ascx-begin clientid=ctl73 path=/Career/CareerProfile/CareerProfile.ascx
What They Do
About This Career
Assesses and treats individuals with mental, emotional, or substance abuse problems, including abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and/or other drugs. Activities may include individual and group therapy, crisis intervention, case management, client advocacy, prevention, and education.
This career is part of the Human Services cluster Counseling and Mental Health Services pathway.
A person in this career:
- Counsels clients in individual or group sessions to assist them in dealing with substance abuse, mental or physical illness, poverty, unemployment, or physical abuse.
- Collaborates with counselors, physicians, or nurses to plan or coordinate treatment, drawing on social work experience and patient needs.
- Monitors, evaluates, and records client progress with respect to treatment goals.
- Interviews clients, reviews records, conducts assessments, or confers with other professionals to evaluate the mental or physical condition of clients or patients.
- Supervises or directs other workers who provide services to clients or patients.
- Modifies treatment plans according to changes in client status.
- Assists clients in adhering to treatment plans, such as setting up appointments, arranging for transportation to appointments, or providing support.
- Educates clients or community members about mental or physical illness, abuse, medication, or available community resources.
- Counsels or aids family members to assist them in understanding, dealing with, or supporting the client or patient.
- Increases social work knowledge by reviewing current literature, conducting social research, or attending seminars, training workshops, or classes.
Working Conditions and Physical Demands
People who do this job report that:
- You would sit most of the time. There's some walking and standing. You may have to lift and carry things like books, papers or tools weighing 10 lbs. or less.
- Work in this occupation requires being inside most of the time
- Work in this occupation involves sitting more than one-third of the time
Working in this career involves (physical activities):
- Seeing clearly up close
- Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
- Identifying and understanding the speech of another person
Work Hours and Travel
- Regular working hours and limited travel
Specialty and Similar Careers
Careers that are more detailed or close to this career:
- Case Manager — Deals with individuals involved in accident claims to ensure that the individual receives the best possible options.
- Clinical Social Worker — Evaluates client needs, performs mental health counseling and designs treatment plans, along with other duties that involve interaction with a client's family members or health care professionals such as physical therapists, registered nurses or physician.
- Clinical Therapist
- Clinician
- Counselor
- Mental Health Therapist — Works with clients who are dealing with a range of emotional or psychological conditions.
- Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) — Works with individuals, couples, families and groups to help them overcome a range of psychological and emotional issues.
- Social Worker — Helps individuals, couples, families, groups, communities and organizations develop the skills and resources they need to enhance social functioning and provide counseling, therapy and referral to other supportive social services.
- Therapist
Every year the U.S. Department of Labor conducts national surveys of wage data by occupation in every state and in all industry divisions. These surveys are conducted through the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program.
The statistics collected for one year are published the next fall. For example, 2013 wage information was published in the fall of 2014.
There are over 800 occupations in the surveys, and these occupations cover the entire U.S. labor market. The surveys ask for reports in a scale of ranges for both hourly wages and annual wages.
In many cases, these occupations are broad enough to cover many more detailed specialties of an occupation. A specific occupation may be included in a broader occupational category for which labor market data is available. When you look at the statistics for a broad category, be aware that the salary data for a specific career may differ.
For more details about how wage information is collected and calculated by the U.S. Department of Labor, visit their website at http://www.bls.gov/bls/blswage.htm.
Every year the U.S. Department of Labor conducts a national survey of over 400,000
employers in every state and in all industry divisions. This survey is conducted
through the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program. Every other year the
department publishes outlook information based on these surveys.
Each outlook period covers 10 years. For example, in 2003 the outlook information
was published for 2004-2014. Employers are asked to report the number of employees
in about 770 different occupations that cover the entire U.S. labor market.
From this information, staffing patterns for different industries are established.
Industry growth is projected into the future based on past trends and current economic
conditions. Industry staffing patterns are then applied to the industry projections
to obtain occupational projections.
In many cases, these occupations are broad enough to cover many more detailed specialties
of an occupation. A specific occupation may be included in a broader occupational
category for which labor market data is available. When you look at the statistics
for a broad category, be aware that the employment data for a specific field may
differ.
For more details about how employment information is collected and calculated by
the U.S. Department of Labor, visit their website at http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.
ascx-end /Career/CareerProfile/CareerProfile.ascx