About the IPC
Advancing Social Justice Through Transformative Practice
Professional schools in American universities offer discipline-specific clinical services and training in law, psychology and social work. The Interprofessional Center for Counseling and Legal Services at the University of St. Thomas is among the first in the country through which faculty, staff and students from law, psychology and social work collaborate to help clients in need. At the same time, students from all three disciplines gain practical experience working on real cases, learning skills that will serve them well in their future careers.
Through the IPC, students from the School of Law and the Morrison Family College of Health’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology and School of Social Work can help people and communities who face complex legal, psychological and social issues but lack the resources to pay for the professional services they need.
How We Work
Interprofessional Collaboration
The Center is comprised of three independent separate services under one roof, Social Work Services, Psychological Services and the Legal Services Clinic. At the same time, we are committed to interprofessional collaboration within the boundaries of the three primary professions involved. Based on practices developed by the health care professions, we have developed a set of Interprofessional Collaboration Competencies to inform how we work together across professional boundaries. Students at the IPC are immersed in experiential learning that trains them in best practice care for clients. Interprofessional training gives students an advantage when they enter their professions after completing their degrees.
Experiential Learning
Under the guidance of the center’s faculty and fellows, law students represent and assist underserved populations of the Twin Cities in ten practice areas: Immigration, community justice, criminal defense, bankruptcy litigation, federal commutations, federal appellate, religious liberty appellate, nonprofit organizations, trademark and special education. The social work and psychology clinics are supervised by licensed faculty from their respective schools.
With extensive client interaction, the center provides unparalleled opportunities for experiential learning. Student connection to clients is deep, and the work is often intense. Through their work, students develop a distinctive link to the community that is consistent with the University of St. Thomas mission
Continuous Improvement
While much thought has gone into developing the Interprofessional Center and establishing relationships between the programs, the Center will always be a work in progress. We are part of a growing movement to provide more integrated services and greater professional collaboration and hope to become a model used by other programs.
Interprofessional Collaboration
Interprofessional Collaboration
The Center is comprised of three independent separate services under one roof, Social Work Services, Psychological Services and the Legal Services Clinic. At the same time, we are committed to interprofessional collaboration within the boundaries of the three primary professions involved. Based on practices developed by the health care professions, we have developed a set of Interprofessional Collaboration Competencies to inform how we work together across professional boundaries. Students at the IPC are immersed in experiential learning that trains them in best practice care for clients. Interprofessional training gives students an advantage when they enter their professions after completing their degrees.
Experiential Learning
Experiential Learning
Under the guidance of the center’s faculty and fellows, law students represent and assist underserved populations of the Twin Cities in ten practice areas: Immigration, community justice, criminal defense, bankruptcy litigation, federal commutations, federal appellate, religious liberty appellate, nonprofit organizations, trademark and special education. The social work and psychology clinics are supervised by licensed faculty from their respective schools.
With extensive client interaction, the center provides unparalleled opportunities for experiential learning. Student connection to clients is deep, and the work is often intense. Through their work, students develop a distinctive link to the community that is consistent with the University of St. Thomas mission
Continuous Improvement
Continuous Improvement
While much thought has gone into developing the Interprofessional Center and establishing relationships between the programs, the Center will always be a work in progress. We are part of a growing movement to provide more integrated services and greater professional collaboration and hope to become a model used by other programs.
Types of Service Provision
The legal clinics, will seek to collaborate with the psychology and/or social work programs as needed. Clients at the IPC can access legal services independently or in collaboration with Counseling Services depending on client need.
Both Social Work and Psychological Services work with clients for therapeutic and case management services. Clients at the IPC can access Counseling services independently or in collaboration with Legal Service depending on client need.
Under the supervision of a licensed psychologist, students provide psychological assessments for Legal Services Clinic clients, as well as for persons referred from outside agencies. Clients of the IPC can access Psychological Assessments/Evaluations independently or in collaboration with the other disciplines.
