Transform traditional assessment practices by incorporating social justice perspectives and understanding systemic influences on mental health. This course challenges mental health professionals to reimagine clinical assessment through a social justice framework. Participants will critically examine how traditional assessment approaches often overlook systemic influences on mental health and perpetuate inequities in diagnosis and treatment. By integrating social justice principles into assessment practices, participants will develop skills to more accurately conceptualize client concerns while avoiding pathologizing responses to structural inequities, ultimately leading to more ethical, equitable, and effective mental health care.

Upon completion of the webinar, participants will be able to:

• Describe social justice in clinical assessment, recognizing systemic inequalities, power dynamics, and sociocultural contexts that impact mental health.
• Recognize the limitations of traditional assessment approaches and apply key principles of cultural humility, strengths-based practice, and intersectionality to conduct more culturally responsive and socially just clinical assessments.
• Implement strategies to expand assessment domains beyond individual pathology, incorporating social determinants of health, systemic influences, and client expertise to develop a more holistic understanding of clients’ experiences.