Teaching Clinical Social Work in Spanish: Cultural Competency in Mental Health

Abstract

We have developed a new graduate elective in the MSW degree program called Evaluación e Intervención en Español (Assessment and Intervention in Spanish). This class, taught entirely in Spanish, is designed to train Spanish-speaking MSW students in culturally and linguistically competent clinical practice with Hispanic clients. In this case study, we summarize the course.

KEYWORDS:

• teaching research
• ethics
• oppression

Notes

¹ Although there is no clear consensus, Hispanic refers primarily to people of Spanish-speaking origin, whereas Latino refers to people originating from countries in Latin America, including Brazilians. In the U.S.–Mexico Border Region, the term Hispanic is most commonly used. In this article we use Hispanic, recognizing that other regions may prefer Latino.

² How do you say … ?