Social Work Practice: Mental Health

Overview

Course description

This course provides foundational knowledge and skills for social work practice in the field of mental health. The course emphasizes strengths-based, recovery-oriented approaches. Students will explore historical, contemporary, and emerging perspectives on mental health, with a focus on the recovery model that views recovery and wellness as achievable goals. Students will examine and critically discuss models of illness classification and treatment approaches, integrating both medical and social work perspectives to support client-centered practice.

Course content

• Foundations of mental health social work and recovery-oriented practice
• Mental health systems, policy, and legislation in British Columbia
• Biopsychosocial and trauma-informed assessment frameworks
• Culture, racism, colonialism, and mental health inequities
• Stigma, discrimination, and survivor-led perspectives
• Crisis intervention, suicide risk, and safety planning
• Mental health and substance use across the lifespan
• Ethical decision-making and use of self in mental health practice

Learning activities

In this course, students engage in a variety of learning activities such as lecture, discussion, role-play, group work, case studies, and presentations.

Means of assessment

Assessment will be based on course objectives and will be in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. Instructors may use a student’s record of attendance and/or level of active participation in a course as part of the student’s graded performance. Where this occurs, expectations and grade calculations regarding class attendance and participation will be clearly defined in the Instructor Course Outline. This is a letter-graded course.

Typical means of assessment include the following:

Written papers
Presentations
Projects
Case study analysis
Role-play demonstrations
Exams
Participation
Attendance

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

Express one's own beliefs about mental health;
Discuss how culture impacts all aspects of mental health;
Apply a biopsychosocial approach to the understanding of mental health, wellness, and treatment approaches;
Demonstrate an understanding of Indigenous approaches to mental health and wellness;
Demonstrate an understanding of issues related to assessing mental health, including a working knowledge of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association;
Describe techniques for working with people who are experiencing mental health challenges;
Explain the system of mental health services in Canada and British Columbia;
Describe current mental health legislation in British Columbia.

Textbook materials

Textbooks and materials are to be purchased by students. A list of required textbooks and materials is provided for students at the beginning of the semester. Example texts may include:

Regehr, C., & Glancy, G. (current edition). Mental health social work practice in Canada. Oxford University Press.

Requisites

Prerequisites

None

Corequisites

None

Equivalencies

YJWD 2463

CSSW 2363

CYCC 2360

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

September 2026 (Current)

Course Transfers to Other Institutions

Below are current transfer agreements from Douglas College to other institutions for the current course guidelines only. For a full list of transfer details and archived courses, please see the BC Transfer Guide.

Institution	Transfer details for SOWK 2363
Simon Fraser University (SFU)	No credit
University of Victoria (UVIC)	No credit