I hope you are all doing well. I’m looking forward to class tonight.

Unit Introduction and What You Will Learn

In week three, we continue to learn about working with families. We move beyond assessment and understanding to how we can work with families and some skills for enhancing relationships. Students will read chapter 15 of Hepworth et al. (2023). Next, we will dive into family engagement and first- and second-order strategies for families.

The agenda will be as follows:

• Review the family system framework
• Discuss family engagement
• Practice with starting services
• Implementing first/second order strategies

Learning Objectives include:

• Demonstrate the ability to apply the family systems framework to assess key dynamics in family functioning.
• Distinguish between first-order and second-order interventions and identify appropriate applications for each.
• Reflect on their own family experiences and beliefs to better understand their professional approach to working with families.

Unit Assignments

Read

• Hepworth et al. (2022) Chapter 15 Enhancing Family Functioning and Relationships

A-01: Class Engagement and Attendance

Attend Class

A-02: Reading Engagement and Check-in Questions

W-03 A-02 Reading Questions is due before the class on Wednesday.

Unit Resources

Attached to this week’s course page are three handouts. I will bring copies to class, but they include Time-outs, Fifteen Fair Fighting Rules, and Validating vs. Invaliding Statements. Last week we spent time reviewing Applying Family Systems Framework Assessment. We will continue to use to during class, please bring your copy.

All of the presentations for this class can be found at https://presentations.jacobrcampbell.com. This week’s slides are Spring 2026 SOWK 487w Week 03 - Enhancing Relationships and Working with Families.

The Lecture Videos tab in the MyHeritage course is where you will be able to find class recordings.

To-Do Lists

• A-01: Class Attendance and Engagement Attend class
• Read Hepworth et al. (2022) Chapter 15
• Complete W-03 A-02 Reading Questions