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Fellowship Curriculum

At-A-Glance

Year 1

Months 1-6: Interns will begin their training in the areas noted below. Since a lot of clinical practices have been based on Eurocentric, western, colonial knowledge systems, fellows will critically evaluate and find ways to responsibly apply clinical skills from racial and social justice perspectives.

  • NASW Code of Ethics

  • Interviewing skills for relationship building

  • Case formulation

  • Diagnostic assessment and report writing

  • Treatment plan development and SMART goal setting

  • Crisis intervention

  • Ethics of care

  • Cultural competency considerations

  • Clinical case management

  • Understanding the DSM

  • Differential diagnosis

  • Opening phase therapeutic work

Months 6-12: During this time, the focus is on middle-phase work, and fellows will examine various intervention models for working with individuals and families. While they will delve deeply into several traditional intervention models such as psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and three-stage trauma models, the training will also involve fellows in critically assessing the effectiveness and limitations of these models. The goal is to prioritize practice decisions based on the needs and perspectives of clients from culturally diverse communities.

Year 2:

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Months 12-24: Fellows will begin an intense study of clinical content largely absent from social work graduate programs. This includes developmental models of the mind, cultural identity development and racial socialization, and the most recent developments in developmental psychology literature, and termination stages of practice. Keys discussions will include:

  • Liberation Psychology and Oppression Trauma

  • Listening for Defenses

  • Working with Resistance

  • Use of the Therapist’s Self

  • Forms of Transference

  • Forms of Countertransference

  • Understanding Enactments

Year 3 

Months 24-Licensure: In this final year, fellows will focus on developing logistical skills to envision their independent practices. The following topics will be explored and discussed:

  • Understanding Legal and Regulatory Requirements

  • Basics of Completing State and Federal Forms

  • Basics of Completing Tax Forms

  • Basics of Insurance Paneling and Credentialing

  • Creating Essential Practice Documents

  • Marketing Your Practice

  • Basics in Billing and Coding for Clinical Social Workers

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