Mission

In accordance with the mission of the National Capital Consortium, the Child and Family Practice Social Work Fellowship educates and prepares uniformed services health professionals to support both the military and its family members in the United States and abroad.

Vision

The vision for our program is to promote mental health and train well-rounded social workers through excellence in education and clinical practice

Aims

• Train highly skilled, highly effective, and emotionally resilient military child social workers to aid in the mission of helping families.
• Implement fellowship initiatives to better support wellness of trainees and faculty.
• Perform continuous, sustainable, and meaningful program evaluation.
• Ensure recruitment of the most talented and qualified candidates into the Child and Family Practice Social Work fellowship training program.

Weekly Didactics

• Weekly Clinician’s Corner
• Weekly Grand Rounds

First Year Didactics

• Child Psychotherapy Seminars including Psychodynamic, Play-Based, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• Integrated Growth & Development, Psychopathology, and Psychopharmacology
• Family Therapy
• Group Psychotherapy

Second Year Didactics

• Couples and Parent Counseling
• Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Consultation-Liaison Series (School-based, Hospital-based, Military)
• Forensic Child & Adolescent Lecture Series
• Substance Abuse in Children
• CBT Therapy and Supervision
• Administrative/Military Social Work: Being a Service Chief

Combined First and Second Year Didactics

• Continuous Case Conference
• Developmental Assessment & Formulation
• Journal Club/Evidenced Based Medicine

Second year fellows have opportunity to complete Supervision Course at the Medical Center of Excellence in San Antonio, TX.

Second year Fellows are assigned leadership roles within the fellowship to include:

• Program Evaluation Committee Member: Serve as a fellow member to engage in development of program and sustain needs of Social Work fellows

• Wellness Chief: Serve as primary liaison between Program Director, Associate Program Director, Faculty and all Social Work Fellows regarding fellow burnout prevention and wellness endeavors.

Fellows participate in quality improvement programs within the Child and Family Practice Social Work Fellowship complementing the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Services Clinic. Fellows also have the opportunity to complete quality improvement projects within Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Child and Family Practice Social Work Fellows are afforded professional development opportunities through the National Association of Social Workers, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Medical Center of Excellence in San Antonio, TX, and local organizations in the National Capital Region.

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center: Armed Forces Center for Child Protection

Second year fellows act as a mentor and will assist during first year fellow onboarding and training. There are also opportunities to educate during Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service Orientation Briefs as well as briefs for psychiatry residents on topics related to parenting and families.

Faculty members are board certified or trained in the following specialties and subspecialties: social work, general psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, forensic psychiatry, addiction psychiatry, neurology, clinical psychology, and developmental psychology.

Fellows will be assigned a global supervisor throughout the fellowship. Global supervisors will provide continuous guidance on clinical patient encounters.

Fellow and faculty wellness is our primary aim and one of our main focuses in this program. This is made evident by our successful implementation of opportunities for taking your well-earned military leave from the program, our regularly scheduled wellness activities including team building activities in the place of didactics every fifth Wednesday, and our more subtle extensive opportunities for health, welfare, and support for residents should they need his assessments during their program.