Post-Graduate Certificate in Advanced Clinical Practice for Children, Youth, and Families (CYF)
For the experienced clinician, the Certificate in Advanced Clinical Practice for Children, Youth, and Families provides a deep exploration of the cutting-edge theoretical perspectives of attachment, trauma informed care, and neuroscience, as they relate to the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of these groups. In addition, participants select three electives in evidence-based treatment modalities and two electives in treatment focuses for children, youth, and families to gain advanced knowledge and deepen their practice in their particular area of expertise.
Target Audience: Intended for the experienced clinician.
Each course is 6 hours in length, offered in one full-day session, and offers 6 CEUs for students who complete the entire course. Qualified students may complete the courses in any order they choose, and may take any course(s) without committing to completing the certificate.
To receive the certificate, students must complete the 3 required courses and 5 electives within 3 years.
Theoretical Perspectives (3 required)
1. Attachment Theory (Course CORE-1)
2. Trauma Informed Care (Course CORE-2)
3. Neuroscience (Course CORE-3)
Children, Youth, and Families Treatment Modalities (choose 3)
1. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Children, Youth, and Families (Course CYF-TM1)
2. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Skills for Children, Youth, & Families (Course CYF-TM2)
3. Motivational Interviewing for Children, Youth, and Families (Course CYF-TM3)
4. Narrative Therapy for Children, Youth, and Families (Course CYF-TM4)
5. Family Therapy for Children, Youth, and Families (Course CYF-TM5)
6. Play Therapy for Children, Youth, and Families (Course CYF-TM6)
Children, Youth, and Families Treatment Focuses (choose 2)
1. Sexuality and Gender for Children, Youth, and Families (Course CYF-TF1)
2. Substance Use Disorders for Children, Youth, and Families (Course CYF-TF2)
3. Suicide Prevention for Children, Youth, and Families (Course CYF-TF3)
4. Trauma and Interpersonal Violence for Children, Youth, and Families (Course CYF-TF4)
5. Neurodevelopmental Disorders for Children, Youth, and Families (Course CYF-TF5)
CYF
Certificate Information
To receive a certificate, students must complete the three core courses and five electives (three Treatment Modality courses and two Treatment Focus courses), for a total of eight courses. Each certificate program offers 14 course options. The core courses are the same for both certificate programs. A student who completes the core courses for one certificate program need not retake them to complete the other certificate program.
Each core course will be offered at least once per year. In addition, several Treatment Modalities and Treatment Focuses electives for each certificate program will be offered each semester. Students may take up to 3 years to complete the certificate.
Full-day courses will run from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with an hour lunch break from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
Spring 2024
Social Work Certificate Courses in
Advanced Clinical Practice - Online
Fridays, 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. ET
Registration deadline: Course registration will close on Tuesdays at midnight prior to the start date of each course
- Online participants are required to have a computer with video and audio capability.
- Participants must create a Zoom account in advance according to Boston College security requirements.
- All programs offered online via Zoom will be delivered live and will not be recorded unless stated otherwise.
- These programs have a maximum capacity to allow for participant engagement. Register early to avoid disappointment!
Register
Online via Zoom • 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (lunch break 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
Instructor: Daniel Morehead, MD
Neuroscience
Neuroscience constitutes an exciting though vast and disorienting field. This course will synthesize information from primary neuroscience into a coherent and usable form for clinical social work, human social life, and everyday life. We will review brain structure and function, then discuss illuminating aspects of brain science in human development, adversity, resilience, and health. Finally, we will connect specific mental health disorders and treatments to neuropathology, as well as social challenges and inequities. Throughout the course, we will emphasize the brain as one aspect of human nature, a level of dynamic organization that both reflects and influences social and psychological experience, and ultimately cannot be separated from them. No prior knowledge of neuroscience is required, and the class format will be interactive.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will learn brain anatomy and function for the purposes of understanding relevant clinical literature and neuroscience-based theories.
- Participants will learn the neuroscience and physiology of normal stress and its relation to the development of mental illness.
- Participants will learn the neuroscience of fear and trauma, including the developmental consequences of early life adversity.
- Participants will explore the neuroscience of major depression, PTSD, anxiety, and their treatment.
- Participants will be exposed to the complex and mutual interactions between biological, psychological, and social factors in mental health.
Online via Zoom • 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (lunch break 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
Instructor: Sara Rodrigues, DSW, LICSW and Cayla DiSano, LICSW
Sexuality and Gender Across the Lifespan
Gender and sexuality are multidimensional facets of the human experience that intersect with each other throughout the lifespan. Debates such as nature vs. nurture and the influence of biology vs. social constructs are often invoked while discussing gender and sexuality and how they both evolve over time. In this course, participants will learn how to define human sexuality and gender, explore how both expand in each life stage, and how familial, social, cultural, and psychological factors impact personal and social development.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will explore the social construct origins of both gender and sexuality and how they have evolved over the past century.
- Participants will explore the theoretical underpinnings of gender and sexuality development across the lifespan through psychological, humanistic, and biological lenses.
