What are the pros and cons to becoming a child welfare social worker? What is the job like?
You will only enjoy it without fail if you are personalitytype 2:Helper by nature. PROS: Rewarding work - making a difference in someone's life builds self esteem saving lives, familes, those in need etc. making you humble and selfless meeting people learning to be tolerant, respectful of others making you people smart and world smart making your family proud CONS: Hard work Long days-you take your work home with you in you Paperwork up your ying yang Everyone from your boss to clients mad at you Thankless job at least not blatant-saving a child from an abused home is very rewarding in itself, just don't expect accolades. A mediocre income compared to our other helping jobs like psychologist, psychiatrist becuz social work is rooted in charity. SOCIAL WORK JOBS working with the elderly working in the mental health field working in the behavioral health field working with children and families SCHOOL APPLICATION: Came down to my reasons for wanting to be a Social Worker. My letter basically came from my heart. My goals, aspirations etc. If you have volunteer experience, that alsolooks very good. If you have none, say the truth. You have not always wanted to be a CWSW but you recently decided that this might be your calling becuase you love children and that you want to do something to make a and say why. Good Luck!
If I'm under medication and seeing a psychiatrist, can I work as a mental health case worker?
I can't give you a yes-or-no answer to this question, but I may be able to outline some of the considerations that will tell you how to proceed. The first thing to think about it to turn that question back on yourself: Can you? Will you be able to do the work that is required for the role? If your symptoms are well controlled and have stayed stable for a long time, you still need to consider how you respond to stress and whether the demanding job of being a mental health case worker could trigger a relapse for you. Remember that this is a serious decision, as if you mental illness later impacts on your ability to do the work, it will impact not only on you but on any patients whose cases you are managing. The first person to ask to help you consider the above point is your psychiatrist. They know you and the pattern of your illness, and should take an interest in how you manage your life goals. The laws are different in every state and country, so I don't know if there is any legal requirement that to work as a mental health case worker you cannot have a mental illness yourself in your area. I would suspect not, as such a law would likely constitute discrimination and could be challenged. However, going through the process or challenging it could be long and stressful. The major dilemma to face is whether or not to disclose your mental illness on applying for the job. This may be required; I'm not 100% sure it applies to case workers, but for most health workers in Australia you can choose to disclose it but are not required to, however if another practitioner notices you behaving in a way that would put people at risk, they are required to report that. This is difficult to weigh up. On one hand, if you put all your cards on the table, you are more likely to get appropriate support and consideration. However, there may be an increased level of scrutiny or supervision which some people might find borders on the oppressive. If, on balance, you can't become a case worker after all, I would encourage you to consider being a peer support worker instead (For more information see: Page on canmentalhealth.org.au ). That is a role where first hand experience with mental illness, either by having one yourself or caring for somebody who does, is a requirement rather than a drawback.
What's it like to be a social worker?
It was a wonderful career. I worked in Psychiatric Hospitals, Mental Health Clinics, Juvenile Justice, Residential Childcare, Special Education in Public Schools, pioneered in the field of Neurofeedback, did two documentary films on Adult ADD and helped thousands individuals, couples groups and families. I have had an interest in Philosophy, Sociology, Anthropology, Psychoanalysis, Psychodrama, Marathon Group Therapy, Couples Therapy, Parent Effectiveness Training, Transactional Analysis, Gestalt Therapy and Neurofeedback. I provided decades of Consultation to Schools, Mental Health Clinics, Residential Childcare Centers and started a Non-Profit to support GSA Clubs across America. I have an eclectic mind and a life long interest in making life better for people. Social Work provided me an incredibly diverse, fascinating career that has allowed me to learn so much! I was never bored, always challenged to come up with new ways for people to address the issues that brought them to me. I met and studied with fascinating people i.e. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross M.D. (On Death and Dying), Virginia Satir (Mental Research Institute, Family Therapy), Daniel Amen M.D. (Functional Neuroimaging of ADD), Bandler and Grinder (Neurolinguistics Programing), John Gottman PhD, Gottman Institute (Couples Therapy) Thomas Gordon PhD (Parent Effectiveness Training), Francine Shapiro PhD (EMDR), Warren Farrell, PhD (Why Men Are The Way They Are). To maintain my license I was required to garner 20 Units of Continuing Education each year. It was a perfect career for me! I’d do it again in a heartbeat!
