SWO 517 Military Social Work Practice: Therapeutic Interventions within Military Cultural Context
The purpose of this course is to prepare students for specialized social work practice with Service Members, Veterans, and their Families (SMVF). Led by the 2022 CSWE Specialized Practice Guide for Military and Veteran Social Work, students will learn how to engage in practice with military populations, and assess and intervene to address challenges experienced by those who currently serve or have served in the military. This specialized course will introduce students to a variety of well-established clinical modalities and interventions to support and treat SMVF. Students will learn to evaluate and understand effective interventions that social workers utilize to address challenges faced by SMVF (e.g., stressors of deployment, physical fitness, weapons training, permanent change of station and transitions in their military occupational specialty. Treatment topics will include but are not limited to PTSD, suicide, military sexual trauma, moral injury, substance use, and mild traumatic brain injury. Students will learn to apply a wide range of theories and practice models that value cultural responsiveness and the therapeutic relationship (e.g., cognitive behavioral therapy, problem solving model, solution focused therapy, crisis intervention model, and narrative therapy).