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Financial Stress Social Workers Face: Why Low Pay Isn’t the Whole Story

By Dorlee Leave a Comment

Social worker experiencing financial stress while reviewing documents and budget paperwork at desk

You chose social work to help people. You knew the salary wouldn’t be impressive. But somewhere along the way, the financial stress became unbearable, and it’s not just about the paycheck. Here’s what most people get wrong about financial stress in social work: it’s not just about the salary. It’s about your relationship with money, formed long before you became a social worker.

Filed Under: Self Care, Clinical Skills, Professional Development Tagged With: compassion fatigue, EMDR therapy, financial self-care, financial stress, financial trauma, financial wellness, imposter syndrome, money anxiety, money beliefs, professional boundaries, self-care, social work burnout, social work salary, social worker wellbeing, worthiness

Imposter Syndrome in Social Work: Why It Shows Up & What Helps

By Dorlee

Iceberg metaphor illustrating imposter syndrome in social work - the gap between external competence and internal self-doubt

Imposter syndrome in social work affects most early career clinicians, yet it’s rarely discussed openly in training programs. Learn why it’s so common in the profession, how it shows up in daily practice, and what actually helps beyond “just be more confident.”

Filed Under: Professional Development Tagged With: clinical skills, imposter syndrome, perfectionism, professional development, professional identity, self-care, self-doubt, social work, social worker wellbeing, workplace anxiety, worthiness mental health professionals compassion fatigue

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