What does a clinical social worker do?
A clinical social worker is an individual in social work, which provides help to individuals in need of improving their lives and their well-being. Clinical social workers must work with different individuals to help them address difficulties that they are trying to overcome. To perform counseling services, clinical social workers must take and pass the professional licensure examination. They also help disadvantaged individuals connect to resources and services that they may benefit from.
Clinical social worker responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real clinical social worker resumes:
- Understand manage care, Medicare and Medicaid benefits.
- Screen, identify, diagnose using DSM nomenclature, treat and manage mental health and/or substance abuse problems.
- Provide clinical services to patients in rehabilitation and oncology including assessment, crisis intervention, grief therapy, and discharge planning.
- Provide individual, group, family therapy, team coordination, discharge planning, utilization review and MSW student supervision.
- Participate in weekly interdisciplinary team meetings to determine Medicare length of skil nursing stay.
- Facilitate therapy, symptom management, and rehabilitation groups for mental health clients in partial hospitalization setting.
- Provide crisis intervention and stabilization to veterans and dependents; complete follow-up counseling sessions to ensure patients' physical safety.
- Conduct IOP groups addressing life skills management and psychotherapeutic issues.
- Form therapeutic alliances through active listening, empathy and compassion.
- Utilize the current DSM to make diagnoses and formulate treatment goals while applying appropriate clinical interventions.
- Assist with rental assistance applications; Medicaid, Medicare, veterans assistance, and medicine assistance programs.
- Develop treatment plans specific to clients' needs and maintain progress notes in compliance with OMH standards.
- Treat disorders including depression, anxiety, attention deficit disorders, autism spectrum disorders and issues with social skills.
- Work with billing department of hospital in order to obtain billing information need to complete application process for Medicaid.
- Help patients with coping skills and teach them DBT sills to enable them to regulate their emotions and control their impulses.
Clinical social worker skills and personality traits
We calculated that 28% of Clinical Social Workers are proficient in Social Work, Patients, and Behavioral Health. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Emotional skills, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Clinical Social Workers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Social Work, 28%
Maintained and delivered quarterly data to District Lead Social Worker to facilitate program development and funding allocations for the Superintendent.
- Patients, 17%
Provide individual psychotherapy for patients enrolled in study protocol utilizing evidence based interventions such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Motivational Interviewing.
- Behavioral Health, 6%
Provided emergency behavioral health services on an on-call basis to include screening patients for safety and appropriateness of psychiatric inpatient hospitalization.
- Patient Care, 5%
Provided clinical assessment, treatment planning, coordinating with treatment team regarding patient care and facilitated individual and group therapy sessions.
- Community Resources, 4%
Conduct initial assessments for program appropriateness and provide case management, treatment collaboration, referrals, and linkages to community resources.
- MSW, 3%
Trained and supervised a MSW student/active duty officer during his clinical rotation.
"social work," "patients," and "behavioral health" are among the most common skills that clinical social workers use at work. You can find even more clinical social worker responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a clinical social worker to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "clients talk to social workers about challenges in their lives." Additionally, a clinical social worker resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "facilitated communication between patients, staff, treatment team members, families, and hospital administration to improve patient care. "
Interpersonal skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of clinical social workers is interpersonal skills. This skill is critical to many everyday clinical social worker duties, as "social workers must be able to work with different groups of people." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "supervised and mentored msw students utilized the modalities of c.b.t., d.b.t., motivational, and interpersonal treatment. "
Organizational skills. A big part of what clinical social workers do relies on "organizational skills." You can see how essential it is to clinical social worker responsibilities because "social workers must help and manage multiple clients, often assisting with their paperwork or documenting their treatment." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical clinical social worker tasks: "work efficiently in independent home environment utilizing excellent organizational skills. "
Problem-solving skills. A commonly-found skill in clinical social worker job descriptions, "problem-solving skills" is essential to what clinical social workers do. Clinical social worker responsibilities rely on this skill because "social workers must analyze their clients’ complex situations and develop practical solutions." You can also see how clinical social worker duties rely on problem-solving skills in this resume example: "provided family and individual therapy based on cognitive behavioral, problem solving, and solution focused oriented model. "
The three companies that hire the most clinical social workers are:
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Compare different clinical social workers
Clinical social worker vs. Family therapist
A Family Therapist works with couples and families to help ameliorate marital and family issues. They can work in hospitals, treatment programs, government agencies, health organizations, and private practices.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between clinical social workers and family therapist. For instance, clinical social worker responsibilities require skills such as "behavioral health," "patient care," "msw," and "home health." Whereas a family therapist is skilled in "group therapy," "fft," "family systems," and "clinical documentation." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Family therapists tend to make the most money working in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $50,267. In contrast, clinical social workers make the biggest average salary, $62,929, in the education industry.family therapists tend to reach lower levels of education than clinical social workers. In fact, family therapists are 7.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.8% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Clinical social worker vs. Addictions counselor
An Addictions Counselor helps patients overcome personal addiction problems, such as dependence on drugs, alcohol, and other substances. They evaluate the condition of their client through examining, asking questions, and recommending the proper treatment options.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that clinical social worker responsibilities requires skills like "behavioral health," "msw," "home health," and "mental illness." But an addictions counselor might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "chemical dependency," "substance abuse treatment," "treatment services," and "relapse prevention."
On average, addictions counselors earn a lower salary than clinical social workers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, addictions counselors earn the most pay in the non profits industry with an average salary of $47,326. Whereas clinical social workers have higher pay in the education industry, with an average salary of $62,929.In general, addictions counselors achieve lower levels of education than clinical social workers. They're 26.9% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.8% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for clinical social workers in the next 3-5 years?
Virginia Schwindt
MSW Field Director/Associate Professor, Union University
Clinical social worker vs. Primary therapist
Primary therapists are the main point of contact for patients concerning wellness and overall mental health. Those who choose this career path will be expected to supervise and manage efficient treatment according to plan, and to manage between six and eight patients at a time, keeping in constant communication with these patients and various specialists.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, clinical social workers are more likely to have skills like "behavioral health," "msw," "psychosocial assessments," and "home health." But a primary therapist is more likely to have skills like "treatment plan reviews," "family therapy sessions," "discharge summaries," and "individual therapy sessions."
Primary therapists earn the highest salary when working in the finance industry, where they receive an average salary of $61,326. Comparatively, clinical social workers have the highest earning potential in the education industry, with an average salary of $62,929.When it comes to education, primary therapists tend to earn similar degree levels compared to clinical social workers. In fact, they're 4.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.7% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Clinical social worker vs. Marriage and family therapist
Marriage and family therapists are health professionals who are licensed to diagnose and treat mental and emotional disorders of married couples and families. These therapists are required to treat patients with issues such as child and adolescent behavioral problems, depression and anxiety, and marital conflicts. They must observe the interaction of people within units while evaluating and resolving their issues with relationships. Marriage and family therapists must also guide their clients to go through transitional crises such as divorce or death.
Types of clinical social worker
Updated January 8, 2025
