a few SW questions..

[Tranquility]

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So....I am recently considering changing my career path to social work or counseling. After doing a bit of research, it seems to me like social work is the way to go because you are given WAY more options.

My questions are these:

1) What is the highest level of social work you can go? (aside from PhD if that even exists!) I am seeing MSW but I am also seeing LCSW and I wasn't sure if that way higher or lower than MSW.

2) How does the pay scale vary amongst MSW, LCSW, LPC, or any other counseling/therapy position? I know it shouldn't be about the money, but I am currently a medical technologist making 55K a year and wouldn't want to go back to grad school to make less later! I spoke with one school that told me that counseling majors only started at 30k to 40k a year. Is this the case for social work as well?

3) As mentioned, I have my degree in medical technology as well as in Public Health. Will I have difficulty getting into an MSW program?

4) If I decided to go the PsyD route instead, I hear that it is very diffult to get funding and therefore i will be in major debt. True or false?

5) And lastly, I have also heard that social workers are very overworked and underpaid. True or false?

Thank you!!! 🙂

 

[phinny]

1) The highest level of licensure is the LCSW (the initials vary by state...). After you graduate you take the LMSW test and will then need a certain number of supervised clinical hours in order to be eligible for the LCSW. Generally, once you get the LCSW you can have a private practice and bill insurance companies. It usually takes around 3 years to accumulate the supervised hours needed, although that varies somewhat by state. You can get a PhD in social work (sometimes called a DSW) but that is primarily for people interested in research.

2) I don't know about LPC positions but it is doubtful you will be making 55k upon graduation. Not impossible but not likely, either. The average starting salary for my school was I believe around 45/year. Hospitals tend to pay the most. One hospital I am familiar with pays 35/hr to start. I'm currently doing fee-for-service psychotherapy and I make 25/hr.

3) SW programs are not that competitive. As long as you have ok grades and some experience, and can articulate well why you want to be a social worker, you should be ok.

4) I'm not really familiar enough with PsyD programs to comment.

5) Many social workers are indeed overworked and underpaid but I also know many who are content with both the amount of time they work and how much they make.

Good luck! Feel free to post other questions.