What Makes Clinical Social Work Essential in Our Lives
Emphases of clinical social work include collaborative problem solving and increasing the client's social, environmental awareness, and encouraging the social environment to be more responsible and responsive to the needs of their clients.
Training requirements for a prospective clinical social worker include at least the completion of master's degree in social work, and in most cases, two years of internship training. Completing this training qualifies social workers to take an exam and become a licensed clinical social worker.
Clinical social workers may work in various settings. They may work in hospitals, particularly in mental institutions or drug treatment centers where they could provide counselling for patients and help them plan support after they are discharged from the hospital, work with the patient's family or facilitate group counselling if needed. In drug treatment facilities, diagnosticians play a very vital role because drug abuse and mental problems are often very much related. In some mental hospitals, the social workers assume the diagnostic role in coordination with other practitioners on staff.
In many family serving agencies, such as family mental health agencies or child protective services, the clinical social worker's role is very important. Social workers may be responsible for assessing the wellness and health needs of families, determine whether or not there's a need for intervention for the protection of children, and talk with other agencies which offer services to families or children in need of them. Social workers may also be employed in agencies that provide services to the elderly or protect them. Their responsibilities may include identifying who need these services or protection and working with specific clients.
There are clinical social workers involved in a private practice and work as a psychotherapist. In this case, having a licensed clinical social worker or LCSW designation is necessary. This designation allows them to be therapists in almost all cases. In this position, they might work with couples, families, adults, or children.