SSW Professional Education Update, February 2025
After much consideration we have paused our live professional education programming during 2025 so we can take time to rebuild a sustainable, robust program that better serves your needs.
Many of our longstanding professional education offerings were thoughtfully designed for an in-person world. At the start of the pandemic we quickly shifted these in-person offerings to virtual offerings to allow us to continue our robust suite of educational programming while the world was fully remote.
As the world returned to in-person activities, we shifted our model again and began offering a mix of in-person and virtual courses. Our data shows us that, even post-pandemic, our most popular offerings continue to be those we offer virtually.
With this in mind we want to pause and reassess the program we have built and redesign it to better serve a remote audience. This pause will allow us to rethink efficiencies, identify better ways to offer virtual programming, reassess our certificate programs for the busy world we live in and launch a stronger, more vibrant professional education program in early 2026.
While our live programming is paused you will still be able to take our recorded webinars, we will finish out the Advanced Clinical Supervision Certificate and Palliative and End-of-Life Care Certificates that began last year, and we will also still hold our annual Deepening Clinical Practice Conference on August 1. We hope you will join us!
We look forward to celebrating the re-launch of our Professional Education programs with you in early 2026.
Clinical supervision is central to our work. This formative, multidimensional relationship shapes our clinical stance and exerts profound influence on our professional identity development. Excellent supervision ensures a high level of clinical practice for our clients, yet we often arrive in supervisory positions with little formal training or agency support.
Within a collegial learning community, we introduce you to a conceptual framework that synthesizes relational psychodynamic theory, learning theories and cultural awareness; we then support you in applying this perspective to your own supervisory practice.
The Advanced Clinical Supervision Certificate is designed to help clinicians:
- Conceptualize supervision using multiple theoretical perspectives: psychodynamic, attachment, adult learning theories, critical race theory, social justice frameworks
- Consider supervisee’s individual learning needs through the lens of cultural humility, understanding the ubiquitous influences of power, social identity and oppression on the work of clinical supervision
- Build in-depth supervisory skills and develop a range of interventions grounded in a rich conceptual framework
- Enhance use of self and self reflection in the supervisory relationship
- Develop the capacity to adapt supervisory practice within current practice contexts
- Understand the influence of your organizational culture, the role of technology and health policy on supervision
Explore the critical ethical dimensions of supervision
Term I at Smith College: July 15-19, 2024 (with the potential to move online this summer due to COVID)
Term II Monthly Video Case Conferences: September 2024- May 2025
Term III at Smith College: July 21-25, 2025
Application Deadline: April 1
CEs: Up to 52 CEs available.
What our participants are saying
“The skills I gained have provided me with the preparation and confidence to obtain a clinical director position.”
“I cannot recommend this program highly enough. Having been a supervisor for many years, this course was incredibly valuable and thought-provoking.”
“I had no idea how much I would learn. The content is just the beginning. The opportunities for collaborative learning, critical thinking, safety to explore my own practices in depth all contributed to a deeply insight-based learning process.”
“This program should really be integrated into every M.S.W. program, as it guides us as both clinicians and supervisors. I have realized how much I did not know and now have a new trajectory for my own professional path. This program has helped me to re-connect to the professional of social work thanks to the quality faculty and their excellent facilitation of the material.”
“This is a program that will pique your interest and curiosity, inspire you to challenge yourself to a higher level and above all will reinforce your reason for becoming an advanced clinical supervisor.”
“This program helps strengthen your clinical view when it comes to providing supervision.”
"This program surpassed all I could have hoped for! Beyond providing information and support, it was inspiring, motivating, and has led to ongoing friendships."