SCWK 8820 Trauma Informed Psychosocial Interventions

Elective This course provides a foundation for understanding and implementing mental health and psychosocial perspectives in adverse and systemically under-resourced contexts, and among culturally diverse populations in the United States and abroad. The interventions explored are grounded in a trauma-informed framework and designed for an array of settings such as immigrant detention, juvenile justice settings, child welfare, and places and populations affected by community violence, forced and irregular migration, and conflict. Frameworks and policy interventions that strengthen community resilience are integrated throughout. Throughout the course, consideration is given to how clinical and macro perspectives inform psychosocial interventions that are supported by current and emerging research evidence. The psychosocial interventions explored are relevant for both domestic and global practice, aligned with international standards and guidelines for psychosocial and mental health work in humanitarian settings. These standards include the Interagency Standing Committee (IASC) guidelines as well as those of WHO, UNHCR, UNICEF and SAMHSA. The course uses a biopsychosocial approach to understand how interventions improve outcomes at the individual, family, and community levels.