Columbia School of Social Work
 
Columbia School of Social Work
Specialized Year Practicum Evaluation
Advanced Clinical Practice
 
Note: This is for preview purposes only. At the end of the semester, practicum instructors will be emailed customized survey links to complete evaluations for each of their students.

[Enter practicum instructor name, agency name and description, description of agency conditions that may have adversely affected the student's placement (if any), and description of student's assignments to date.]

Assessment Scale
Use the following scale to assess the student's performance in the nine core areas of social work competency identified by the Council on Social Work Education:

Excellent—Performance is exceptional and the skill is an integrated part of the student's practice
Very Good—Performance is above expectations for students at this level
Good—Performance generally meets expectations for students at this level
Needs Improvement—Performance shows signs of competency, but generally does not meet expectations for students at this level
Unsatisfactory—Performance is unsatisfactory
 
Competency 1: Ability to Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior

Advanced Clinical Practice social workers demonstrate ethical and professional values and behavior through a capacity to make informed choices and decisions in direct clinical practice with clients, and to further develop critical understanding of the nuances and complexities of social work practice. They make flexible and appropriate use of the professional relationship across diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities and in the context of supervision and interdisciplinary teams. They recognize the critical nature of professional use of self and strategies to use self-reflection in interdisciplinary work, peer supervision, and supervision. Advanced Clinical Practice social workers are able to assess ethical dilemmas and resolve them in a responsible way, embracing a professional code of behavior and ethics in their practice with individuals, organizations, and communities, and when collaborating with professionals in allied fields. They are aware of laws and regulations related to clinical practice, and procedures to ensure ethical use of technology.

Assess the student's ability to:
  1. Apply professional use of self as reflected in the NASW Code of Ethics and through principles of critical thinking to differentiate between professional and personal values in the context of cross-level practice.
  2. Recognize and balance the similarities and differences in the roles, objectives, and modes of intervention among other professions and paraprofessional helpers having different training backgrounds, professional value systems, and approaches to helping clients.
  3. Make appropriate use of supervision and other professional and inter-professional meetings to guide and further develop clinical practice skills and to build the basis for lifelong learning.
  4. Organize, prioritize, and meet workload demands, including completing all documentation and administrative tasks promptly and thoroughly.
  5. Identify and address ethical dilemmas typically encountered in advanced clinical practice.
Examples of how the student social worker has demonstrated competency in demonstration of ethical and professional behavior:
 
Competency 2: Ability to Engage Diversity and Difference in Practice

Advanced Clinical Practice social workers understand that diversity and difference in practice are key elements of personal knowledge as well as an area for reflection and empowerment in the clinical relationship. They continually evaluate and monitor their own role in a continued effort to decolonize applied practice through self-reflection, supervision, and ongoing study. They also understand how to apply structural analysis in the context of applied practice, through an understanding of the role of power, race, oppression, and privilege (PROP) in practice. They understand how the intersectionality of age, class, color, culture, disability and ability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, immigration status, marital status, political ideology, race, religion/spirituality, sex, sexual orientation, tribal sovereign status, and other dimensions can affect the life experiences of the person(s) seeking help and the context of the relationship. The Advanced Clinical Practice social worker focuses on self-awareness and humility with attention to diversity and culture as considered through the lenses of PROP, decolonized social work, anti-oppressive practice, and intersectionality. They continually attend to the impact of culture, race, gender, age, values, beliefs, multiple identities, and attitudes on engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation in advanced clinical practice.

Assess the student's ability to:
  1. Identify and address a broad range of variables (e.g., age, class, color, culture, disability and ability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, immigration status, marital status, political ideology, race, religion/spirituality, sex, sexual orientation, tribal sovereign status) that can affect the person(s) seeking help, the service provider, and the helping relationship, and that can potentially interfere with the Advanced Clinical Practice social worker's ability to address these variables.
  2. Demonstrate the ability to engage culturally and ethnically diverse clients by assessing their own personal and implicit biases and identifying their personal experiences and affective reactions that may influence the services and supports that are provided to clients.
  3. Apply advanced clinical skills in a way that accounts for the role that power, race, oppression, and privilege (PROP) have in shaping life experiences for both clinician and clients, and that recognizes PROP's influence on the helping relationship.
Examples of how the student social worker has demonstrated competency in engagement of diversity and difference in practice:
 
Competency 3: Ability to Advance Human Rights and Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice

Advanced Clinical Practice social workers understand that a central responsibility of their practice is to advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice. They apply structural analysis to identify how social, economic, and environmental justice concerns factor into the lives and well-being of their clients. They adopt a human-rights focused, anti-oppressive practice to advocate for clients in a variety of community and organizational settings, including when environmental or organizational constraints impinge on clinical practice. Advanced Clinical Practice social workers apply advanced direct practice skills and knowledge across multiple system levels, ranging from individual to global. They endeavor to expand their clients' rights and social and economic assets, and to alleviate their clients' broader social and environmental problems. They are consciously aware of the role of power, race, oppression, and privilege (PROP) in clinical social work and strive for the decolonization of social work practice.