Is a psychiatrist a good job choice?
It's awesome that you're considering a career involving psychology or psychiatry. Your dad has some good points, but I think that you have a great attitude and that you're right...all jobs do have stressful moments. Whether you would be threatened at any point depends on what types of problems you'd like to specialize in. If you're interested in working with people with severe criminal tendencies, then you might run into some patients that may threaten you. However, if you'd rather work with patients struggling with depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, or something of that nature, then it is really very unlikely that you would be threatened. However, it is true that the job is not always uplifting. It can be hard to see how badly some people struggle, and it is a very big responsibility to know that they are sharing their most trusted secrets with you. That is one of the reasons that it is important for therapists to have excellent social and supportive networks. It is generally true that psychiatrists earn more than psychologists. However, psychiatrists have to go to medical school, which is extremely expensive. They often need to repay loans for quite some time, which subtracts from net income. Psychologists, however, have doctoral degrees. Most PhD programs in clinical psychology do not charge PhD candidates tuition and, instead, pay these students a stipend during their time in school. So, basically, although psychiatrists may earn $150+ per each 50-minute session, they have to use some of that money to repay student loans. Psychologists may earn $130-$150 per each 50-minute session, but they do not have the same number of loans to repay. Good luck!
Is becoming a psychiatrists hard?
Hi It is a great choice but a very demading and thorough career (but rewarding), if you like human interaction and like you said helping people through a systematic method which will bring gradual results for the patient then thats good go for it. Best bet to increase chances is get voluntery work in a hospital or at local councilling depts, and also lots of research before you actually make up your mind. A good idea would be to make an appointment in with someone in that field face to face if possible and ask questions (get a first hand idea). Also look at being a Psychologist (interesting also), i am going to do a masters very soon in psychology, hope it helps
Dental Hygienist or social worker?
You'll need more schooling to become a Hygienist, I think two years more. However, it does seem like an easy job and has great pay. My hygienist loves her jobs and the hours. There is not as much school to be a social worker, usually just a Bachelor's in Social Work is required. But if you end up working for a volunteer organization or even a Christian service, the pay is not very high. Some social workers have to deal with very difficult people. I would not want to me one. Though it may take more schooling, I'd go for Dental Hygienist. That's just what I think.
General opinions on social workers?
First off, one of the best ways for you to see if YOU want to consider social work is to do the internship. It will give you a good beginning feel to evaluate for yourself what social work is and what being a social worker is like. I would encourage you to have the conversation with your parents to understand why they are completely against it. Some possible reasons or myths 1) Myth: it is all about taking children out of the home - Reality - while child welfare is one area that social workers work in - it is not actually the largest area of social work practice - most social workers are actually therapists. Also social work is primarily about keeping families together - kids are removed ONLY when they are in danger of abuse and often this is temporary as parents work on addressing the issues causeing abuse. 2) Myth: Social workers don't make money - Reality in compared to other helping professions with similar level degrees - social workers actually make more money BA level 20-40 and MA level 40-60 as starting salaries. If you compare to other fields like business or medicine obviously this is less 3) Myth: social workers have few career options - Reality social workers have more career choices as the socail work degree is the most versitile in terms of populations, settings, and type of work. 4) Myth: Social work is dangerous (usually because social workers go into dangerous neiborhoods and take kids out of the home). Reality - there can be danger however when removing kids you actually have the police with you, and as said previously this is not the major focus of social work. I think you should not be a social worker if you don't care about people, poverty, social justice, improving the lives of all people. DA