columbia school of social work continuing education

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Non-Credit Continuing Education Courses

The College of Social Work coordinates non-credit courses through the university's Continuing Education Office. 

The College of Social Work offers three non-credit courses to provide additional learning opportunities. These courses are designed to earn continuing education hours, not academic credit. Each course is designed as an online, asynchronous self-paced experience, though courses must be completed within the designated registered for periods. Participants must complete all learning modules and a c ourse evaluation to obtain a certificate of completion for each course.  The cost of each course is $250.

The non-credit courses will meet the course requirements for Independent Level Licensure in Clinical Practice (LISW-CP) in South Carolina. Social Work licensure and certification vary by state. Each state has its own licensing board with its own social work licensure requirements. Students planning to seek licensure should visit the South Carolina Board of Social Work Examiners , or the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Licensing Board. These courses will fulfill the required continuing education hours needed to maintain or renew licensure; not only the course requirements for advanced clinical licensure in South Carolina. 

Active field instructors for the 2024-2025 academic year may contact  Michael Ottone  to determine if they are eligible for a specific discount code. Please allow time for verification of eligibility.

Additional potential discounts for use are noted below:

Cost: $250  Register

*Registrants will receive immediate confirmation via email. Additional course instructions and details will be provided via email on the designated course start date.

This course provides the equivalent of 45 academic contact hours required in Psychodiagnostics for obtaining the Independent Level Licensure in Clinical Practice (LISW-CP) in South Carolina.

The course is divided into 15 required modules, which include lectures, additional learning activities and assessments. Each participant is required to complete all modules and a course evaluation to obtain a certificate of completion.

Learning objectives of this course are to:

• List and apply principles of the diagnostic process through collection, assessment, collaboration and conceptualization of differential diagnosis through various sources.
• Differentiate between diagnosis and developmentally appropriate reactions during crises, disasters and other trauma-related events.
• Differentiate and evaluate opposing viewpoints regarding pathology-related diagnosis.
• Identify biases in the application of diagnostic criteria and diagnostic tools.

This course provides the equivalent of 45 academic contact hours required in Psychopathology for obtaining the Independent Level Licensure in Clinical Practice (LISW-CP) in South Carolina.

This course is divided into 15 required modules, which include lectures, additional learning activities and assessments. Each participant is required to complete all modules and a course evaluation to obtain a certificate of completion.

• Develop knowledge of the scope of mental health and psychiatric illnesses in the United States.
• Understand causal factors in mental health and psychiatric conditions.
• Apply the process of psychiatric classification to mental disorders.
• Recognize psychosocial factors impacting diagnosis and classification.

This course provides the equivalent of 15 academic contact hours or 20 continuing education contact hours in Ethics required for the Independent Level Licensure in Clinical Practice (LISW-CP) in South Carolina.

The course is divided into eight required modules, which include lectures, videos, readings and assessments. Each participant is required to complete all modules and an evaluation in order to obtain a certificate of completion.

• Identify current ethical problems and dilemmas in social work practice.
• Demonstrate knowledge of ethical problems and using a method to arrive at the best ethical outcome.
• Understand the conflictual nature of ethics in social work practice to gain a method to integrate and apply knowledge of ethical dilemmas and resolution in practice settings.

Challenge the conventional. Create the exceptional. No Limits.

Press Release - November 12, 2015

Columbia University School of Continuing Education Renamed School of Professional Studies

Columbia University announced today that its School of Continuing Education has been renamed the School of Professional Studies to reflect a targeted focus on professional degree offerings, market-specific academic programming, and cross-disciplinary scholarly research.

“This School, one of the premier destinations in the world for innovative professional education, has been evolving for several years now to better meet the needs of professionals grappling with the challenges of a transformed global marketplace,” said University President Lee C. Bollinger, “and the change in name is emblematic of this shift.  We look forward to seeing the next chapter of the School of Professional Studies under the leadership of our new Dean, Jason Wingard.”

Columbia’s School of Professional Studies currently offers fourteen masters degrees, a comprehensive portfolio of pre-professional, post baccalaureate, and life-long learning programs, and interdisciplinary research centers.

“The name reflects our renewed mission to provide rigorous educational offerings, informed by rapidly evolving global market needs, that support the academic and professional demands of individuals and organizations worldwide,” said Dr. Jason Wingard , Dean and Professor of the School of Professional Studies. 

