Graduate Courses
SOWK 637: Neurodevelopment and Trauma
Prerequisites
Completion of all 500 level courses with the exception of SOWK 506 and SOWK 509. A current or past internship involving direct work with at least one client who has experienced developmental trauma.
Description
This course is an advanced concentration year practice elective focused on assessing the neurodevelopmental impact of trauma and selecting interventions consistent with this assessment. Students will learn to identify major regions of the brain, appreciate the sequential nature of brain development, and determine which areas of the brain have likely been affected by developmental trauma. Consistent with a neurosequential understanding of development, students will be taught to recognize which interventions involve specific brain regions in order to assist them in choosing those most likely to promote growth in areas of the brain impacted by trauma. This assessment and intervention process occurs within the frameworks of systems and attachment theories, which recognize that the relational environments and communities in which clients live must be adequately safe and supportive for any intervention to be effective. This course is a hybrid course, incorporating recorded material supplied by The Child Trauma Academy. By the end of the course, students will have completed the majority of the requirements for Phase I Certification in the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics. Because of this, the reading and out-of-class workload for this course is heavier than usual.
Outcomes
Students will be taught to recognize which interventions involve specific brain regions in order to assist them in choosing those most likely to promote growth in areas of the brain impacted by trauma.