- Participants will identify the biological and social constructs of gender and sexuality through intersecting identities of race, ethnicity, class, religion, age, disability, spirituality, nationality/citizenship, and other critical variables.
- Participants will explore gender and sexuality development in the context of neurocognitive variances.
- Participants will identify and discuss the implications of a deeper understanding of gender and sexuality in both clinical and macro social work practice.
Online via Zoom • 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (lunch break 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
Instructor: Zane FitzGerald, MSW, LICSW
Trauma and Interpersonal Violence for Children, Youth, and Families
Trauma and traumatic stress stem from a diverse array of experiences, affect individuals in various ways, and often occur in the context of relationships. As such, trauma and traumatic stress resulting from interpersonal violence can be particularly impactful. This course will examine various types of interpersonal violence including war, terrorism and civil unrest, community violence, school violence, and violence in the home (including domestic violence, physical abuse, and sexual abuse). Participants will develop an in-depth understanding of the impact of interpersonal violence on children, youth, and families, and explore intervention and support strategies to promote hope, healing, and resilience. Materials will be presented through lecture, audio and visual vignettes, group activities, and discussion.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will explore the impact of traumatic stress inflicted on individuals by others.
- Participants will explore various forms of interpersonal violence.
- Participants will engage in a variety of intervention strategies.
Online via Zoom • 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (lunch break 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
Instructor: Kenna Sullivan, LICSW
Suicide Prevention for Adults
This course seeks to address the psychological, health, and mental health factors that contribute to suicide in adults and older adults. We will review the history of suicide in the U.S. and globally, and the multi-dimensional aspects of suicide including biological, psychological, intrapsychic, interpersonal, sociological, cultural, and philosophical/existential elements in the suicide event. We will identify and examine risk factors as well as treatment interventions for suicide in adults. In addition, the course will examine suicide trends among many diverse high risk groups, as well as best practices in dealing with the suicidal and the bereaved.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will learn the impact of suicide in the US and internationally and current statistics regarding suicide.
- Participants will identify common myths about suicide and three high risk factors for suicide.
- Participants will name three suicide assessment tools in determining suicide.
- Participants will identify a treatment strategy for a person at risk for suicide.
- Participants will list two methods/programs for suicide prevention.
- Participants will name two strategies for burnout prevention for clinicians engaged in suicide assessment and prevention work.
Adult
Advanced Clinical Practice for Adults - Treatment Focus Elective
Course Fee: $150
CEUs: 6
Online via Zoom • 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (lunch break 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
Instructor: Kelsey Taylor, MS, LMHC
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Children, Youth, and Families
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps children explore their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and how they are interconnected. CBT is used in the treatment of depression, anxiety, and trauma in children and adolescents. This course provides an orientation and overview of CBT. Learn practical skills for individual, group, and family therapy. Explore interventions focused on problem solving, cognitive restructuring, self-regulation, affect identification, and relaxation. Through case studies, interactive discussions, role-plays, and worksheets, you will take away practical CBT strategies to use immediately with any client.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will learn to define Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
- Participants will learn to recognize the Cognitive Triangle and Thinking Errors/Cognitive Distortions.
- Participants will identify interventions to target feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.
- Participants will identify problem solving techniques.
- Participants will practice skills for relaxation.
CYF
Advanced Clinical Practice for CYF - Treatment Modality Elective
Course Fee: $150
CEUs: 6
Online via Zoom • 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (lunch break 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
Instructor: Julia Rydin, LCSW
Psychodynamic Therapy for Adults
Psychodynamic psychotherapy is an empirically validated form of treatment that produces lasting change via a collaborative effort between client and therapist. Psychodynamic therapy is a highly developed model that not only recognizes external and visible symptomatic manifestations of one’s struggles but also the often unconscious forces behind various behavioral and interpersonal patterns. Originally derived from Freud’s psychoanalysis, the psychodynamic model offers a contemporary perspective resulting from decades of subsequent growth and development with theoretical and clinical contributions from ego psychology, object relations, self-psychology, attachment theory, and relational theory. This course will review some fundamental assumptions of the psychodynamic approach, familiarize participants with the work of a few of the key contributors, and apply theory to clinical situations that arise in a variety of social work settings.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will be able to describe fundamental concepts from Drive Theory, Object Relations Theory, Self Psychology, and Relational Theory that underlie contemporary practice of psychodynamic psychotherapy.
- Participants will be able to articulate how dynamic factors interact with biological predispositions and societal forces to inform their understanding of individuals’ clinical presentation.
- Participants will be able to identify a set of clinical techniques utilized in psychodynamic therapy to promote formation of insight, development of agency, and greater integration within a relational context.
