S.W. 540 Theory and Practice of Interpersonal Practice		Prof. T. Powell;
Fall, 1999		3796 Social Work Bldg., 1080 S. Univ.
Office Hours: Tues. 5-6:30; Thurs. 4-6 p.m.; and by appointment		Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1106
tpowell@umich.edu		734 763-5930

Text: Hepworth, D. H., Rooney, R. H., & Larsen, J. H. (1997). Direct social work practice: Theory and skills, 5th ed. CA: Brooks Cole. $69.65. Ulrichs, Michigan Union and Michigan Book and Supply

Coursepak is available at Dollar Bill Copying 611 Church St. 665-9200. $13.33

1. Course Description:

 

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant-

Success in Circuit lies

Too bright for our infirm delight

The Truth’s superb surprise

As Lightning to the Children eased

With explanation kind

The Truth must dazzle gradually

Or every man be blind- Emily Dickinson

This course combines theories of human behavior with models of practice methods. It builds on the skills presented in the Foundation Skills course and the theories presented in the foundation HBSE courses. All phases of the IP treatment and prevention process (i.e. engagement, assessment, evaluation, planning, intervention, and termination) are discussed in relation to work with individuals, families and small groups. This course presents various prevention, treatment and rehabilitation models and integrates IP skills with multicultural and social justice issues.

2. Course Content:

The engagement process considers how applicants become clients in social agencies, the barriers that applicants face when seeking help, and the impact this process may have on minority clients and clients’ with special needs. Intake, screening, initial evaluation, and the preliminary contract are discussed. Such skills as reaching out, forming initial relationships, engaging reluctant applicants, acknowledging differences and finding common ground when worker and client are from very different life experiences are covered.

The assessment process will be linked to several theoretical frameworks (e.g. ego psychological/ psychodynamic, psychosocial/problemsolving, task-centered, cognitive-behavioral, ecological/life model and crisis intervention. These theoretical frameworks will be considered in the context of feminist, strengths and empowerment orientations. The strengths and limitations of various classification schemes (e.g., DSM-IV and PIE) will also be discussed. Under the assessment heading, we will also consider the influence race, gender, social class, ethnicity, and sexual orientation have on the intensity of social problems and on the availability and effectiveness of various resources. Lastly, assessment will be considered as input into goal setting and into devising the means by which the extent of goal attainment can be measured.

The planning and decision making phase covers the various criteria and influences that determine which modality (individual, family, group), the duration of service (i.e. crisis, time-limited or open ended), and the particular theoretical orientation that is selected for particular client situations. Empirical evidence, where it is relevant to these decisions, will be presented. However, other considerations such as client choice, NASW code of ethics, agency and funding constraints, and worker expertise will also be considered.

The intervention phase includes the kinds of techniques workers use to form effective contracts and working relationships with various size client systems from various ethnic, racial, and class backgrounds. The emphasis will be on those techniques and procedures that are employed in the initial sessions with individuals, families, and formed groups. Consideration will be given to a wide variety of interventive techniques including preventive and supportive procedures, behavior change procedures, narrative techniques, insight development, psychosocial rehabilitation and education. The process of group formation and composition and the procedures for involving family members in the treatment process will be presented..

The termination process will be introduced and basic issues such as various types of termination and transfers are discussed. Common issues such as transference reactions to termination in both the worker and client, anxieties about the future, and evaluation of progress are presented.

In each of these phases of the treatment process, the impact of race, gender, ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, power and privilege will be considered. Special attention will be given to how these phases of the process can be accomplished while strengthening the client’s own coping style, and empowering the client’s person.

3. Course Objectives:

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

1. Apply different theoretical frameworks ( such as crisis, ecological, developmental, ego-psychological, cognitive-behavioral, and social system) in the assessment of individuals, families, and small groups that takes into consideration the connections between individuals and their social context.

2. Critique the strengths and weakness of various assessment frameworks.

3. Articulate treatment and prevention goals, develop measureable treatment and prevention objectives, and use measurement tools to evaluate practice while maintaining sensitivity to the special needs of clients.

4. Apply criteria for the appropriate choice of modality, duration of service, and theoretical orientation for individuals, families, and small groups while maintaining sensitivity to the client’s gender, race, ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation and special abilities.

5. Conduct initial engagement, assessment, intervention, and preventitive sessions with individuals, families, and small groups.

6. Discuss resources in non-professional systems, such as self-help groups that can be, either simultaneously or subsequently, a complement to, or an alternative to professional services.

