Issues of Clinical Social Work - Term Paper Example

?Clinical Social Work Clinical Social Work of The Profession In US the group that forms the largest portion of practitioners of behavioural sciences is recognized as clinical social workers. Their main task is to analyze and identify mental health issues faced by individuals. Their main purpose is to look after the cognitive well being of singles, families, teenagers, adults, seniors and various other people who fall in different categories. Their prime focus is on providing psychotherapy so subjects can adjust in their environments. Formal Training Requirements The practices and the practitioners of clinical social work are regulated and directed by the government of US. Clinical social workers are guided to acquire and maintain following credentials: they are required to obtain master’s degree that is accredited by the Council of Social Work Education, an experience of at least 2 years or at least 3000 working hours in a clinical setting that is supervised and monitored and the y need a licence to practice their learned area (Maguire, 1990). All Clinical social workers have to deal with various individuals and groups and they have to give importance and focus on the participation of client during their practice. The NASW (National Association of Social Workers) have set best practices guideline for these practitioners with following aims and objectives: increase and stabilize high quality care, assist and supervise other social workers during practice, a framework should be in place to assess how social workers are performing and informing stakeholders about the practices standardized for clinical social work. Typical Work Setting These practitioners are a very important element of various settings such as healthcare centres, hospitals, schools, child care agencies, agencies that look after aging individuals and private practices (Berlin, 2002). The practitioners work with the aim of helping client’s recognize their issues and help them in coping with these issues on their own in order to make them independent from their need of care providers. They even work towards the goal of changing the perception of patients regarding social work. The typical work setting in which such practitioners practice includes: Institutes of mental health care, government controlled mental hospitals, centres of mental health; home based mental health services and private practices. Counselling Issues Dealt By Clinical Social Workers These practitioners help their patients in adapting to the environment they are living in; they even use entire family members during treatment sessions. The issues these cognitive practitioners work on include senior and child abuse, family issues such as family violence, issues experienced while adapting to illnesses, individuals conducting abuse of substance and cultural issues. Tools And Techniques Used The practitioners are expected to exhibit special knowledge regarding the field and exercise skills required for effective and efficient treatment of families and individuals. During their educational life, they come across various theories that clearly inform them about the various effects of cultural, psychological and social factors have on an individual’s cognitive ability. These practitioners obtain information regarding client’s social and personal environment, analyze the information they have obtained from clients and treat clients according to their area of practice, create goals that are mutually accepted by the client, once the treatment is in place, these workers have to evaluate its effectiveness, they should know what resources and tools need to be used during treatment and even take assistance from other social workers if needed. Therefore, these professionals are required to apply what they have learned during their practice period. The social workers working in clinical settings are required to obtain training and consultation if they require more knowledge, skills and abilities while treating patients that are suffering from issues higher than the practitioners expertise, and if needed he should even refer such patients to other social workers who have higher expertise. These practitioners have to analyze the issues faced by patients and treat them accordingly. They need to identify the cultural and social aspects that have led to the patient’s mental imbalance. They have to refer to previous cases while dealing with clients, and maintain records and documentation of sessions held with the patients. Professional Issues Social workers are recognized for being responsible for operating with high level of integrity and dignity while providing services to clients and during their practice they have to protect their client’s right to gain high quality psychological treatment. These challenges may pertain to the policies and regulations that social worker’s have to follow during their practices. If at any point in time they may face a conflict of interest or cognitive dissonance during decision making, they should act in complete compliance with the code of ethics created by the NASW. All social workers are expected to create and maintain a stable relationship of trust, respect and dignity during their practice. They are even directed by regulation to limit their clients in accordance to their expertise as they are even held responsible for all the judgements and decisions they make (Russell, 1990). Clinical social workers are required to be culturally competent so they can handle clients from different cultures in different ways, without this competence, these workers are limited to practice on certain or few number of patients. An important aspect of clinical social work is how easily available and accessible is the practitioner to his/her clients. They should be always available for all the schedules they have created with their clients otherwise clients feel that the worker does not care about them and in case of emotional issues, this can be a very huge problem (Dorfman, 2004). The practitioner has to be ready to face emergency situations; he should be ready to give up his personal time and vacation period to help his/her clients. The schedules should be created by consulting with the settings where these practitioners are practicing and ease of clients should be taken into consideration during scheduling process. If clients have certain disabilities, the setting where clinical social workers are practicing should have equipments to help such clients. The most important aspect of this kind of work is privacy of client information and relationship between the client and the practitioner. During sessions, clients share information that is very personal to them and if this information is shared, the client’s personal life may be at risk. These workers should be informed and knowledgeable about the various standards of privacy and confidentiality of patients set by the policy makers. Information about clients can only be shared if the client has agreed (Munson, 2002). Conclusion A clinical social worker has to have a master’s degree and two years of experience of working under supervision to start practicing and gain recognition as a clinical social worker, another important aspect is the licence required to practice. A clinical social worker is required to work according to the standards set by the regulatory body and ensures that optimal quality of service is offered to clients. References Russell, M. N. (1990). Clinical social work: Research and practice. Newbury Park, Calif: Sage Publications. Maguire, L. (2002). Clinical social work: Beyond generalist practice with individuals, groups, and families. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole-Thomson Learning. Berlin, S. B. (2002). Clinical social work practice: A cognitive-integrative perspective. New York: Oxford University Press. Munson, C. E., & Munson, C. E. (2002). Handbook of clinical social work supervision. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Social Work Practice. Dorfman, R. A., Meyer, P., & Morgan, M. L. (2004). Paradigms of clinical social work: Vol. 3. New York: Brunner/Routledge. Read More