Kara Cavel, Ph.D., LICSW

Social work education "recognizes a holistic view of competence; that is, the demonstration of competence is informed by knowledge, values, skills, and cognitive and affective processes that include the social worker’s critical thinking, affective reactions, and exercise of judgment in regard to unique practice situations" (Council on Social Work Education, Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards, 2022, p. 7). Through assignments, discussions, readings, and role-plays, faculty have designed opportunities to enhance the knowledge, skills, values, and cognitive affective processes needed to effectively work with individuals, families, groups, communities, and organizations. 

The NWU Master in Social Work program is concerned with those who have been uniquely affected by traumatic events. The program is both trauma-informed and trauma-conscious. This means we focus not only on the experiences of those we serve, but also on the experience of the social worker within their role as a helping professional. My teaching upholds a trauma-conscious approach by emphasizing the importance of interoceptive awareness, enhancing one's ability to trust oneself, the use of invitational language as both a skill and intervention in order to integrate the power of choice within all interactions, encouraging curiosity about our role in relationships, and increasing awareness of how we experience and use power. 

Furthermore, it is notable, the encounter between two or more unique individuals (the client/constituent and the social worker) will generate an autonomous pattern of unfoldment (the third space) with unpredictable elements that may be unknowable during the interaction or discovered eventually through the social work process.

This unfoldment invites students to find the balance between the art, the doing and feeling, and science, the thinking and knowing, of social work.

The science of social work is generated from the consilience of disciplines rooted in psychology, biology, sociology, history, and mathematics. The science of social work is taught in the classroom, in the field, in workshops and conferences, and with the guidance of supervisors/mentors. The science of social work involves critically appraising research studies, theories, interventions, and ethical dilemmas. It also requires an understanding the role of neurobiology in human development and behavior. The science of social work invites critical analysis of our country’s history and the policies and laws which impact the social, emotional, and economic well-being of individuals, families, groups, and communities. 

The art of social work is equally valuable. The Greek translation of psychology, one of the major disciplines to influence the profession of social work, is soul. For me, learning the art of social work has been a soul-centered journey. My interpretation of the art of social work was born out of discovering the creative power of developing a relationship with myself. I believe in order to be of service to others, one must know thyself through the process of self-reflection. Self reflection is intended to help students understand themselves better in all of their complexity, leading to an improved understanding of the complex nature of others.