Social workers stand up for millions of people every day and that is why the month of March has been designated Social Workers Month. Social workers stand up for people experiencing devastating illnesses and mental health crises, veterans, children, families and communities. Yet many people still misunderstand who social workers are and the invaluable contributions they make to society.
When I initially thought about becoming a social worker, I quickly dismissed it. I thought social workers work for public agencies and remove children from their homes. I soon learned that there is more to the field of social work.
What Is a Clinical Social Worker?
With 250,000 practitioners serving millions of client consumers, clinical social workers constitute the largest group of mental health/healthcare providers in the nation.
Clinical social work is a specialized practice of social work that focuses on assessment, diagnosis, advocacy and prevention of emotional and behavioral mental health issues. Clinical Social work is based on theories and evidence-based practices.
Clinical social workers focus on looking at the person in their environment and work from a strengths-based approach, meaning that they work with the client to find out what their strengths are and what they possess that can be used to assist in addressing the issues causing struggles in their life. Clinical social workers also focus on respecting client’s rights and building a strong therapeutic relationship with everyone that is important in that client’s environment.
What Is an LCSW? A Licensed Clinical Social Worker is someone who has a master’s degree in social work, MSW, form an accredited school. They go on to have two-to-four years of training completing 100 supervision hours from an LCSW and 3,000 practice hours and then pass a state exam. Licensed clinical social workers often have additional training and specialize in one or more areas.
After deciding to become a clinical social worker 30 years ago, I have since learned that social workers are some of the most warm, compassionate, kind, caring, passionate and empathic people I know.
At Crossroads Family Counseling Center, LLC, we have six clinical social workers and an MSW student intern on our team. We celebrate National Social Work month by striving to honor the our clients by focusing on their strengths while looking at their entire environment and how it may be impacting the struggles they are having. We actively collaborate with parents, schools, family members and other professionals in the community to assist in working with our clients. I celebrate clinical social workers this month and am thankful to be a part of such a wonderful profession.