Mental health is an important field of social work, and social work is one of the most enduring and widespread fields contributing to the helping of the those with mental disorders: most mental health professionals actually work as part of the social work field. In fact, 60% of mental health professionals are social workers, which are recognized as one of the the five core groups of mental health professionals. Though the general idea of mental health social workers is probably of people working in asylums or in rehabilitation centers, there are actually many different groups, on micro, mezzo, and macro levels, that can be helped through mental health social work. On the macro level, there are mental health programs aimed at a community and
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They often work in hospitals in order to diagnose mental illnesses and help with a discharge plan from a hospital or psychiatric setting. They assess their patients, and often provide therapy, as they are in frequent contact with family members of their patients. They must work together closely with members of mental health teams, such as doctors and nurses, in order to discuss the care that their patients will be receiving. Once out of the hospital or controlled environment, the patient is often moved to an outpatient treatment center, where he or she will also be treated by a psychiatric social worker. The average wage for this type of social worker was $48,960 in 2011, and there were 10,800 people employed in this setting. This job has good job security, as the Bureau of Labor and Statistics projects 31% growth for mental health social workers before …show more content…
Due to this, there is a high rate of “burnout” within the field. A 2005 study from the The British Journal of Psychiatry investigated the overall satisfaction of workers within the field, and many even report scores of a four or above on the GHQ-12, which can potentially indicate a mental health disorder. Less than half of all mental health social workers reported being “mostly satisfied,” and 19% were dissatisfied. On a scale of 1-7, the mean satisfaction score was 4.4. Mental health social work is an expansive field, with jobs relating to everything from disaster relief to substance abuse issues. It’s a demanding job, both physically and mentally, but one plentiful in rewards, and a field growing each day. Mental health social workers participate both in research and client work on a micro, mezzo, and mezzo
They often work in hospitals in order to diagnose mental illnesses and help with a discharge plan from a hospital or psychiatric setting. They assess their patients, and often provide therapy, as they are in frequent contact with family members of their patients. They must work together closely with members of mental health teams, such as doctors and nurses, in order to discuss the care that their patients will be receiving. Once out of the hospital or controlled environment, the patient is often moved to an outpatient treatment center, where he or she will also be treated by a psychiatric social worker. The average wage for this type of social worker was $48,960 in 2011, and there were 10,800 people employed in this setting. This job has good job security, as the Bureau of Labor and Statistics projects 31% growth for mental health social workers before …show more content…
Due to this, there is a high rate of “burnout” within the field. A 2005 study from the The British Journal of Psychiatry investigated the overall satisfaction of workers within the field, and many even report scores of a four or above on the GHQ-12, which can potentially indicate a mental health disorder. Less than half of all mental health social workers reported being “mostly satisfied,” and 19% were dissatisfied. On a scale of 1-7, the mean satisfaction score was 4.4. Mental health social work is an expansive field, with jobs relating to everything from disaster relief to substance abuse issues. It’s a demanding job, both physically and mentally, but one plentiful in rewards, and a field growing each day. Mental health social workers participate both in research and client work on a micro, mezzo, and mezzo