Working With Students With Psychiatric Disabilities or Other Emotional Problems

The professional literature on gatekeeping in social work education has grown; however, there remains a dearth in the literature regarding how educators truly work to engage students who are experiencing a psychiatric disability or other emotional problem. This qualitative study explored the experiences of 26 social work educators from 22 colleges and universities in the United States. Practice wisdoms emerged as interwoven strategies which encourage proactive interventions that accentuate students’ strengths through socially just opportunities. Identified strategies include having an awareness of psychosocial and environmental stressors that students may be experiencing, recognizing warning signs, approaching students, and building appropriate faculty–student relationships.