Simmons College School of Social Work
Professional Development Institute
Clinical Certificate Program in Advanced Group Work Practice
As more agencies shift from individual to group focused treatment and increase their group services in order to better meet the needs
of their clients, or out of fiscal necessity, practitioners are faced with the challenge of offering an expanded menu of groups, including
more specialized groups. This certificate program will strengthen the skills that clinicians are already utilizing, while providing a more
varied and sophisticated conceptual framework and tools with which to practice.
Curriculum Overview and Competencies:
The certificate program will be taught by a team of experienced group workers, each with a distinct area of expertise and with
knowledge of best practices and cutting edge techniques. Course content will be delivered in five learning modules. Participants will
leave the course with increased skills in the following areas:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Group work with clients who live with co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders.
Cognitive behavioral and dialectical behavioral approaches to group work across settings and client populations.
Mindfulness and stress-based reduction with children, adolescents and adults who have anxiety disorders.
Conflict related to diversity in groups, and the importance of multi-culturally competent practice.
Group work supervision and consultation: How to create a meaningful, safe and sustainable learning community through
supervision and/or consultation.
Through experiential learning participants will have ample opportunities to practice group work concepts and skills. This will occur
through role play and during the in-class experiential component of the course. Skills participants will practice include:
 Group work with at-risk and diverse client populations.
 Facilitation of open-ended groups, short-term and time sensitive groups.
 Use of formal and innovative curricula, activities and expressive modalities as vehicles for enhancing self-expression and
communications skills.
 Review of key concepts and best practices for use in CBT and DBT groups.
 Definition and philosophical underpinnings of Mindfulness and Stress Based Reduction.
 Conceptualizing conflict as a normative and predictable dynamic.
 Conflict rooted in diversity will be defined, and the worker’s role and use of self will be explored.
 The art of co-facilitation: nurturing and addressing the challenges of partnership.
 Group work supervision as a necessary vehicle for ensuring quality of care, managing countertransference,
accountability to clients and agency, advancing agency mission and objectives, and combating compassion fatigue.
Faculty:
Ariel A. Botta, LICSW. Director of Group Therapy, Outpatient Department of Psychiatry, Children’s Hospital Boston.
Dana Grossman Leeman, PhD., MSW. Coordinator, Clinical Certificate Program in Advanced Group Work Practice. Associate
Professor of Practice, Simmons College School of Social Work.
Jennifer, M. Putney, LICSW, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Practice, Simmons College School of Social Work.
Patty Underwood, LICSW. Instructor, Boston University School of Social Work. Clinician, Riverside Community Care, Newton.
CEs
This program is approved for 42 CEs for social workers and counselors. National Board of Certified Counselors Approved CE
Provider #6426. American Psychological Association Approved CE Sponsor #2057.
Format and Schedule:
Classes meet Wednesdays, 6:00-9:15 p.m. and two Saturdays. Classes begin on September 28 and will end on May 2. Master’s degree
in human services required.
Tuition: $995; Simmons SSW Field Instructors $595.00
Limited to 16 participants.
Payment must accompany application.
To download the application and/or pay online, please visit: http://www.simmons.edu/ssw/professional/certificates.html. For
application and registration information, please contact the Admission Office at 617-521-3939 or by e-mail at ssw@simmons.edu.
You may contact the instructor/coordinator with questions at dana.leeman@simmons.edu or 617-521-3955.
Simmons School of Social Work
Professional Development Institute
Confirmation, Cancellation and Refund Policy
Registration will be acknowledged via email. A program that has insufficient enrollment will be cancelled one week in advance. You
will be notified if the program is cancelled and receive a full refund.
In the event you must cancel your registration, you will receive a full refund if you cancel at least ten days prior to the beginning of a
program; if you cancel within ten days prior to the beginning of a program, you will receive a credit for the full tuition. Participants
who withdraw from the program after it starts will receive a credit proportional to the number of weeks they attended the program; the
maximum credit for withdrawal is 75% of the full tuition. A $100 administrative fee will be deducted from all refunds and credits.