CSWRK 5060 Mental Health, Neurodiversity, and Substance Use
The purpose of this course is to enable students to engage with diverse clients and to critically assess as well as perform structured and semi-structured assessments of psychological, social, and biological contributors to mental health, neurodevelopmental, and substance use disorders across the lifespan and link these to evidence-informed interventions. The course includes critical analyses of the limitations and benefits of the DSM-5 classification system in terms of social work values, the promotion of human rights and equitable treatment of persons with varying abilities as these inform the selection of interventions. Students will learn theories of etiology, symptoms, evidence-informed practice frameworks, and prognoses across the diagnostic categories most often encountered in social work practice. Students will select, use, interpret, and critique the validity and efficacy of standardized assessment instruments and protocols for their influence in the promotion of holistic client well-being.