Social Workers In a Nutshell

Many people ask, "so just what does a social worker do?" and they associate us with child welfare services. While it's true many social workers work in child welfare agencies, there are many more settings you may encounter us.

In a nutshell, we are folks with a strong desire to help people improve their lives.  We work in many settings such as schools, hospitals, hospices, home health agencies, outpatient case management, dialysis clinics, outpatient healthcare clinics, mental health agencies, substance abuse and recovery agencies, and even in political lobbying settings to name a few.  Most agencies require a minimum of a Masters in Social Work (MSW) but some employ folks with Bachelors Degrees.

Some of us have pursued licensing (Licensed Clinical Social Worker in California) and have the legal ability and training to offer private practice psychotherapy (counseling) services. Here's a fact sheet on our professional website for more information:

www.socialworkers.org/pressroom/2011/HSH-FactSheet2011.pdf

You can visit our professional organization the National Association of Social Workers main page at www.socialworkers.org for more information. 

Or www.helpstartshere.org sponsored by NASW for more information and support.