Social work: Clinical social work

Learning in the seminars is designed to be experiential and practice-oriented. Students are given theoretical input and apply the methods they have learned in seminar papers. Working in small groups, role plays and practical simulations also play an important role in the learning process. Professional self-awareness and multi-perspective approaches to the individual content reinforce the learning effect and the ability to transfer what has been learned into practical work. Self-study during the Master’s course is accompanied by continuous peer group work and supportive supervision. This involves, among other things, the organization of self-learning processes, time management, the development of individual learning goals, the linking of theory and experiences of professional practice, and the reflection of one’s own actions.

The knowledge and skills acquired by clinical social workers are not only about methodological know-how, but also about the creative application of knowledge in complex and changing practice and the ability to create new knowledge through research, to reflect on it and to translate it into practical action.

Coburg University of Applied Sciences offers a comprehensive range of services. From studying with children to support with financing your studies.

The Master’s degree course enables you to bring specialized clinical knowledge and specialized social work treatment skills to the health and social services. You will be qualified to provide independent and autonomous psycho-social counseling and treatment. The aim is to overcome psycho-social stress, crises and illnesses through social integration.

• Competence of the ‘Scientist Practitioner’: By developing your clinical expertise, you will be able to respond appropriately and professionally to complex bio-psycho-social health problems and tasks on the basis of scientific theories and findings. This also includes being able to recognize new developments and challenges against the background of internal and interdisciplinary discourse and to respond to them innovatively. You will acquire a broad spectrum of quantitative and qualitative clinical research methods for the evaluation and quality assurance of clinical social work and for use in scientific research.

• Interprofessional communication skills: You can communicate complex health-related bio-psycho-social, multisectoral problems in the context of multidisciplinary cooperation. This includes systematically reflecting on your own professional actions in the context of complex practice conditions, taking into account personal resources, skills and limitations. This enables you to participate in intra- and interdisciplinary discourse and at the same time strengthen your own professional identity.

• Ethical competence and leadership skills: As a clinical social worker, you are familiar with various ethical questions of value orientation and reflect on these in the critical context of social work activities, taking into account the self-determination of clients. You are able to take professional responsibility for ethical concepts and thus help resolve ethical dilemmas

The subject of study area 1 is the theoretical foundation. Divided into two modules, the curriculum in this area of study covers the scientific approaches and fundamentals of clinical social work (KlinSa), as well as law and ethics.

Study area 2, consisting of three modules, enables students to carry out well-founded scientific work with clinical research methods and evaluation. On the basis of a broad spectrum of quantitative and qualitative research methods, students acquire the qualification to conduct independent evaluation, quality assurance and research.

Study area 3 leads to in-depth and extended intervention and planning skills on the basis of theoretical and methodological knowledge. Within the framework of four modules, students acquire knowledge and the ability to act independently in counselling, counselling, crisis intervention, social therapy, psychosocial diagnostics and organizational and system-oriented clinical social work.

In study area 4, Master’s students deepen their professional practice and self-reflection in theory, practical exercises and application in counseling and therapeutic tasks. In two modules, students deal intensively with the interlocking of theory and their own practice in relation to addressees, areas of work and activity as well as institutions, settings and forms of work with hard-to-reach clients.

In the final study area 5, students complete the curriculum with the Master’s thesis. Students acquire the skills of scientific research and topic identification as well as the planning and implementation of an empirical study on a problem or question from the field of clinical social work independently and in consideration of the developing scientific knowledge.

According to the forecasts of associations and organizations, the field of healthcare will expand and differentiate rapidly in the coming years. Demographic changes and developments in medical technology suggest that people will live longer. However, this increase in life expectancy is often accompanied by physical and psychosocial limitations or even disabilities. An increasing demand for social care is to be expected here. Clinical social work is a response to the need for intersectoral cooperation as defined by the WHO.

After all, health is not only produced by the healthcare system, just as disorders are not only treated there. Experts assume that the health situation of socially disadvantaged sections of the population will deteriorate in the coming years. For social work, this may mean that services in the area of outpatient, day-care and inpatient healthcare services will become more important. Special qualifications and professional standards – such as those taught on the Master’s degree course – are necessary due to the increased needs and requirements. Health-related expertise is therefore just as necessary in the social sector as social and socio-therapeutic expertise in the healthcare sector.

• inpatient, day-care and outpatient facilities for child, adolescent and adult psychiatry,
• (Day) clinics and practices
• Social psychiatric services
• Therapeutic shared apartments and assisted living
• Family, child and youth welfare
• Working with traumatized children and adults
• Working with victims and perpetrators of physical, psychological and sexual violence
• Specialist, acute and rehabilitation hospitals
• Outpatient and inpatient addiction counseling, addiction therapy
• Resocialization and help for those at risk
• work with the elderly and geriatric psychiatry as well as self-help projects.

Admission and admission regulations for the Master’s degree course in Social Work: Clinical Social Work Places on the Master’s degree course in Social Work: Clinical Social Work are limited to 25 students.
The admission requirements include:

• a successful completion of a first professionally qualifying university degree at a German university or an equivalent degree at a foreign university
• at least one year of relevant professional practice (in particular psychosocial, educational, medical fields of work with counseling, treatment and therapeutic tasks) on a full-time basis or a correspondingly longer period of professional practice on a part-time basis.
  The activity must have been carried out after completion of the first university degree.
• a contract for employment corresponding to the requirements of the curriculum for at least 15 hours per week or at least a binding promise of such a contract from an employment agency (the nature and type of professional activity must be made credible)
• the motivation for the application should be explained in a letter of motivation in relation to the personal study goals

Sufficient knowledge of German, at least language level B2, is required to be able to understand and process complex specialist literature. You will also need a basic knowledge of English for the evaluation of specialist literature and a good knowledge of the usual word processing programs. According to § 2 Abs. 3 of the admission regulations, a first university degree with at least 180 ECTS credits is required for admission to the Master’s in Social Work: Clinical Social Work. The Berlin Higher Education Act § 23, paragraph 3, point two also stipulates that 300 credit points are generally required for a Master’s degree, including the first professionally qualifying university degree. This requirement may be waived in individual cases if the student has the appropriate qualifications. The applicant must provide evidence of the relevant qualification in the online application procedure. Their competencies must be set out in a self-disclosure form and supported by appropriate evidence. In the case of a BA degree with 180 ECTS, a total of 270 ECTS would be acquired after completing the Master’s degree. In Germany, you are only entitled to do a doctorate with 300 ECTS credits; students are advised accordingly if they wish to do a doctorate. Information for applicants with a BA degree with less than 210 ECTS

• Information on the application and admission process
• Directly to the online application