social worker experience?
hi im looking to go into something for college involving children and i think im leering towards being a social worker. I love children and i as a child have been in situations i feel that could relate to children in homes that arent easy or healthy for them. i was talking to my family and they told me that its dangerous and doesnt pay well, and i told them i dont care about the money. But i heard they do get payed good? And my family said it was very dangerous, is it? Anyone have experience or know anyone thats a social worker?
Answers & Comments
I'm not in the counseling/social work field, but please be aware that it's supposed to have a high burn-out rate. Before applying to become a social work or counseling major, perhaps you may consider volunteering for a "crisis helpline" of which the volunteer engages in "active listening" of the callers rather than providing counseling or giving advice. The "active listening" technique includes reflecting callers' feelings and paraphrasing what has been said.
A lot of jobs for social workers either require or prefer those with a master's degree in social work (MSW). If wanting to provide an "official" mental health diagnosis and/or administer more advanced therapy techniques, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (cbt) - which deals with how one's thoughts affect one's behavior - then looking into becoming a licensed-clinical social worker (LCSW) may be something to consider. The LCSW-social worker already has a MSW and a certain amount of years of supervised clinical experience beyond the MSW degree (which depends on one's state of residence).