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What difficulties have you faced as a social worker?

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Annah’s Answer

Renee, While I am not a social worker with an MSW license, I am a clinical psychotherapist. I have worked alongside social workers (and continue to do so). There is some overlap between the roles. As someone who works in community and public health in an urban environment, there are many challenges. I can only speak to the ones I know about. I currently work at a large trauma hospital. I have also worked in supportive housing outreach, integrative health clinics, crisis settings, public school, homeless shelter, geriatric care, and Cancer support center settings. I have mainly worked with people facing great barriers in life- a great deal of trauma and abuse, addiction, homelessness, racism, economic problems, and more. This can take a big toll emotionally on the helper- whether social work or counselor. The term for this is vicarious trauma. It can lead to burnout quite quickly and early in a career. Another challenge is the system itself- it is not set up to effectively support patients/clients or those who work in the field. This is not a career that is considered lucrative by any means. It is literally a labor of love. The best way you can prepare yourself is to have your own outlets of support and to make self-care a priority. A great resource to check out is the book, Trauma Stewardship. I hope this does not discourage you from pursuing a career is social services, but it definitely takes a certain kind of person- one with great reserves of empathy, endurance, and optimism! Social work is more diverse than counseling and can be a better career choice for this reason. There are more job opportunities where you work directly and indirectly with people. You can even work as a travel social worker or work abroad. This is something not available to clinical counselors (the field has yet to be recognized as similarly valuable and transferable). It is an incredible career path that may have you working in government, forensic, or medical settings. You can go into private practice or choose to work with a team. Pace yourself and learn what type of jobs feel energizing (vs depleting). Recognize the signs of burnout and act accordingly- take a break, take a vacation, up your self-care, get connected to social and psychological supports. You can make a huge difference in people's lives, including your own!
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