—
Social work is a comprehensive field. If you’re looking into it as a career, you might face conundrums such as deciding between becoming a counselor or a social worker. You should ask yourself what kind of work environment you want, what group of people you want to assist most, and what strengths you think you can offer to the field. Depending on what you want to do, you may need to pursue a master’s or a doctorate degree.
Ways to practice counseling
The first thing you should realize is that a career in counseling doesn’t necessarily mean running your own practice. There’s no shortage of different ways to practice counseling. One such way is owning and operating your own practice, which is no small feat. Another viable option is group practice within an established organization. The idea of joining a collective might be appealing. Jennifer Taylor published a salient article on Practice of the Practice that highlights the main differences between group practice and solo private practice. You should be sure to weigh the pros and cons carefully before disqualifying or committing to counseling as a career path.
Social work
Launching a career as a social worker isn’t always as simple as people assume at first. The first thing to do is crystallize your understanding of the field. Social work is a rather extensive category that encompasses multiple professional specialties. Staff at the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) released a basic overview briefly explaining the types of social work available to aspiring professionals. Social workers devoted to child and public welfare differ from those involved with advocacy and community organization. This isn’t to say that any given specialty is more important than another–only that you’ll have to decide which specialty speaks to you before committing.
Degrees and licensure
While it’s certainly possible to begin practicing social work with only a bachelor’s degree, you should be aware of the fact that there are key advantages to earning an advanced degree. Writers at Social Work Licensure explain that the most critical thing to do is make sure any program or licensure process is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). That’s a relatively straightforward criterion. Programs without such an accreditation are unlikely to adequately prepare students for field practice and/or state licensure exams.
Licensure is what you’ll have to pursue in order to practice at any level of professional expertise. The requirements for licensure vary depending on the state. That means some state criteria could be more stringent than others. You’ll have to spend time contemplating where you might want to practice and then research the relevant state licensure requirements. Fortunately, editors at Human Services Edu already did the legwork and created a comprehensive resource explaining all about social work licenses. That’s a great place to begin your investigation.
You should also explore the possibility of online social work degrees, which might offer you the right mix of convenience and quality that could expedite launching a career in social work.
This article is brought to you by our Site Sponsor Claire Peters
—
Photo: Getty Images