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Job outlook for clinicians in the United States
Clinician job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected clinician job growth rate is 9% from 2018-2028.
About 64,000 new jobs for clinicians are projected over the next decade.
Clinician salaries have increased 14% for clinicians in the last 5 years.
There are over 145,350 clinicians currently employed in the United States.
There are 105,023 active clinician job openings in the US.
The average clinician salary is $60,150.
Are clinician jobs in demand?
Clinician job and salary trends over time
Clinician jobs over time
Clinician job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 145,350 | 0.04% |
| 2020 | 144,307 | 0.04% |
| 2019 | 149,811 | 0.04% |
| 2018 | 146,253 | 0.04% |
| 2017 | 143,819 | 0.04% |
Average clinician salary over time
Clinician salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $60,150 | $28.92 | +4.4% |
| 2025 | $57,594 | $27.69 | +4.0% |
| 2024 | $55,359 | $26.62 | +3.7% |
| 2023 | $53,396 | $25.67 | +1.3% |
| 2022 | $52,717 | $25.34 | +1.3% |
Clinician jobs by state
Most common states for clinicians
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 2,151 | 31% |
| 2 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 291 | 22% |
| 3 | Alaska | 739,795 | 140 | 19% |
| 4 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 108 | 16% |
| 5 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 942 | 13% |
| 6 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 1,597 | 12% |
| 7 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 656 | 12% |
| 8 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 964 | 11% |
| 9 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 687 | 11% |
| 10 | New Mexico | 2,088,070 | 228 | 11% |
| 11 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 207 | 11% |
| 12 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 120 | 11% |
| 13 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 115 | 11% |
| 14 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 100 | 11% |
| 15 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 580 | 10% |
| 16 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 411 | 10% |
| 17 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 360 | 10% |
| 18 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 139 | 10% |
| 19 | Indiana | 6,666,818 | 592 | 9% |
| 20 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 67 | 9% |
Most common cities for clinicians
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danvers | 37 | 140% | $44,911 |
| 2 | Norwood | 20 | 70% | $46,678 |
| 3 | Leominster | 27 | 65% | $45,935 |
| 4 | Milford | 12 | 43% | $47,136 |
| 5 | Bangor | 12 | 38% | $39,576 |
| 6 | Lewiston | 10 | 28% | $43,665 |
| 7 | Worcester | 41 | 22% | $46,986 |
| 8 | Lynn | 17 | 18% | $45,335 |
| 9 | Framingham | 11 | 16% | $46,449 |
| 10 | Brockton | 12 | 13% | $46,955 |
| 11 | New Britain | 9 | 12% | $70,596 |
| 12 | Portland | 8 | 12% | $45,774 |
| 13 | Fall River | 10 | 11% | $48,554 |
| 14 | Hartford | 7 | 6% | $69,892 |
| 15 | Springfield | 7 | 5% | $48,313 |
| 16 | Indianapolis | 14 | 2% | $49,821 |
| 17 | Boston | 12 | 2% | $45,958 |
| 18 | Phoenix | 12 | 1% | $51,338 |
| 19 | San Diego | 9 | 1% | $80,890 |
Clinician job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of clinician experts
Northeastern Illinois University
Loyola University New Orleans
SUNY College at Oswego
University of Nevada - Reno
St. John Fisher College
Penn State College of Medicine
San Diego State University
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Boston College
University of New Hampshire
Cambridge College
Indiana University
Bay Path University
Springfield College
University of Nevada - Reno
Longwood University
Montclair State University
Lindsey Nichols
Associate ProfessorWhat Clinician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Lindsey Nichols: Trauma skills will continue to be a major focus as our society continues to drastically change. Technology and being fluent working with someone using some type of technology will be increasingly important. Although they are foundational skills of counselors, flexibility, empathy, openness along with your ability to be reflective of yourself and others (aka a good listener) are important in the field. Of course there is much to counseling, and the learning process never ends!
What general advice would you give to a Clinician?
Dr. Vanessa Alleyne: It will be important to network and utilize professional organizations of which you are a member, such as the ACA (American Counseling Association), or the ASGW (Association for Specialists in Group Work), for example. Meet people, attend training for advanced skills in key areas, and present there when possible. Whether locally or nationally, these are valuable connections to make when starting out, and will also enhance your knowledge base as you begin and grow. Another valuable connection to be made can be found through your alma mater. Find professional affinity groups from your undergraduate program, and certainly maintain or build ties with your graduate program alumni. Finally, many people turn to social media such as Linkedin, which is fine, but can also be a bit overwhelming. Be deliberate in your choices about who to connect with, and don't get fomo! It's ok not to connect with everyone that pops up in your feed. Stay with one social media site at a time until you feel it's working the way you'd like, and then go on to another.
