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All posts tagged private practice

January 31, 2017
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Social Work Private Practice – Be Your Own Boss

Career, Degree Directory, Social Work , , , , ,

Many people go into social work with an eye to eventually provide therapy in their own private practice.  When I went for my MSW, I was working in child welfare and thought I would be a terrible therapist.  I thought therapists were people who were academic and made leaps of intuition that were almost magical.  It turns out therapists are just trained individuals who listen, provide empathy and assist clients with finding solutions to the struggles they encounter.  Social Workers have a unique perspquote-chalk-think-wordsective because we look at the person in the environment – we look at the whole person and the systems within which they interact.  We also are strengths-based practitioners, so we help clients find the positives they can build on.  When I realized that I didn’t have to fit some preconceived mold to be a private practice therapist and identified and valued my own clinical skills – I embraced having a private practice and currently it is my favorite work as a social worker.   If you are thinking of starting your own private practice sometime in the future, here are some things you can work on now during your journey.

 

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June 30, 2016
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The Business of Social Work

Career, Degree Directory, Social Work, Uncategorized , , ,

I worked at a dialysis corporation for a few years in my career.  We occasionally had large group social worker meetings that employees from the corporate office sometimes came to present.  Often when Corporate came, they would talk about finances and insurance billing and the cost of doing business.  Virtually every time, the corporate employee would say something like “as social workers, you all just want to help people and you don’t really understand or care about the money aspect.”  It always felt very condescending like there was some deficiency with social workers because we care about helping individuals and that we all weren’t quite sophisticated enough to understand the reality of business.

Social Workers are actually extremely proficient at understanding how systems work and that nothing exists in a vacuum.  When we look at the big picture it is easy to see how there is a business aspect to social work.  Not only is money involved in how we can provide our services, we will work for businesses – our own or someone else’s.  This will necessitate understanding business or management information.

Chances are – if you are good at your job – you will be asked to take on more responsibilities – probably become someone who manages people. The thing, though, just because you are a good social worker does not mean you automatically have the skills to be a good leader or manager.  Your social work skills help you but there is a whole new world to learn.  Maybe you dream of owning your own private practice.  In both of these scenarios, you will have to develop skills that hone your business sense.  If you know you want to own your own business or become a manager or director of some type, you may want to look at school programs that also have social service slanted business classes.  (Some schools even have MSW/MBA programs.)  Many MSW programs do not have classes on social service management.  My MSW program only had one class focusing on the business aspect of social work.

Although I absolutely love the clinical aspect of my job, I think I am happiest with managing a staff at my current corporate job and also immensely enjoy running my private practice.   The business aspect of social work is my favorite.  Below is a mishmash of my thoughts on the business part of social work.

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January 31, 2016
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Social Worker as Therapist

Career, Degree Directory, Mental Health, Social Work , , , ,

Maybe Social Work as a career has appealed to you, but you have doubts if the field is a good fit  because you want to be a therapist.  The mental health field is riddled with different fields of study that lead to a career as a therapist.  These disciplines often overlap but each one has their own strength to bring to the table when treating clients.

Can a social worker’s training prepare them to be a clinical therapist?  The answer is yes!  As a social worker, I admit bias, but there are many reasons being a social worker makes for a fantastic therapist.

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December 31, 2015
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Social Work Practice and Spirituality

Career, Degree Directory, Social Work, Uncategorized , , , ,

As the New Year begins, many of us look to the hopeful possibilities of the future.  The New Year can be a catalyst to start over and grasp the future that will serve us best.   I am not a fan of New Year’s resolutions, but I was thinking about what I could focus on in my clinical practice, in order for me to be a better social work practitioner.  I was looking not to be a better employee or business owner but a better social worker.

I decided to focus on doing a better job of bringing spirituality into my social work practice.  Even though social workers are trained to look at the whole person, for some reason, it seems like a lot of social workers have difficulty including spirituality in their services.  Clinicians do a great job with the mind and body part of a person but falter a bit at spirituality.

Social workers are often confident with working with a diverse population so why is religious or spiritual preference any different?  Maybe a social worker is worried about offending their client.  They may be comfortable asking personal questions about their client’s sex life but spiritual life – not so much.  Sometimes social workers are so cognizant of not proselytizing or pushing their own beliefs on their client, that they just avoid asking the questions.   One I’ve been guilty of in the past is to avoid the question because I don’t want the client to feel like I’m judging them if they say they don’t have any spiritual practices.   Some social workers may just feel like they don’t have the knowledge of the individual’s religion or spirituality to provide guidance.

The field of social work has been getting better, overall, including spirituality.  Virtually any assessment tool that you find today will have questions on people’s spirituality.  Time and experience have taught social work that a person’s spiritual beliefs not only help them feel whole but can be a strength.  A person’s spiritual beliefs may give them hope or confidence for the future.  A person’s spiritual beliefs might give them a sense of belonging or connection to the community.

Conversely, sometimes there may be shame involved with religious beliefs or other barriers.  A person’s identity and history is wrapped up in their spiritual beliefs.  If we fail to ask about someone’s spirituality we are missing a part of them we may be able to help heal.

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July 25, 2015
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If I were my client I would… (Social Work and Self-Determination)

Career, Degree Directory, Social Work, Uncategorized , , , , , , , ,

As a social worker, we care about people.  We want them to live the best life they can.  And…at least secretly – we are sure we know what the best choices are to get what we view as the best life.

It turns out though – that even though we are assisting people in finding their way – their choices and their desired outcomes aren’t up to us.  One of the main tenets of social work is self – determination.

The National Association of Social Workers states self-determination is an ethical principle of professional practice.

 “Social workers respect and promote the right of clients to self-determination and assist clients in their efforts to identify and clarify their goals. Social workers may limit clients’ right to self-determination when, in the social workers’ professional judgment, clients’ actions or potential actions pose a serious, foreseeable, and imminent risk to themselves or others.”

It is imperative that a social worker is aware of their own value system and beliefs so they aren’t subconsciously or subtly moving the client to the clinician’s goals.  You want to act for your client’s best interest but who decides what that is?

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May 27, 2015
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Let’s Talk About Ethics!

Career, Degree Directory, Social Work , , , ,

A long time ago, when I was earning my BSW degree, we had a journal assignment to complete each day during our internship.  Basically, I was to identify and discuss an ethical dilemma I encountered each I time I worked.  Social workers come across ethical dilemmas every day. They interact with complicated systems and people.  The decisions of a social worker impacts individual’s lives and the answers are rarely black and white.  It takes work to practice as an ethical social worker.

What are ethics?  What does it mean to be ethical?   Ethics are different than the law.

The law is about what is legal.  For example, everyone talks about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA.)  This is a law.  Choosing not to follow this or other laws could lead to criminal charges, convictions, prison and/or monetary fines and other penalties.

Ethics are about the “should.”  Ethics are what choice a person “ought” to make.   There are not necessarily legal ramifications for not being ethical (although there could be professional or moral consequences.)  Ethics are where a person asks- “What is the best decision in this situation.”  Unfortunately, when you are working with complex clients the best choice isn’t always obvious.  Many times a professional will have to choose between several not so ideal choices and decide which choice is least harmful.

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