Adult
Advanced Clinical Practice for Adults - Treatment Modality Elective
Course Fee: $150
CEUs: 6
Online via Zoom • 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (lunch break 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
Instructor: Chitra Gopalan, LMHC
Motivational Interviewing for Children, Youth, and Families
Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an evidence-based practice that is broadly used by practitioners. This approach can be used with clients with a variety of mental health, substance use, or physical health disorders. MI interventions involve empathically collaborating with the client to enhance intrinsic motivation for change while understanding, addressing, and resolving ambivalence. This course will review the fundamental principles of MI, highlight the techniques for facilitating change that are associated with this approach, and consider how to most effectively employ MI skills in working with children and their caregivers. The Transtheoretical Model of Change will also be reviewed, as will MI interventions that guide progress through the stage of change. This course includes multiple opportunities to practice skills and techniques that are reviewed, heavily incorporating practice exercises for participants to complete in breakout rooms.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will be able to define motivational interviewing (MI).
- Participants will be able to describe the spirit and the principles of MI.
- Participants will identify the Stages of Change.
- Participants will recognize and elicit change talk in clients.
- Participants will identify MI core skills and tools.
CYF
Advanced Clinical Practice for CYF - Treatment Modality Elective
Course Fee: $150
CEUs: 6
Online via Zoom • 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (lunch break 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
Instructor: Zane FitzGerald, MSW, LICSW
Attachment Theory
Understanding attachment, both practically and theoretically, is critical to understanding development, relationships, and interactions in the social environment. Caregiving systems are the foundation for healthy development. Secure attachment allows for safe exploration of the world; provides a healthy model of self and others; teaches how to communicate and how to read others; teaches to understand, tolerate, and cope with emotional experiences; and provides structure and limits. When attachment systems are challenged or disrupted, the impact on development throughout the lifespan can be significant. This training offers an overview of the critical importance of attachment, discussion of theory, and exploration of practical application of concepts, utilizing a dynamic and multimedia approach.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will review and explore several theories of attachment and development and weigh the pros and cons of each.
- Participants will explore early childhood attachment systems and the impact on development and adult relationships.
- Participants will explore their own experiences in personal and professional settings of attachment styles on interpersonal interaction and relationships.
Online via Zoom • 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (lunch break 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
Instructor: Kristan Bagley-Jones, MSW, LICSW
Play Therapy for CYF
This course will explore effective clinical practice with children via the use of play therapy. An overview of theories informing the practice of play therapy will be discussed. Key factors in play therapy such as the play therapy relationships, exploring symbolic play and themes in play, setting effective limits, and understanding interpretation in play treatment will be explored. Participants will learn specific play therapy techniques for effective assessment and practice consistent with the theoretical perspectives presented. Practical (and fun!) interventions will be explored.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will be able to identify the major play therapy theories, therapeutic powers of play, strategies, and techniques commonly used in play treatment.
- Participants will explore play interventions such as sand tray play, therapeutic game play, puppets, and other play interventions.
- Participants will gain understanding of the use of the treatment relationship to shape new patterns of emotions and behaviors, set therapeutic limits, and address differences.
CYF
Advanced Clinical Practice for CYF - Treatment Modality Elective
Course Fee: $150
CEUs: 6
Online via Zoom • 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (lunch break 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
Instructor: Greg Bodine, LICSW and Matt Mooney, MSW, LICSW
Narrative Therapy with Adults
This course will introduce students to Narrative Therapy’s collaborative, respectful, and socially just ways of understanding people and problems. An examination of the distinction between Narrative and Normative Worldviews will be followed by examples of Narrative Therapy in practice and opportunities for experiential learning. The intention of this course is to offer participants a taste of the politics and ethics that guide narrative therapy practices. Students will learn about approaches that narrative therapists take in working with people who are experiencing problems in their lives and relationships.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will learn how the ideas, values, and relational ethics of the Narrative Worldview differ from those of a Normative Worldview.
- Participants will understand the significance of stories and cultural norms in shaping people’s identities and understandings of problems.
- Participants will become acquainted with the “De-centered but Influential” stance of the narrative practitioner.
Adult
Advanced Clinical Practice for Adults - Treatment Modality Elective
Course Fee: $150
CEUs: 6
Certificate Program Instructors
General Admission
General Admission for each certificate course is $150.
No discounts are available.
General Information:
You must be at least 18 years old to participate in the Advanced Clinical Practice courses. All sales are final; we are not able to offer refunds. Registrations may not be transferred to another person or to another course, workshop, or program.
Online registration is required to participate in a course. Tuition for each certificate course is to be paid by debit or credit card. Registrations will be processed upon receipt of payment. Payment is due in full in order to enroll.
These courses are approved for CEUs for Social Workers in MA, CT, RI, and VT. They meet the requirements for Continuing Education Hours established by the State Board of Social Worker Licensure in ME. If your state is not listed, please check with your local state licensing board to ensure the course meets state requirements prior to registering.
Boston College Continuing Education is required to ensure attendance to award CEUs. Participants must attend the complete program(s) they register for to receive CEUs; we are not able to award partial CEUs. Those who arrive late, leave early, or do not attend the entire program will be unable to receive CEUs.
Getting to Campus
Parking is available at the nearby Beacon Street and Commonwealth Avenue Garages. Discounted parking passes are available upon registration.
Boston College is also accessible via public transportation (MBTA B Line - Boston College).