7. Manage basic termination tasks pertaining to practice with individuals, families, and small groups.

8. Discuss the impact of race, gender, age, ethnicity, disability, social class, sexual orientation, power and privilege on the treatment process and in terms of the social justice mission of social work.

9. Identify and resolve value dilemmas that arise in interpersonal practice taking guidance from various ethical codes and documents, including the NASW Code of Ethics.

4. Course Design:

This course will ask you to engage in a number of activities including: case discussions, role plays, modeling, in vivo exercises and video demonstrations. Your active participation in the discussions and exercises will enrich your experience in the course.

5. Relationship to Four Curricular Themes:

• Multiculturalism and Social Diversity will be addressed in the various treatment phases from engagement and assessment to termination. The barriers that may emerge when worker and client are from different backgrounds will be discussed as it affects various phases of work with clients. Also to be discussed is how the ability to relate to clients, to understand clients, to intervene in clients lives depends on understanding the client’s racial, cultural, and class context.
• Social Justice and Social Change themes will be addressed in terms of how larger systems affect the development of problems and the agency and community context of practice effect the willingness of clients to seek and receive help. While the focus of the course is on small system change (individual, families, and groups), the links between small and larger environmental systems will be discussed.
• Social Science and Behavioral Research will be incorporated in the discussion of the planning and decision making stages of treatment and also in the intervention phases.
• Promotion/Prevention/Treatment/Rehabilitation interventions will be addressed in this course. The tendency in methods courses is to focus more on treatment and rehabilitation, and less on promotion and prevention. This course will discuss the place of prevention and promotion models in interpersonal practice.

6. Relationship of Course to Social Work Ethics and Values:

Social work values often seem at risk in the face of involuntary clients, managed care and institutional mandates. The apparent conflicts between the rights of individuals, families and members of society often pose dilemmas for the social worker. Sometimes, for example, it seems the right to confidentiality is in conflict with the right to safety and protection. The course will try to come to terms with these values dilemmas and to propose resolutions that will work in various complex practice worlds.

7. Assignments:

There will be three graded assignments. Two short papers on assessment and models of treatment and a final exam. Details on the assignments will be available on a separate handout.

8. Source Materials:

 

Coursepack Contents: SW 540: Theory and Practice of Interpersonal Practice

Comas-Dias, L., & Jacobsen, F. M. (1991). Ethnocultural transference and countertransference in the therapeutic dyad. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 61(3), 392-402.

Laird, J., & Hartman, A. (1994). Woman's Work (Review: On the Shoulders of Women: The Feminization of Psychotherapy by Ilene Philipson). Readings: A Journal of Reviews and Commentary in Mental Health, 9(4), 4-9.

McGoldrick, M. (1996). Irish Families. M. McGoldrick, J. Pearce, J. Giordano, & (eds.) (Eds), Ethnicity and Family therapy, 2nd ed. (pp. ix-xiii, 544-566). New York: Guilford.

Saulnier. C.F. (1994). Twelve steps for everyone? Lesbians and Al-Anon. In T.J. Powell (Ed.), Understanding the self-help organizations: Frameworks and findings (pp. 247-271). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Shernoff, M. (1995). Gay Men: Direct Practice. R. L. Edwards (Ed.-in-Chief), Encyclopedia of Social Work 19th Edition, Vol. 2, 1075-1085 ed., ). Washington, D.C.: NASW Press.

Powell, Thomas J. Self-Help Groups. Edwards, Richard L., Ed.-in-Chief. Encyclopedia of Social Work. 19th Edition, Vol. 1, 2116-2123 ed. Washington, D.C.: NASW Press; 1995.

Pope, S., & et al. (1986). Sexual attraction to clients. American Psychologist, 41(2), 147-158.

Additional Resources not in Coursepack

Basch, M. (1995). Doing Brief Psychotherapy. P.A.: HarperCollins.

Brown, L. S. (1994). Subversive Dialogues : Theory in Feminist Therapy. New York: Basic Books.

Budman, S. H., & Gurman, A. S. (1988). Theory and practice of brief therapy. New York: Guilford Press.

Castillo, R. J. (1997). Culture and Mental Illness: A Client-Centered Approach. Pacific Grove, CA: Intl. Thomson Pub.

Castillo, R. J. (1998). Meanings of Madness. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Clark, A. J. (1998). Defense mechanisms in the counseling process. Thousand Oaks, Aalif.: Sage.

Colon, E. (1996). Program design and planning strategies in the delivery of culturally competent health and mental health servics to Latino communities. The Journal of Multiculural Social Work, (July), 85-95.

