Competency in Generalist Practice: A Guide to Theory and Evidence-Based Decision Making

Competency in Generalist Practice features an original and timely social work practice model that will transform the way generalist and evidence-based practice are taught. Writing with outstanding clarity and sense of purpose, Elizabeth Moore Plionis guides students in the use of a decision tree that will help them take a conscious, theory- and evidence-based approach to solving the complex problems they will face as social workers. This book is a concise but powerful tool for learning how to become an effective social work practitioner.

*Presents direct and indirect practice in alternate chapters rather than separate volumes, comparing and contrasting them in an easy-to-grasp manner
*Includes chapters on topics rarely found in comparable texts, including professional regulatory and fiduciary responsibilities, case and class advocacy, and service delivery to impoverished families and children
*Covers important macro practice skills such as non-clinical communication, crisis management, and the use of groups in policy, management, and community and social change
*Features flow charts, decision schemas, and examples of process recordings that vividly illustrate the material
*Incorporates both traditional and new theories into the discussion, linking them to technique and putting them in the context of direct and indirect methods at each step of the decision hierarchy
*Supplemented by a companion website that contains slides and a teachers guide for download

Competency in Generalist Practice features an original and timely social work practice model that will transform the way generalist and evidence-based practice are taught. Writing with outstanding clarity and sense of purpose, Elizabeth Moore Plionis guides students in the use of a decision tree that will help them take a conscious, theory- and evidence-based approach to solving the complex problems they will face as social workers. This book is a concise but powerful tool for learning how to become an effective social work practitioner.

*Presents direct and indirect practice in alternate chapters rather than separate volumes, comparing and contrasting them in an easy-to-grasp manner
*Includes chapters on topics rarely found in comparable texts, including professional regulatory and fiduciary responsibilities, case and class advocacy, and service delivery to impoverished families and children
*Covers important macro practice skills such as non-clinical communication, crisis management, and the use of groups in policy, management, and community and social change
*Features flow charts, decision schemas, and examples of process recordings that vividly illustrate the material
*Incorporates both traditional and new theories into the discussion, linking them to technique and putting them in the context of direct and indirect methods at each step of the decision hierarchy
*Supplemented by a companion website that contains slides and a teachers guide for download

After twenty-four years of service, Dr. Plionis is retired from the National Catholic School of Social Service at The Catholic University of America, where she taught several different courses across program levels and sequences and served as Assistant Dean and chair of the undergraduate social work program.