By offering market-leading degree programs across disciplines, such as Actuarial Science, Applied Analytics, Bioethics, Sports Management, and Sustainability Management, the School is uniquely positioned to meet the diverse professional education needs of top recent graduates, successful mid-career professionals, and accomplished executives. The mixed methodological approach applied by the School enables students to enter burgeoning fields, advance existing career trajectories, or pivot to new domains of expertise. At the foundation of these efforts is an active research agenda that informs both field best practices, as well as inquiry at the intersection of academic disciplines.

“The School no longer focuses solely on regional, non-degree offerings, as indicated by the denotation ‘Continuing Education’,” stated Dean Wingard. By generating interdisciplinary thought leadership, developing innovative pedagogy, and advancing globally competitive academic solutions, we are preparing the global workforce of the 21st century, across sectors and industries, for the ever-shifting and urgent requirements of the knowledge economy.”

CU Public Affairs/Evelina Freeman ef2360 [[at]] columbia [[dot]] edu (ef2360[at]columbia[dot]edu) 212 854-0258

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Social Work

The aim of the Social Work Department at NYSPI is to provide individuals and families the most effective, modern, and compassionate psychosocial treatments, while at the same time advance scientific knowledge about the dimensions of mental disorders and their interventions. The episodic and ambiguous nature of psychiatric illness and its often bleak prognosis—accompanied by stigma—imposes inordinate stressors on the family of an individual with a mental illness. The Social Work Department at NYSPI is committed to delivering quality care while striving to improve existing services for our patients and their families.

M.S.W. Intern Training Program

Under the direction of Elizabeth Golden, LCSW, the Social Work Training Program continues to be a highly regarded and eagerly sought-out training program for second-year masters-level social work interns. Interns are trained in clinical practice, research, program planning, and social policy. The department at NYSPI serves as a field placement site for Columbia University School of Social Work, The New York University (Silver) School of Social Work, and Hunter College School of Social Work. Our department continues to be a field placement site for an OMH initiative, which trains clinicians in Evidence-Based Social Work Practices. Five of our interns participate in this fellowship program. Evidence-based wellness groups are run by social work interns on the Washington Heights Community Service, and the Children’s Day Unit.

In addition, educational opportunities include Grand Rounds, Case Conferences, and a weekly social work intern seminar which focuses on diagnosis, treatment, theory, and program planning. There is an opportunity for placement during the academic year (September through May) as well as an option for an early start in June, for an internship that runs from the summer through the following May. It is important to note that we only take interns from graduate-level social work programs.

Our interns can be placed on one of the following services, and are expected to perform the duties of Social Workers on each of these units, as described below:

Washington Heights Community Service

Washington Heights Community Service (WHCS) is comprised of an inpatient unit and three outpatient clinics: Audubon, Inwood, and in affiliation with The Center for Practice Innovation, (CPI) OnTrack NY.

The role of the social worker on the WHCS inpatient unit is 1) to evaluate the patient and their family to determine psychosocial stressors that may have contributed to the need for hospitalization 2) to provide psychoeducation to the patient and family with respect to all aspects of the patient's illness 3) to provide discharge planning and 4) to coordinate provision of concrete services when necessary 5) to develop recovery-focused treatment and disposition plans. Patients are seen daily whereas families are seen at least weekly.

Social workers in the WHCS Audubon, Inwood and On-Track NY outpatient clinics function as primary therapists and may also lead therapeutic groups. They are also part of a multidisciplinary team whose focus is to develop a targeted treatment plan, developed by providers and clients, and to carry out this treatment plan. All social workers on the WHCS attend quarterly social work staff meetings at the New York State Psychiatric Institute as well as in-service Social Work Grand Rounds. They are encouraged to attend the weekly Grand Rounds of the New York State Psychiatric Institute and weekly case conferences on the inpatient units.

Eating Disorder Inpatient Unit

The primary responsibilities of the social work team on this unit are individual casework, family therapy and disposition planning. Family therapy includes those people connected to the patient deemed "significant others.” Disposition planning focuses on the needs of the patient after discharge, including outpatient referrals, aftercare services, and other concrete needs. Thorough evaluations and psychosocial assessments are conducted to develop an individualized treatment plan for patients. In addition, social work interns are actively involved in the group therapy program. The social work component is an integral part of the total treatment approach which attempts to maximize patient care services.