Comas-Dias, L., & Greene, L. (1995). Mental Health and Women of Color. New York: Guilford.

Compton, B., & Gallaway, B. (1994). Social Work Processes, 5th ed. CA: Brooks Cole.

Corey, G. F. (1996). Fundamentals of cogitive-behaior therapy. New York: Haworth.

Corey, G., Corey, M. S., Callanan, P., & Russell, J. M. (1992). Group Techniques (2nd edition). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole .

Cournyouer, B. (1996). The Social Work Skills Workbook, 2nd ed. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks Cole.

Cowger, C. D. (1994). Assessing client strengths: Clinical asessment for client empowerment. Social Work, 39, 262-269.

Cushier, K., & Brislin, R. (1996). Intercultural interaction: A practical guide. Sage.

Doherty, W. J. (1998). How Therapists Threaten marriages. A. Etzioni The essential communitarian reader (pp. 157-166). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefiedl Publishers.

Dorfman, R. A. (1996). Clinical social Work: Definition, Practice, and Vision. New York: Bruner/Mazel.

Fadiman, A. (1997). The spirit catches you and you fall down: A Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collison of two cultures. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Freedman, J., & Combs, G. (1996). Narrative Therapy: The social construction of preferred realities. New York: Norton.

Freire, P. (1973). Education for Critical Consciousness. New York: Seabury Press.

French, L. A. (1997). Counseling American Indians. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.

Gambrill, E. (1997). Social work practice: a critical thinker's guide. New York: Oxford University Press.

Garnets, L., Hancock, K., Cochran, S., Goodchilds, J., & Peplau, L. A. (1991). Issues in psychothrapy with Lesbians and Gay men. The American Psychologist, 46(9), 964-972.

Garvin, C., & Seabury, S. (1997). Interpersonal Practice in Social Work: Promoting Competence and Social Justice, 2nd ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Gutierrez, L., Parsons, R. J., & Cox, E. O. (1998). Empowerment in social Work Practice: A Sourcebook. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole.

Ho, M. K. (1987). Family Therapy with ethnic minorities. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Hopps, J., Pinderhughes, E., & Shankar, R. (1995). The power to care: Clinical practice effectiveness iwth overwhelmed clients . New York: Free Press.

Ivanoff, A., Blythe, B. J., & Tripodi, T. (1994). Involuntary clients in social work practice. New York: Aldine DeGruyter.

Ivey, A. E., & Ivey, M. B. (1997). Counseling and Psychotherapy: A Multicultural Perspective. New Jersey: Prentice hall.

Jordan, C., & Franklin, C. (1997). Clinical Assessment for Social Workers: Quantitiative and qualitative mehtods. Chicago: Lyceum.

Kadushin, A., & Kadushin, G. (1997). The social work interview (4th ed). New York: Columbia Univesity Press.

Kagle, J. D. (1991). Social Work Records, 2nd ed. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.

Karls, J. M., & Wandrei, K. E. (1995). PIE (Person-in-Environment). R. Edwards (Ed.), Enclyopedia of Social Work (19th ed.) (pp. 1818-1827). Washington, D.C.: NASW Press.

Karls, J., Lowery, C., Mattaini, M., & Wandrei, K. E. (1997). The use of the PIE (Person-In_Environment) System in Social Work Education. Journal of Social Work Education, 33(1), 49-58.

Kemp, S. (1997). Person-Environment Practice: The Social ecology of interpersonal helping. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

Knight, B. (1996). Psychotherapy with Older Adults, 2nd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Lukas, S. (1993). Where to Start and What to Ask: An Assessment Handbook. New York: W.W. Norton.

Lum, D. (1996). Social Work Practice and People of Color: A process-stage approach, 3rd ed. Pacific Grove, Calif. Brooks/Cole Pub.

MacKenzie, K. R. (1997). Time-managed group psychotherapy: effective clinical applications. Washington, D.C: American Psychiatric Association.

Maki, D. R., & Riggar, T. F. (1997). Rehabilitation counseling: Profession and practice. New York: Springer.

Mattaini, M. A. (1997). Clinical Practice with Individuals. Washington, DC: NASW Press.

Mayo, Y. Q., & Resnick, R. P. (1996). The Impact of machismo on Hispanic Women. AFFILIA, (Fall), 257-277.

McGoldrick, M., Pearce, J., Giordano, J., & (eds.). (1996). Ethnicity and Family therapy, 2nd ed. New York: Guilford.

