW 873. In 873, students examined the current context of social work education and explored pedagogical theories, practices and strategies with an emphasis on clinical teaching and learning.  In this course, students will have the opportunity to reflect individually and collectively on key aspects of their own pedagogical practice while teaching a course in the MSW program and meeting regularly with a teaching mentor.  Course content includes: thoughtful consideration of how to open a course to set an identified tone and establish desired expectations for an equitable learning community; examination of the role of power, race and racism in the classroom;  review of lesson planning with an eye toward strong learning objectives and engagement strategies; giving and receiving high quality feedback; navigating boundaries and teaching dilemmas in the classroom and continuing to develop one’s evolving teaching identity.  There are three assignments in this course – details described in the Assignments section below.

Summer 2 - SSW

SOCW 865 Senior Seminar in Clinical Social Work Theory and Practice: Uses of Self in Intersubjective Practice (2 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

This practice seminar examines contemporary issues in clinical social work practice by considering dilemmas faced by advanced clinical practitioners and scholars. Topics addressed during case presentations will include an intersubjective perspective on: 1) trauma and vicarious traumatization; 2) race, ethnicity and gender; the establishment and maintenance of boundaries and the impact of boundary violations; 3) becoming aware of, using and learning from enactments; research on practice; and, managed care and its management.

Summer 1 - SSW

SOCW 867 Research Focused Seminar II (2 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

This seminar will provide dedicated time to develop the dissertation proposal. This process will entail regular meetings with the seminar instructor and faculty advisor to develop the topic and structure of the dissertation proposal. By the end of this seminar, students should each have a topic, a conceptual framework, and an idea for a research plan / data source. Students will be expected to gather during the first and final weeks of the term in a proseminar style to present their topics and progress.

Summer 1 - SSW

SOCW 868 The Science of Clinical Practice for Social Workers (2 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

This seminar provides social work graduate students with ample grounding in the nature, history, evolution, and current status of the adult clinical intervention field from empirical, theoretical, and practice-based perspectives. As the title indicates, the seminar will emphasize science-informed clinical practices and principles of therapeutic change, with a review of research on, and controversies about, empirically supported treatments, evidence-based practice, and practice-based evidence. In doing so, prominent clinical research methods will be highlighted. The seminar will also address issues related to the dissemination of and training on effective therapeutic practices, and it will infuse ethical, social justice, and multicultural considerations related to clinical intervention.

Summer 1 - SSW

SOCW 870 Dissertation Design Seminar (2 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

This seminar acquaints students with the characteristics of dissertation research through assigned readings, review of dissertation proposals, and dissertation presentations.  Conceptual and methodological issues encountered in developing research projects are explored.  Specifics of planning and completing a dissertation are addressed.  Students will also examine their evolution as scholars through the dissertation process.  This seminar fosters individual progress toward developing a dissertation proposal by providing individual consultation, peer review, and discussion of the design efforts of each class member.The course goals will be achieved through course readings, seminar discussions, presentations of completed dissertations, student group presentations of previously accepted dissertation proposals, and student presentations of individual dissertation proposals.

Summer 1 - SSW

SOCW 873 Perspectives of Social Work Education: Focus on Andragogy (2 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

In this seminar, students will have opportunities to examine some of the issues involved in teaching theory and practice to social work students and professional social workers. Course materials cover a range of topics including perspectives on the setting in which teaching occurs, trauma informed education, teaching diverse groups, critically reflective teaching, theories of adult learning, supporting learning differences, universal design for learners, curriculum design, and anti-oppression pedagogy. Students will reflect upon the course content and their own teaching style to develop a philosophy of teaching.

Summer 1 - SSW

SOCW 877 Research Focused Seminar III (2 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

This seminar will provide dedicated time to develop the dissertation proposal. This process will entail regular meetings with the seminar instructor and faculty advisor to develop the topic and structure of the dissertation proposal. By the end of this seminar, students should each have a more written background of their topic and framework, a developed set of research questions and hypotheses, and a detailed plan for data collection and analysis. This should culminate in a concisely written and well-argued draft of a dissertation proposal (~10 pages in length) and a slide deck for a 15 minute presentation of the proposal. Students will be expected to gather during the first and final weeks of the term in a proseminar style to present their topics and progress.

Summer 2 - SSW

SOCW 878 Capstone Course: Integrating Psychoanalytic Theory, Research and Clinical Practice (2 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

This course will focus on the integration of psychoanalytic theory, research, and practice within a socio historical context. The course addresses the paradigm shift in psychoanalytic theory and practice from Freud’s metapsychology to contemporary clinical work. Attention is given to understanding the complex use of self in clinical practice with diverse clients. Students will critically examine the way in which intersectional identities are subjectively and relationally experienced in the world, including the ways in which clinicians and clients unconsciously enact interlocking oppressions. The course will also address the prevailing assumptions about power, privilege and various forms of oppression in the theories that underlie our practice as well as the benefits and limits of evidence-based research when working with psychoanalytic constructs such as subjectivity and intersectionality.

Summer 2 - SSW

SOCW 879 Advanced Quantitative Data Analysis (3 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

Eligibility: PhD Students

This course is the final in the four-course quantitative analysis sequence and will continue to build and refine quantitative analytical thinking, computational skills, and communication expertise commonly used in clinical social work research. This course in particular will introduce students to more advanced quantitative approaches common in clinical social work research that build from but extend students’ repertoire beyond linear and logistic regression models.The primary goals of this course are to understand how to employ regression models with either more complicated data structures or more complicated research questions where generalized linear models are no longer sufficient. The course builds on the introductory and intermediate level of statistical knowledge and extends this knowledge to scenarios where the assumptions of generalized linear models are violated (e.g., dyadic data on couples or provider-client where the individuals in the data are no longer independent of each other) or when the goal is to assess more complex relationships between variables are of interest (e.g., whether a third variable mediates, or explains part of, the relationship between a dependent and independent variable). These statistical models are common in applied social work research, particularly to investigate complex family systems, interdependencies between couples/dyads, to test theories that articulate how multi-step processes where one thing leads to another (and another).  Similar to previous courses, a focus throughout will be on communicating the regression results in writing, tables, and data visualization and in APA style. There will also be regular application of these concepts with real social work data using statistical software, including principles of data cleaning and documentation.

Summer 2 - SSW

SOCW 890 Research Internship (2 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

The research internship is a half-day 32-week internship. Research advisers works closely with students to develop and implement the research internship.Students can choose from three options:Affiliate with an ongoing funded research project relevant to social work. Collaborate with a Smith College School for Social Work faculty member on the faculty member's existing research project. Propose a student-generated project to be supervised by a qualified faculty member. A written proposal of the intended research internship and a written summary and reflection of its outcome are both required components of the successful completion of this requirement.

Summer 1 - SSW, Summer 2 - SSW, Winter

SOCW 899 Dissertation (4 Quarter Hours)

Coordinating Sequence: School for Social Work Doctoral

The dissertation is a required independent scholarly research project in which students must examine a topic relevant to clinical social work. By completing the dissertation, each fellow demonstrates the capacity to contribute to the development and dissemination of knowledge for the profession. The dissertation is the hallmark of all doctoral-level study and represents the achievement of a high level of professional performance as a practitioner/researcher. Students are expected to work closely with their dissertation committee chair and members to complete this project.

Summer 1 - SSW, Summer 2 - SSW, Winter