General Clinical Research Inpatient Unit (GCRU)

Social workers are highly valued members of the multidisciplinary team and are instrumental in treatment team decision-making from admission to discharge. Social Work interventions include: reaching out to family and providing psychosocial evaluation and family assessment, working with the family by meeting weekly throughout the hospital stay, one-to-one counseling to address clinical issues that emerge in the milieu, an inclusive discharge plan with the input of the treatment and research teams, a comprehensive needs assessment and concrete services, and assisting the patient’s family system through enriching and broadening resources.

The Children’s Day Unit

The social worker and graduate social work intern(s)are active members of a multidisciplinary team that provides services at the Day Unit, serving adolescents who receive intensive psychiatric evaluation and treatment. In addition to providing family assessment and intervention, both social worker and social work interns act as primary therapist for some cases, assuming responsibility for treatment planning and implementation. Planning for discharge is given priority from the time of admission to ensure appropriate after-care once stability is achieved at the Children’s Day Unit. There are also opportunities for interns to become involved in the treatment aspects of research studies.

Other Social Work Education and Training Initiatives

The center for family education and resilience (cfer).

The Center for Family Education and Resilience (CFER) was established in 1997 in collaboration with Columbia University School of Social Work. Although psychosocial research has been ongoing at NYSPI, having a Research Division within the Department of Social Work allowed for the establishment of a focus research agenda as well as the establishment of an infrastructure for ongoing psychosocial research. Headed by Drs. Ellen Lukens and Helle Thorning, CFER functions as an umbrella under which a range of clinical and research initiatives take place. CFER's primary objectives are 1) to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of services focused on the needs of patients and families, 2) to facilitate and strengthen Social Work research on the impact of mental disorders on the self and family and to provide training and education for social workers and social work interns on effective models of intervention.

Clinical Initiatives and Training: Community Awareness through Psychoeducation (CAPE)

CFER faculty includes Dr. Ellen Lukens and Dr. Helle Thorning.  Dr. Lukens continues to provide a comprehensive psychoeducation/wellness management internship that trains social work students at the masters and doctoral level in theory, practice and evaluation using a culturally sensitive lens.  Community Awareness through Psychoeducation (CAPE) groups have been conducted on the Washington Heights Community Service under the supervision of CFER.  The CAPE intervention follows a structured curriculum consisting of 15 modules that cover topics related to wellness, recovery, and self-care, including social support, self-esteem, connection with the environment, anger management, and medication management. Dr. Lukens has recently begun adapting the modules for the adolescent population on the CDU.

Research Training

CFER continues to train master’s level students from Columbia School of Social Work (CSSW), and the Silver School of Social Work at New York University (SSSW) to implement and evaluate evidence-based and evidence-informed interventions for persons with severe mental illness at NYSPI. During the spring of 2020, four masters- level social work students from CSSW and NYU were engaged in CFER projects.  Two CSSW students offered CAPE groups on the WHCS inpatient unit, and the two students from NYU piloted the CAPE groups on the CDU with good response. During the fall of 2020, four masters-level social work students from CSSW were engaged in CFER projects, with three students placed on the WHCS inpatient unit and actively involved in the CAPE project under the weekly group supervision of Ellen Lukens and Mara Eilenberg, LCSW. Peer specialist Johanny Morel from WHCS has also joined the supervision group and is participating actively in the CAPE intervention. The fourth CSSW student was placed at the ACT Institute, under the supervision of Helle Thorning.

Dr. Lukens, in close collaboration with Mara Eilenberg, LCSW, and four MSW interns from Columbia and NYU implemented a clinical pilot to assess the needs of parents and siblings of outpatient and day patient adolescents diagnosed with OCD on the Children’s Day Unit.  Dr. Yamile Marti, Associate Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia School of Social Work (CSSW), worked closely with them on the project, which involved the development of a psychoeducational intervention for parents of youth with OCD.  They are preparing a manuscript for publication in collaboration with several former students.

