Center for Adult and Continuing Studies

Course Description

Social workers are often called to support individuals, families, and communities experiencing pain, trauma, grief, and crisis. Yet the cumulative effects of workplace stress, compassion fatigue, and cognitive overload can unintentionally influence professional judgment and increase reliance on implicit bias.

Objectives:

1. Recognize how stress, compassion fatigue, and cognitive overload can increase reliance on implicit bias and influence professional judgment in social work practice.
2. Examine how Compassion Resilience and the P.A.U.S.E. Framework" strengthen self-awareness, reflective practice, and cultural humility to reduce the influence of implicit bias. 
3. Apply the P.A.U.S.E. Framework" to interrupt implicit bias and promote equitable, culturally responsive, and person-centered social work practice. 
4. Evaluate the influence of stress, implicit bias, and lived experiences on pain assessment, client advocacy, and pain management in social work practice. 
5. Integrate Compassion Resilience and the P.A.U.S.E. Framework" to strengthen clinical judgment, support equitable pain management, and enhance advocacy for individuals experiencing acute and chronic pain.