Social work career advice from Dean Nancy Smyth, PhD: her path from MSW to Dean, why MSW is just the beginning, 10+ essential clinical competencies for private practice (substance abuse screening, mental health assessment, domestic violence, trauma, dissociation, CBT, MI, record-keeping), women in academia challenges, virtual reality therapy applications, and trauma-informed care integration.
Social Work Internship: 7th Week
To give an update, since my last post, I’ve started conducting one or two intake interviews per week as part of my regular clinical work. An intake interview essentially involves asking a prospective client various questions to find out who referred the client (self, inpatient psychiatry unit, emergency psychiatry unit), what is the client’s main […]
Beginning of 2nd Year Internship
This week I had the first full week of my second year internship (or placement) at the outpatient mental health clinic at a New York hospital. On the first day, the social work department provided an orientation for all the interns in which they provided some background information about the hospital and the different functions […]
How Much Do Social Workers Earn?
To answer this question, I looked at figures from two sources: the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and Indeed.com. Regretfully, both sources seem to provide different numbers… According to a 2009 study commissioned by the NASW (results of which were released in May 2010), social workers with less than 5 years experience have a […]
Occupational Outlook for Social Workers
Based upon the Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, job prospects are expected to be favorable within the social work industry over the next several years. Overall, within the social work field, employment is expected to grow at a rate of 16%, faster than the average (12%) for […]
