MSW Do all msw program train in psychotherapy?

[InfoNerd101]

Or do onky certain ones prepare social workers to train and practice psychotherapy?

Those that provide it, do they train in all modalities of psychotherapy (ie, CBT, DBT, etc.) or do they only focus in and and if you want to practice other you need to get additional training?

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[wesleysmith]

No, not all programs are geared towards clinical practice. Even those that are, that can include medical social work and case management type programs, so you'll want to look into it (including field placements). Programs tend to have a focus (e.g., behavioral, psychodynamic, interpersonal, etc.), but some may have electives, specializations, or field programs that are meant to train you specifically in one modality or another. The majority of that type of training will most likely come from agency training and CEUs though, even if you get it in your program you'll want/need more, especially if you plan on becoming certified in it. Some require you to already have a license, even a limited one, to count towards certification I believe. You could probably google that though, I'm not sure so this is my quick and dirty answer.

 

[submarine1991]

My program has a psychodynamic bent. It is by no means a shortcut to become a psychotherapists nor is it all encompassing. For that I might reccomend a Ph.d, Psy.D, MFT, etc program. However my program has a reputation for its matriculation of clincal social workers. We had electives like CBT, DBT, ACT,Narrative and several classes for psychodynamic techniques.
That being said, there are several programs without a clinical track.

 

[Ecomaster]

I'll go out of a limb to say that to a reasonable extent, ALL social workers are trained to be direct practice professionals (even the ones on the macro track). One can't leave school without some basic foundation for skills to engage clients, families, communities. Heck even if you are on the macro track, you're expected to communicate with other colleagues, persons in positions of power, etc to affect change in policy, and you need have some level of interpersonal competence.

However, if you are more trained on the "micro" track, you may be exposed to more theories and framework to practice on a micro level. You may also have more training and opportunities to hone those skills through the 2 years of MSW fieldwork through a "micro" based placement with a supervisor that is training you to do more micro based work. However even as a micro based worker you need to have knowledge of greater society to see a client holistically.

Psychotherapy feels like a very exclusive domain, it is in alot of ways, but I venture to say that if you can engage a person as a professional , provide services to help the person meet their goals, that would be far more important than saying you done the best psychotherapy to help someone. Look at Carl Rogers, client-centered approach. Alot of what makes someone effective in psychotherapy, counseling, or even basic client engagement and helping process is simply having a positive relationship that can affect client centered change. I truly hope that people can consider to look past titles (MHC, LCSW, MFT, ETC) which are important to an extent, but also consider how to be in the most helping in a professional relationship without resorting to just saying because I am using this psychotherapy technique or that skill.

-Eco

 

[AcronymAllergy]

I'll go out of a limb to say that to a reasonable extent, ALL social workers are trained to be direct practice professionals (even the ones on the macro track). One can't leave school without some basic foundation for skills to engage clients, families, communities. Heck even if you are on the macro track, you're expected to communicate with other colleagues, persons in positions of power, etc to affect change in policy, and you need have some level of interpersonal competence.

However, if you are more trained on the "micro" track, you may be exposed to more theories and framework to practice on a micro level. You may also have more training and opportunities to hone those skills through the 2 years of MSW fieldwork through a "micro" based placement with a supervisor that is training you to do more micro based work. However even as a micro based worker you need to have knowledge of greater society to see a client holistically.

Psychotherapy feels like a very exclusive domain, it is in alot of ways, but I venture to say that if you can engage a person as a professional , provide services to help the person meet their goals, that would be far more important than saying you done the best psychotherapy to help someone. Look at Carl Rogers, client-centered approach. Alot of what makes someone effective in psychotherapy, counseling, or even basic client engagement and helping process is simply having a positive relationship that can affect client centered change. I truly hope that people can consider to look past titles (MHC, LCSW, MFT, ETC) which are important to an extent, but also consider how to be in the most helping in a professional relationship without resorting to just saying because I am using this psychotherapy technique or that skill.

-Eco

I don't know that I would necessarily agree with the bolded portion. I do agree that both what you've mentioned and the provision of psychotherapy are extremely important. And there are of course a variety of "common factors," such as those espoused and studied by Rogers and others, that are necessary (but not sufficient) for providing psychotherapy.

However, if you're working to treat a specific disorder, set of maladaptive behaviors, etc., then you really do need psychotherapy rather than just a positive and professional engagement with the client. Unfortunately, some folks will end up calling such an engagement psychotherapy, which can confuse clients, and worse, can cause them to write therapy off altogether when it's not effective in facilitating change.