Social work jobs are so much more varied than many people realize. Responsibilities overlap, sure, but there are riches in the niches as the saying goes. Specializing gives you the opportunity to lean into the part of the job that interests you the most. It may even increase your salary.
Of course, it takes a special kind of person to focus on mental health positions. Social work is difficult enough without a caseload suffering from incurable illness. But if you want to give back to your community—and the fact that you are reading this pretty much proves that you do—there’s no better way.
Most mental health-specific social work careers fall in the “clinical,” category. In this article, we look at what that means, and you can begin this rewarding career path.
What Does a Clinical Social Worker Do?
As mentioned in the introduction, the most common form of mental health-related social work falls in the “clinical,” category. A clinical social worker can:
Clinical social workers provide therapy and counseling for individuals, couples, and families dealing with mental health challenges or life transitions.
- Diagnose and treat mental health conditions, often working alongside psychiatrists and other healthcare providers.
- Specialize in specific areas like addiction, trauma, or child welfare.
- Create treatment plans and help connect clients with community resources and support services.
- File reports, make recommendations about custody or care, and provide expert testimony in legal proceedings.
You’ll find clinical social workers in a variety of settings. They work in hospitals, mental health clinics, and private practices. Many serve in schools or community centers. Some work with government agencies or non-profits. Others focus on specific populations in places like veterans’ facilities or nursing homes. The versatility of their training lets them adapt to wherever they’re needed most.
How Do You Become a Clinical Social Worker?
The path to becoming a clinical social worker—and in fact, any specialized social work profession—is long and difficult. It begins by getting your bachelor’s degree in social work. From there, you may want to pause before transitioning into clinical care. Working in standard placements—schools, case management, probation offices—will give you the chance to experience the job thoroughly and decide what you do and don’t like about it.
During this time, you will undoubtedly gain plenty of exposure to people who would benefit from specialized, clinical help. Ask yourself, is this what you want every day on the job to look like? If the answer is no, that’s ok. At least you find out before you’ve enrolled in graduate school.
Once you decide that clinical social work is right for you, it’s time to take the next step by finding a good MSW program. You’ll have two primary options:
- Online: Particularly good for people who need a flexible working environment. Online colleges will often allow you to work when it is convenient. As long as you are hitting your deadlines there won’t be any problem.
- Brick and Mortar: Traditional, or “brick and mortar,” universities are good for people who prefer a more structured learning environment.
In either case, you are looking at about 2-3 years of school on average, assuming that you take a relatively full slate of classes. This, of course, is optional. If you’d like to take one class a semester for seven years, you’re free to do it.
The investment will be costly—in the neighborhood of $20K, with the potential for a much higher bill depending on what school you choose—but there are ways to make it more affordable.
If you are already employed as a social worker, you may be eligible for tuition assistance. “Community helper,” careers are also often supported by grants and scholarships, which could make it a little bit easier to get outside financial support for your degree.
You will also need to gain considerable practical experience in clinical social work while you chip away at your degree. During this time, you can work in clinical care, but under supervision. The amount of time you have to spend in this probationary period will depend on your location. Often, it’s somewhere in the neighborhood of two years.
Other Careers in Mental Health Care
You think well—that all sounds like quite a lot. Maybe you like the idea of helping lift up your community’s mental health. You just don’t want to do it as a social worker. That’s understandable.
Social work is impactful. At the end of the day, however, social workers are facilitators. They connect people with resources. They supervise people as they work to get their lives back on track. They don’t always cause change, but rather they establish the conditions for it to take place and hope for the best.
Healthcare professionals work on the other side of mental healthcare, diagnosing patients and prescribing treatment. Psychiatric nurse practitioners can design care plans, see patients, and prescribe medications. They work in hospitals, clinics, and even private practice to help drive results.
To become a psychiatric nurse practitioner, you will need to begin by getting your nursing license. From there, you will need to complete an MSN program with an emphasis on psychiatric care.
That sounds like a big pivot—and it is—but there are ways to make it manageable. For one thing, since all social workers at least have a bachelor’s degree, you will not need to go back to college. You will be able to look for licensure-only programs that can be completed in 12-18 months.
You may even be able to find programs that allow you to work on your undergraduate and graduate studies almost at the same time. Instead of spending seven more years in school, you might become fully certified in three or four.
Conclusion
Mental healthcare is never easy—regardless of what side of the fence you fall on. The patients are always in desperate situations. This is not exactly new territory for social workers, but the situation is a little unique. Whereas a recent parolee may be able to turn their life around and find success on the outside, someone with a chronic mental health condition will always deal with highs and lows.
Regardless, it’s special work that can produce very rewarding careers for the people who are willing to do it.
MindOwl Founder – My own struggles in life have led me to this path of understanding the human condition. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy before completing a master’s degree in psychology at Regent’s University London. I then completed a postgraduate diploma in philosophical counselling before being trained in ACT (Acceptance and commitment therapy).
I’ve spent the last eight years studying the encounter of meditative practices with modern psychology.