Skill Development for Generalist Practice: Exercises for Real-World Application

About Bobby F. SimmonsChristina E. NewhillElizabeth A. Mulvaney

Christina E. Newhill earned a PhD in social welfare from the University of California Berkeley; a masters degree in social work from Syracuse University; and a BA in sociology from the State University of New York Binghamton. Dr. Newhill is Professor of Social Work with a joint appointment with the Clinical and Translational Science Institute and teaches in the MSW and Ph.D. programs. In 2008 she received the Chancellors Distinguished Teaching Award Pitts highest teaching honor. Professor Newhills primary research interests are community mental health services the psychosocial treatment of individuals with serious and persistent mental illness and improving the assessment of violent behavior. She is currently examining the relationship of borderline personality disorder and emotion-regulation problems with the expression of aggression and violence. Newhill has more than 10 years of community mental health practice experience primarily in psychiatric emergency and inpatient settings. She has conducted training workshops on client violence and social worker safety at the local state and national levels for many years and authored Client violence in social work practice: Prevention intervention and research published in 2003 by Guilford Press and recently translated into Chinese and Korean. Her new book entitled Interventions for serious mental disorders: Working with individuals and their families was published by Pearson/Allyn & Bacon in January 2014. She is currently working on two additional books: the first is a concise guide for risk assessment and social worker safety under contract with NASW Press and the second (with Irene H. Frieze Ph.D.) addresses understanding the dynamics of violence in close relationships. Professor Newhill is a licensed clinical social worker in California and Pennsylvania. Elizabeth Mulvaney earned her MSW from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a BA in psychology from the University of Virginia. As a lecturer she focuses primarily on teaching within both the MSW and BASW programs. She holds clinical social work license in Pennsylvania and has 14 years practice experience as a gerontological social worker providing medical care management and program administration services with experience in long-term care including behavioral care planning dementia care and end of life care. Current research and practice interests include geriatric workforce development Alzheimers disease and related dementias ethics palliative care and problem gambling prevention for older adults. Mulvaney served as the Schools first Coordinator for the Hartford Partnership Program for Aging Education from 2005-2011 and continues to assist with that program. Bobby F. Simmons earned his MSW from the University of Pittsburgh; an MS from the University of Tennessee in vocational rehabilitation evaluation; and a BA from Knoxville College in psychology. He began working at the University of Pittsburgh after a long career in adult mental health where he held various clinical and administrative positions. Before he accepted the position as director of career services/lecturer he worked for many years as a field education coordinator. As a faculty member he enjoys teaching the generalist social work practice course in the MSW program and the introduction to social work course in the BASW program. He is a licensed social worker and a member of NASW.