What Clinician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Pamela Fullerton: Find a site with great supervision and a diverse range of clients. New clinicians really need to lean into competent and compassionate supervisory experiences that will help them not only increase their counseling competencies but also support in their growth around professional counseling identity, personal development, and multicultural and social justice advocacy. Additionally, working with a diverse range of clients at the beginning of a career will also support in increasing competencies in all the various areas of our field from skills and interventions to diagnosing and treatment planning.
Kevin Foose
Professor of PracticeLoyola University New Orleans
Rehabilitation And Therapeutic Professions
What Clinician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Kevin Foose: As our graduates enter the field of counseling and psychotherapy, the guidance that I provide is generally threefold. First I suggest that they develop a niche practice which they are passionate about. I encourage them to specialize rather than 'generalize' their practice. Towards that end I advise that they find a clinical supervisor and mentor with whom they share a theoretical and philosophical foundation. I encourage them to surround themselves with talented, experienced and inspiring professionals. And to follow their curiosity and cultivate the capacity to become highly competent clinically and theoretically with a specific population and modality of treatment (such as working with couples & relationships, adolescence, social justice & advocacy, play therapy etc).
What Clinician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Jodi Mullen PhD LMHC RPT-S: The bulk of the work a mental health counselor does is clinical, meaning you meet with clients and provide counseling. There is also record keeping, preparation, and administrative responsibilities. New and seasoned counselors alike spend some time in supervision and consultation with other counselors. Supervision is a time to discuss cases with a more experienced professional where there are opportunities for growth professionally and personally. Consultation involves either meeting with others connected to your clients, like parents of children clients, or with professionals in mental health and other fields that can help the counselor sort out a challenge. In that case it may be an attorney or a trauma specialist.
What will help Clinicians increase their earning potential?
Jodi Mullen PhD LMHC RPT-S: There are so many opportunities for mental health counselors entering the field. The need for our services is at an all time high. Recently, there has been a great deal of focus on self-care for professional counselors to ward off compassion fatigue. There is much more being offered for counselor self-care than when I entered the field three decades ago.
What Clinician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Donna Sheperis PhD, LPC, NCC, CCMHC, ACS, BC-TMH: There are so many different employment positions that a mental health counselor could take that a day could be incredibly different depending on their area of specialty. A private practitioner could have a full day of hour long individual sessions. A hospital based counselor might spend time running groups or doing crisis stabilization. A home-based counselor might travel from site to site providing family therapy or assessing living situations for child placement. Someone working in a substance use rehabilitation facility might find themselves Providing individual, group, and family therapy all within the span of several hours. In other words, a mental health counselor is going to be very flexible and able to provide a number of different services depending on the type of work that interests them and that they find themselves seeking specialty training and credentialing in.
What will help Clinicians increase their earning potential?
Donna Sheperis PhD, LPC, NCC, CCMHC, ACS, BC-TMH: When I talk to my former students as well as my friends and colleagues in the profession, they all tell me how richly rewarded they are providing a service to people who struggle with aspects of mental health. Being part of someone’s treatment, watching them find their way through trauma that has been burdening them, helping people leave behind a pass that no longer serves them, helping them find a way through genetically predisposed illness, or to overcome thoughts of death or suicide… These are all remarkable journeys to embark on with clients. To have the privilege to be part of healing when people are in crisis and pain and at their most vulnerable is really an awesome honor. Those experiences keep us hopeful and.buoyed throughout our career. When working in such an interpersonally intense profession, carrying that weight can be challenging itself. Some of the more routine tasks of the work that we do can also be burdening. As mental health counselors, we find ourselves making sure that we seek to do our own work in order to be able to do this work for others.
Lillian Wichinsky Ph.D.
Associate DeanUniversity of Nevada - Reno
School of Social Work
What skills stand out on Clinician resumes?
Lillian Wichinsky Ph.D.: Social workers are at the forefront of providing health and mental health services in the nation. There are many specializations that social workers can work in, and the skills that stand out on a resume are dependent on the type of social worker. For example, for a clinician, some top skills to include would be:
-clinical experience (therapeutic skills)
-ability to work with individuals, families, and groups from different ethnicities and backgrounds.
-case management
-resource management
-advocacy
-documentation
John Kiweewa Ph.D.
