Clinical Practice with Children

SSW CP 794

This course focuses on differential assessment and treatment of children and adolescents. It emphasizes activation of an affective therapeutic relationship with children and adolescents, with special attention to transference and countertransference, the distinction between narrative truth and historic truth, and special treatment concerns when working with severely traumatized or mentally ill children and adolescents. Students learn to differentiate between functional, organic, developmental, behavioral, and ethno-cultural factors in assessment of children and adolescents. Specialized treatment techniques include dramatization, metaphorical communication, and various forms of therapeutic play.