Discussion 1: Family Assessment The first step in helping a client is conducting a thorough assessment. The clinical social worker must explore multiple perspectives in order to develop a complete understanding of the situation. From this understanding, the social worker is able to recognize the client’s strengths and develop effective strategies for change.    …

Week 2: Assessment of Families Understanding a client’s family history and background is one of the first steps in assessment. Having a thorough knowledge of the assessment tools and strategies available enhances a clinical social worker’s practice. Using theory to assess all levels of a situation enables the clinical social worker to develop the most…

Discussion 2: Family Theory Murray Bowen is one of the most respected family theorists in the field of family therapy. Bowen views the family unit as complex and believes it is important to understand the interactions among the members in order to solve problems. Satir and Minuchin also advanced family therapy with their concepts and…

Week 1: Family Theories Understanding family systems and the complex interactions among the members is extremely valuable to a clinical social worker. Throughout clinical practice, the social worker works with families in some capacity. Family theories help guide the social worker in practice. Many family theories exist from which to choose, and most of them…

Week 11: Personality Disorders With personality disorders, the symptoms are woven familiarly (and often comfortably identified as ego syntonic) into a person’s overall sense of themselves, usually appearing in late adolescence. One of the key differences in diagnosis, then, is that instead of considering illness within a short-term period (of a year or less), social…

Discussion: Treatment of Substance Use Disorders   Of the substance disorders, alcohol-related disorders are the most prevalent even though only a small percentage of individuals actually receive help. Recidivism in the substance treatment world is also very high. As research into treatment has developed, more and more evidence shows that genes for alcohol-metabolizing enzymes can…

Discussion 2: Trauma and Comorbidity It is not uncommon for people who experience trauma to use substances to moderate psychological or emotional pain. Trauma can easily add to the strain that people already feel. In this Discussion, you diagnose and plan treatment for the case of Bae.   To prepare: Review the Learning Resources on…

Week 9: Trauma and Stress-Related Disorders   Trauma from war and from other types of disasters and everyday life events are grouped together in the DSM-5 as trauma and stressor-related disorders. It is important to remember that trauma responses can take many other diagnostic forms besides the well-known posttraumatic stress disorder. Such responses include, but…

Week 8: Feeding and Eating Disorders, Somatic Symptom Disorders, and Other Related Disorders Both eating disorders and somatic symptom disorders involve a mind-body relationship. However, those living with somatic disorders tend to be highly sensitized to their body experiences in a different way than those with eating disorders. While eating disorders can cause individuals to…

Discussion: The Complexity of Eating Disorder Recovery in the Digital Age Through this week’s Learning Resources, you become aware not only of the prevalence of factors involved in the treatment of eating disorders, but also the societal, medical, and cultural influences that help individuals develop and sustain the unhealthy behaviors related to an eating disorder.…