In 2016 Drs. Lukens and Thorning applied for a grant through the New York Community Trust to support a more detailed exploration of the needs and assists of consumers who are also parents with the goal of documenting need, evaluating policies across behavioral health and child protective services, and developing educational material to enhance ACT providers to deliver services to consumers.   The funding was awarded in March of 2017 and the data collection for the project was completed in the fall of 2017. With the information learned from this data, Drs. Lukens and Thorning developed a blended learning curriculum consisting of three online webinars, a face to face training for ACT family specialists and their team leaders, and the development of five core tools to facilitate the work with ACT participants who are parents.  Brief videos were also developed to introduce and train family specialists in the use of these tools.  Over the course of 2019 the tools were piloted with several ACT teams across the city and were well-received.

Integration of Peers into Clinical Services at NYSPI

A collaboration among the Department of Social Work, the NYSPI Peer Task force and CFER has led to a strategy to integrate peers in the clinical services at NYSPI. Liz Golden and Jean Marie Bradford MD lead the project. The Peer Advocacy Task Force is an initiative founded to meet a New York State mandate to incorporate peers (i.e. Individuals in recovery who have coped with a mental health illness) onto inpatient and outpatient units of the New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI). The first Peer Specialist graduated from Howie the Harp, Peer Training and Advocacy Center (HTH) and was subsequently hired at NYSPI. The goal is to expand the Peer program. We continue to train interns from HTH on a yearly basis. In the future we hope to hire peers for the inpatient and outpatient units/clinics to provide advocacy, entitlement services, and co-lead group therapy and to participate in research-related activities as well.

Liz Golden, LCSW Director of Social Work NYSPI 1051 Riverside Drive New York, N.Y. 10032

[email protected] 646-774-8555

Administrative Assistant: Liliana Saverio [email protected] 646-774-8554

Application Information

Thank you for your interest in applying to the Columbia School of Social Work. 

• Before starting your application review our detailed  application instructions  and application FAQs . 
• Connect with us  to learn more about the MSW program at the Columbia School of Social Work . 

MASTER'S PROGRAM DEADLINE : Spring 2025 

• 16 Month students are encouraged to apply by this deadline.  
• Priority applicants will be strongly considered for our top scholarships.
• Final Deadline: October  15 , 2024 11:59 PM ET

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• Advanced Standing, Transfer, and International students are encouraged to apply by this deadline.  
• Two Year students are encouraged to apply by this deadline.  
• Final Deadline: April 1 , 2025 11:59 PM ET

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• Fall 2025:  December 15, 2024 11:59 PM ET

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University of Missouri

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School of Social Work

Educational webinars

Clock hour and continuing education unit (ceu) certificates.

Would you like to receive a contact hour (clock hour) or CEU certificate? If yes, please complete the following:

• Fill out the  Clock Hour/CEU Request Form .
• Complete the quiz for the webinar you are requesting credit (which can be found below the webinar video).

Clock hour certificates are processed FREE of charge and will be sent via email from the MU School of Social Work. Clock hour certificates are appropriate for MO social work licensure requirements.  Learn more .

CEU certificates require a $10 processing fee and will be emailed from MU Extension (look for an email from: [email protected] — be sure to check your spam!). Your CEU request will not be processed until a payment is received.

• If you have requested CEUs and would like to pay the $10 processing online, please  use this link to pay now .
• If you’ll be sending a check for CEUs, please make payable to University of Missouri, and send to: Lindsay Ficken, MU School of Social Work, 724 Clark Hall, Columbia, MO 65211

Note: Our certificates are for Missouri Social Workers. If you are an LPC or professional participating from out-of-state, contact your state accrediting board to make sure MO SW contact hours are accepted.

Access to the webinars is currently password protected. If you would like to view one of our recorded webinars, please contact Alicia Dotzler at  [email protected] .

Available webinars

• The Brain Body Initiative
• Older adult experiences during a global pandemic: a study of mental health, social supports, and resiliency
• Trouble in the field: serving Missouri’s farmers and ranchers in times of high distress
• Evidence-based formulation of risk and clinical response with suicidal clients
• The intersection of queer identities in mental & physical health: a social work perspective
• Behavioral health of older Missourians
• Trauma informed care: what it looks like to be a trauma informed agency
• Motivational interviewing
• Co-occurring disorders & evidence-based interventions
• Trauma informed care & trauma specific interventions
• Trauma informed care part 2
• How to involve family in youth treatment
• Identification and treatment of anxiety and depression
• Excel: telling your story with numbers
• Grief and loss from a social work perspective
• Grief and loss part 2