Teaching Note-Drawn Together: Collaboration Between Social Work and Education to Address Family Trauma

• Published in: Journal of social work education Vol. 57; no. 4; pp. 817 - 824
• Main Authors: Cryer-Coupet, Qiana R., Wiseman, Angela M., Atkinson, Ashley A., Gibson, Stephen, Hoo, Ann M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington Routledge 02-10-2021; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Attachment; Children; Clinical skills; Community Services; Drug use; Families & family life; Family Literacy; Fathers; Graduate Students; Homeless People; Imprisonment; Institutionalized Persons; Interdisciplinary Approach; Interdisciplinary aspects; Interdisciplinary education; Intervention; Literacy; Parent Child Relationship; Partnerships in Education; Preservice Teacher Education; Professional training; Social Work; Social workers; Substance Abuse; Teachers; Teaching; Teamwork; Trauma
• ISSN: 1043-7797; 2163-5811
• DOI: 10.1080/10437797.2020.1764890

In the past few decades, scholars and practitioners have given increasing attention to the experiences of families affected by trauma related to substance use, homelessness, and incarceration. As parents seek to restore and maintain parental bonds during traumatic separations and transitions, interdisciplinary family literacy interventions can be impactful. Given their shared interests, social workers and educators are uniquely positioned to work with community-based stakeholders to implement trauma-informed interventions. Research suggests that MSW graduates do not feel confident in their ability to demonstrate clinical competencies related to assessing substance use, implementing family interventions, and engaging in interdisciplinary teamwork. This teaching note describes the implementation of a trauma-informed family literacy intervention and explores ways to use this model in an interdisciplinary social work and education course.