Assess the student's ability to:
  1. Use knowledge of the effects of oppression, discrimination, historical trauma, and environmental injustice on clients and client systems to guide assessment, intervention, and evaluation planning.
  2. Advocate for practices and policies that advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice in a self-aware and culturally-sensitive manner.
  3. Facilitate coalition-building to promote social justice and reduce systemic inequities, particularly among marginalized communities.
Examples of how the student social worker has demonstrated competency in advancement of human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice:
 
Competency 4: Ability to Engage In Practice-Informed Research and Research-Informed Practice

Advanced Clinical Practice social workers make use of practice-informed research and engage in research-informed practice to work effectively in clinical practice with diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. They use theories and research findings to guide differential assessment, intervention, and evaluation with clients in a range of contexts. They maintain a critical awareness of evidenced-based clinical practices applicable across the life course. Advanced Clinical Practice social workers view the core elements that are common to and undergird widely disseminated evidence-based practices (e.g., cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, dialectical behavioral therapy, and psychoeducation) as transdiagnostic skills that can be applied differentially with individuals and families in a range of circumstances, settings, and cultures. They value research as a critical tool for practice and as a means for ensuring effective, ethical practice within practical and theoretical limitations.

Assess the student's ability to:
  1. Identify current evidence-based assessment, intervention, and prevention strategies and best practices for psychosocial problems faced by individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
  2. Promote the inclusion of clients' voices and viewpoints in research processes and evaluations.
  3. Apply critical assessment to existing and developing conceptual frameworks in qualitative and quantitative research, taking note of how these might be impacted by practitioners' personal experiences and affective reactions.
  4. Organize client descriptive information into a format that allows for efficient retrieval and examination (e.g., progress notes, psychosocial summaries, case records, family system summaries).
Examples of how the student social worker has demonstrated competency in engagement in practice-informed research and research-informed practice:
 
Competency 5: Ability to Engage in Policy Practice

Advanced Clinical Practice social workers engage in policy practice to identify, critically analyze, and advocate for federal, state, and local policies that support the mental and behavioral health and overall well-being of their clients, particularly the needs of underrepresented and marginalized populations. They understand the interplay among history, policy, and the oppression of marginalized groups. They recognize how policy formulation, analysis, implementation, evaluation, and changes inform and influence their clinical practice. Advanced Clinical Practice social workers are knowledgeable about developments in policy at the federal, state, and local levels that affect marginalized communities and others served by social work. They work at all system levels to ensure policies align with the needs of the individuals, groups, and communities they serve.

Assess the student's ability to:
  1. Critically analyze the relationship between social policy and organizational structures and its impact on the organization, implementation, and evaluation of clinical social work services.
  2. Identify and support developments in policy reform and legislation at the federal, state, and local levels that affect marginalized communities and others served by social work.
  3. Analyze and interpret organizational policies and programs as they relate to the implementation and delivery of social services, and how personal experiences and affective reactions can impact the process of implementation.
  4. Advocate for policies serving the needs of underrepresented and marginalized populations.
Examples of how the student social worker has demonstrated competency in engagement in policy practice:
 
Competency 6: Ability to Engage with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Advanced Clinical Practice social workers engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities in ways that are culturally responsive and that attend to multiple aspects of identity and intersectionality (e.g., age, class, color, culture, disability and ability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, immigration status, marital status, political ideology, race, religion/spirituality, sex, sexual orientation, and tribal sovereign status). Advanced Clinical Practice social workers use engagement to build and deepen relationships with clients and client systems even when perspectives and values between oneself and client differ. Their work employs an overarching focus on self-awareness and humility with attention to diversity and culture as considered through the lens of anti-oppressive practice and intersectionality. They consider issues of power, race, oppression, and privilege (PROP) in building and conducting their practice. Advanced Clinical Practice social workers are aware of how their personal experiences, biases, assumptions, affective reactions, and positionality can affect their engagement with clients. They employ human behavior and social environment theories and relationship-building principles within a client-centered approach to guide engagement, assessment, and service planning.