McWilliams, N. (1994). Psychoanalytic diagnosis: Understanding personality structure in the clinical process. Guilford Press: New York.

Northen, H. (1995). Clinical social work : knowledge and skills, 2nd ed. New York: Columbia University Press.

Rapp, C. A. (1998). Strengths Model: Case management with people suffering from severe and persistent mental illness. New York: Oxford University Press.

Reed, B. G., Newman, P. A., Suarez, Z. E., & Lewis, E. A. (1997). Interpersonal practice beyond diversity and toward social justice: The importance of critical consciousness. C. Garvin, & S. Seabury Interperesonal Practice in Social Work: Promoting Competence and Social Justice, 2nd ed. (pp. 44-78). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Reid, K. E. (1997). Social Work Practice with Groups: A clinical Perspective. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Rivas, R. F., Hull, Jr., & G.H. (1996). Case studies in generalist practice. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Saleebey, D. Ed. (1997). The Strengths Perspective in Social Work Practice, 2nd ed. New York: Longman.

Selekman, M. (1997). Solution-focused therapy with children. New York: Guilford .

Shulman, L. (1992). The skills of helping inividuals, families and groups, 3rd ed.. Itasca, Il: F.E. Peacock.

Singelis, T. (1998). Teaching about culture, ethnicity, and diversity: Exercises and planned activities.

Strom-Gottfired, K. (1999). Social Work Practice: Cases, activities and exercises. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.

Tolson, E., Reid, W., & Garvin, C. (1994). Generalist Practice: A Task-Centered Approach. New York: Columbia

Torres, J. B. (1998). Masculinity and gender roles among Puerto Rican men: Machismo on the U.S. mainland. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 68(1), 16-26.

Turner, F. J. (1996). Social Work Treatment: Interlocking Theoretical Approaches, 4th ed. New York: Fress Press.

VanDenBergh, N. ed. (1995). Feminist Practice in the 21st Century. Washington, D.C.: NASW.

Wells, C. C. (1999). Social work Day to Day: The experience of a generalist social work practice, 3rd ed. New York: Longman.

White, M. (1990). Narrative means to therapeutic ends 1st ed. New York
: Norton.

Woods, M. E., & Hollis, F. (1990). Casework, a psychosocial therapy 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

From Beitman, G.D. The Structure of Individual Psychotherapy. New York: Guilford Press, 1987, 4-5.

1. A Good Relationship An intense, emotionally charged, confiding relationship built on trust is recognized as an essential element of most psychotherapy.

2. Emotional Release In a wide variety of ways, therapists encourage their patients to express and experience pent-up feared feelings. Emotional release may strengthen the therapeutic relationship and may increase the potential for change.

3. Cognitive and Experiential Learning. Therapists teach their clients new information directly through verbal instruction and indirectly through experiment and other opportunities for self-discovery. Therapists may provide situations in which maladaptive beliefs about the self and others may be examined.

Through the strength of the patient's attachment to the therapist, a variety of influencing methods become available. These include positive and negative reinforcement (smiling, compliments, interest in certain topics) and identification with the therapist as a model for a better way to consider oneself.

4. Practice. Built into most therapies is the practice opportunity. Called "working-through" in psychodynamic therapies, the practice phase enhances the patient's sense of mastery over the new learning.

I assume that each viable perspective highlights some portion of psychological reality and that different terms sometimes have overlapping meaning for similar psychological territory. Many psychotherapists seem to have become distracted by their attachment to particular words, and, like people whose cultures are defined by their language, are reluctant to reach compromises with psychotherapists using other words. (Beitman, p. 111)

The generally accepted idea that exposure is the underlying principle governing the treatment of most phobias (Marks, 1976) holds promise for the discovery of other change mechanisms for other problems. The efficacy of drug therapy as well as various psychotherapies in the treatment of depression suggests that there are many ways in which change may be instigated. The suggestion that holding to the manual is more critical than the type of therapy implies that psychotherapy requires a specified focus within a systematic procedure rather than a specific content. Frank (1976) insisted that a common ingredient for all psychotherapies was the therapist's belief in a certain set of techniques and a theory for applying them. Not only does this belief give therapists confidence but it forces them to pursue specific problem areas in specific ways. The human intrapsychic-interpersonal system is in a complex equilibrium. Successful psychotherapy seems to require the introduction of a carefully placed deviation or set of deviations into that system. These changes are then amplified by their effects to achieve a more desired homeostasis. It appears to be less important that therapists introduce one specific deviation than one of a limited range of deviations. (Beitman, p112).