Rural social work practice: Trauma-focused interventions social workers use

This research study examines rural social workers’ level of trauma knowledge and trauma treatment self-efficacy and the use of evidence-based interventions (CBT, TF-CBT, CPT, EMDR and PE). A retrospective design was used to examine Texas rural social workers’ use of evidence-based interventions. The Texas rural social worker sample (N=19) was extrapolated from a larger study (N=1007) conducted in 2014 examining Texas social workers’ trauma treatment and their use of evidence-based interventions. Descriptive and correlation statistical procedures were implemented to analyze the data for the current study. The results show social workers’ knowledge of trauma and treatment self-efficacy scores are above average. Furthermore, continuing education and training are associated with evidence-based intervention use. However, not all interventions used are associated with continuing education and training (e.g., CBT). Therefore, the trauma-focused intervention social workers use could determine whether it is cost-effective to train social workers in a certain intervention or not.