Assess the student's ability to:
  1. Engage in preparatory self-exploration to identify personal experiences and affective reactions, values, beliefs, worldviews, and personal and professional identities in relation to power, race, oppression, and privilege (PROP) that can positively or negatively affect the work.
  2. Recognize and adapt to the unique cultural nuances of clients in one's work and recognize how their own personal experiences and affective reactions may support or interfere with building and sustaining the clinical relationship.
  3. Apply advanced engagement skills that demonstrate culturally-sensitive and culturally-informed techniques, attend to multiple aspects of identity and intersectionality (e.g., age, class, color, culture, disability and ability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, immigration status, marital status, political ideology, race, religion/spirituality, sex, sexual orientation, and tribal sovereign status), and consider issues of power, privilege, and oppression that affect how the work will be understood, approached, and communicated.
  4. Partialize and prioritize issues in work with clients to break down their concerns into more manageable units that can be addressed more readily.
  5. Identify and examine on an ongoing basis one's own positionality in relation to the client and environment to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of providing meaningful services and connection, as well as client dignity.
Examples of how the student social worker has demonstrated competency in engagement with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities:
 
Competency 7: Ability to Assess Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Advanced Clinical Practice social workers capably assess diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities through case and risk assessment, conceptualization, and formulation that draw on a strengths-based, multi-systemic, and power, race, oppression, and privilege (PROP) perspective. This assessment broadly considers the range of human behavior, and incorporates all dimensions of clients' life situations: e.g., developmental stage and life tasks; physical health and illness; ego capacities; differential clinical features; social, economic, and cultural factors; lifestyles; and functional and dysfunctional features of the environment. Advanced Clinical Practice social workers pay attention to the impact of culture, gender, age, values, beliefs, multiple identities, and attitudes on assessment, formulation, and planned change. They understand effective integration of strengths-based assessment, treatment planning, and risk management. They use differential assessment with populations in a range of contexts and understand how various theories and research findings can guide selection of assessment methods. They collaborate with integrated care teams to determine differential diagnoses and care plans as appropriate that will result in the highest benefit to clients and their access to care. Advanced Clinical Practice social workers continually examine and account for how their own personal experiences, biases, and affective reactions can influence assessment.

Assess the student's ability to:
  1. Identify various dimensions of clients' life situations: e.g., developmental stage and life tasks; physical health and illness; ego capacities; differential clinical features; social, economic, and cultural factors; lifestyles; and functional and dysfunctional features of the environment.
  2. Recognize how their personal experiences, history, biases, and affective reactions may affect their assessment and decision-making, and work to keep focus on the client's needs.
  3. Apply advanced assessment and case formulation skills that fulfill their organization's assessment requirements while simultaneously addressing the needs of the client.
  4. Implement assessments designed to guide selection of effective, appropriate, evidence-based clinical interventions as part of a client's care plan.
  5. Identify problems and strengths to plan interventions that dually emphasize person(s) and context.
  6. Identify resources and supports available to the client in the community, organizations, social networks, and the physical environment, and plan how to work with the client to access them.
Examples of how the student social worker has demonstrated competency in assessment with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities:
 
Competency 8: Ability to Intervene with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Advanced Clinical Practice social workers use advanced and differentially appropriate intervention skills with diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. They intervene with evidence-based approaches to achieve client and constituency goals, within the context of client psychosocial profile, environment, and physical and emotional capacity. Advanced Clinical Practice social workers identify resources and supports available to the client in the community, organizations, social networks, and the physical environment, and work with the client to access them. They effectively integrate a strengths-based approach that uses advanced listening, problem definition, goal setting, treatment planning, and intervention to guide the collaborative relationship with the client. Advanced Clinical Practice social workers understand the theories and/or research of human behavior and social environments that guide advanced clinical practice, and can recognize and account for the influence of their own personal experiences and affective reactions that might impact their practice.

Assess the student's ability to:
  1. Balance client interests, capacities, and physical/psychosocial states in promoting clients' informed decisions regarding interventions.
  2. Synthesize and differentially apply theories and/or research of human behavior and social environments to guide advanced clinical practice, mitigating as needed the influence of their own personal experiences and affective reactions that might impact their practice.
  3. Apply advanced intervention skills that include a range of evidence-based techniques incorporating unique individual and cultural needs and resources.
  4. Use advocacy skills as an intervention tool to promote services and policies that benefit marginalized individuals, organizations, and communities.
Examples of how the student social worker has demonstrated competency in intervention with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities:
 
Competency 9: Ability to Evaluate Practice with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Advanced Clinical Practice social workers understand that practice evaluation with diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities is an iterative and client-oriented process requiring the application of critical insight to the way programs and practices impact and interact with clinical outcomes as well as environmental factors. Advanced Clinical Practice social workers apply advanced evaluation skills that draw on theory and reflect both qualitative and quantitative methods to monitor and evaluate process and outcome of practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. They understand the importance of evaluating risks and benefits of clinical and programmatic interventions to ensure and advance the well-being of their clients and client systems.

Assess the student's ability to:
  1. Apply advanced evaluation skills that draw on theory and reflect both qualitative and quantitative methods to monitor and assess impact of clinical and community practice.
  2. Effectively examine and evaluate one's work with clients and organizations to arrive at a realistic assessment of one's practice strengths and weaknesses.
  3. Use evaluation to determine the risks and benefits of clinical and programmatic interventions in terms of individual client capacity, relevant environmental systems, and social contexts.
Examples of how the student social worker has demonstrated competency in evaluation with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities:

 
Overall impression of the student's progress and recommendations for future learning goals:

 
Recommended grade:
Pass
Fail