(45 credit hours; 60 credit hours for Advanced Standing students)
The concentration year prepares you for either:
- advanced clinical practice with individuals, couples, families and small groups, or
- advanced community practice in administration, community development and organizing, and policy analysis and advocacy.
Within either of these two concentrations, you'll choose a specific track or area of specialization.
Concentration year students typically attend class and supervised field instruction at the same time. Your field internship will focus on the professional skills you will need for advanced social work practice within the concentration and track you have chosen.
Clinical practice
Clinical social work practice seeks to liberate, support and enhance people's capacities and strengths, as well as increase the responsiveness of physical and social environments in meeting people's needs. Clinical social workers develop partnerships with vulnerable and "at-risk" populations, working as service providers, therapists and advocates to empower those who are oppressed, exploited or harmed by social and economic systems.
Clinical social work uses a variety of methods including intake and assessment, marital and couples counseling, family therapy, individual psychotherapy, social work with groups, crisis intervention, environmental interventions, discharge planning, referral and linkage to community resources, and case management.
Within the Clinical Practice Concentration, you'll choose from one of four tracks, or areas of specialization. These include:
- the Adulthood and Late Life Challenges Track
- the Child Welfare Track
- the Families Track
- the High-Risk Youth Track
Community practice
Community social work practice seeks to meet people's needs through social change at the community, organizational, societal and global levels. Community practitioners work with the communities of people adversely affected by social and economic systems, believing this is the best way to solve community problems and create community well-being.
The principal skill of community practice is leadership, and community practitioners must find their most effective leadership style. Community practice includes community social work (planning, community organizing), organizational social work (administration, program development, organization development), societal social work (politics, social movements, social policy development and advocacy) and international social work (social development, nongovernmental organization development).
The Community Practice Concentration currently has one track, the Leadership for Community and Organizational Practice Track.
Certificate programs
Regardless of which concentration and practice track you choose, you may further customize your social work education by enrolling in one of our four certificate programs:
- Animal-Assisted Social Work
- Couples and Family Therapy
- Social Work with Latinos/as
- Interpersonal Trauma Studies
Concentration year schedule
Most concentration year students attend classes on Mondays and Tuesdays, with a field internship of 20-24 hours per week on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Some electives also may be available on weekends during your concentration year. However, you should plan to take your required courses during the week.