Associate ProfessorSt. John Fisher College
Wegmans School of Nursing
What soft skills should all Clinicians possess?
John Kiweewa Ph.D.: Receptivity to Feedback: Openness to consistently accept feedback in a respectful way is a vital quality, especially for new graduates. Such openness is important not only to feedback from supervisors but from colleagues and clients. Agreeing to or feeling bound to act on the feedback received is not as important as communicating appreciation for the effort of others in giving feedback. In this case, display of behaviors such as anger, annoyance, frustration, defensiveness, excessive/exaggerated self-criticism, or withdrawal gets in the way of learning and/or being a member of a team.
Appropriate Self-Disclosure: The ability for mental health practitioners to 'use' themselves for the benefit of their clients is one of the cornerstones of effective counseling. Such a quality is most evident when one only shares information about themselves that fits the nature and purpose of the interaction with a particular client. When personal information is revealed, it is tasteful, relevant, and is not upsetting, distracting, or confusing to others. Prospective employers are keenly aware of the ways self-serving or self-aggrandizing disclosure of personal information can negatively impact the ability to provide meaningful services to clients.
Reliability and Follow Through: Mental health professionals work in a helping profession that requires the professional to be consistently dependable, reliable, and able to follow through with tasks and assignments in a timely and thorough manner. This includes meeting deadlines, being punctual to sessions with clients and for agency meetings, being prepared, and having a reputation as one who can be counted on to do their part when functioning as a team or project member.
Flexibility and Adaptability: This quality is most evident when a mental health counseling professional consistently demonstrates a willingness to change or compromise in the face of new information, circumstances, and contexts. Situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, require mental health practitioners to have an openness to solutions that match the needs of their service recipients and organizations.
Sense of Humor: There is little to cheer about in the professional life of mental health professionals. We spend the majority of our working time listening to the most painful and vulnerable aspects of people's lives. This quality is most evident when a mental health counselor assumes an orientation to life that acknowledges to self and others the value of looking at the "lighter side" of life to maintain a balance; when they find enjoyment in laughing with others and recognize laughter as a way of reducing tension and as an important aspect of social discourse.
Confidence Balanced with Humility: Confidence in one's abilities (self-efficacy) is a general challenge for beginning mental health counselors. Some may appear over-confident as a way to compensate for lack of experience in the field and to project an image of competence. It is, therefore, important that new graduate is able to act with self-assurance by consistently expressing themselves in a clear, deliberate, and unassuming manner. It is not helpful to "put on airs" or flaunt knowledge or skills in order to bring attention to oneself. What is important is to convey appreciation for the privilege to partake in other people's life journeys and struggles.
Martha Peaslee Levine M.D.
Medical Director of the PHP and IOP, Director of the Office of Professional Mental HealthPenn State College of Medicine
Adolescent Medicine, Psychiatry
What soft skills should all Clinicians possess?
Martha Peaslee Levine M.D.: Good communication skills are important. Working as a therapist involves interacting with someone. It will be important to demonstrate being able to listen effectively and being able to communicate clearly. Active listening is important in therapy and in an interview. Be engaged; listen to the interviewer so that you are clearly providing the information that they need. For example, I often ask interviewees to tell me about a case that they found rewarding or challenging. From this, I want to know how someone thinks through a clinical situation. I want to hear how they describe their client (anonymously, of course) and how they put together the important parts of the story. If it was challenging and they now recognize ways to handle it differently, that lets me know that they have thought about this. It also shows that they are willing to reflect on difficult situations and learn from them. If someone cannot relate a story or discuss a client with me, that makes me wonder about their skills as a therapist and their interest in their patients. These clinical interactions can come from your work in school, shadowing someone in training, or internships. It is recognizing and describing the important elements of the case. Another important skill is good written communication. Check your resumes for spelling mistakes. Reread any emails to make certain they are clear. Send thank-you notes. Keep things professional--use the interviewer's professional title when you write. Be on time and have a question or two to ask about the position or place of employment. Examples can be, what are they looking for in a counselor? What have they found the most rewarding working in this office? Find your own go-to question, but interviewers what to know that you are interested.
Dianne Ciro Ph.D.
Assistant ProfessorSan Diego State University
School of Social Work
What skills stand out on Clinician resumes?
Dianne Ciro Ph.D.: Formal training and/or experience using one or more evidence-based Interventions.
What soft skills should all Clinicians possess?
Dianne Ciro Ph.D.: Clinicians need to be flexible, express empathy and warmth to their clients, have good communication skills, be self-aware, apply a social justice lens to their work with clients, and practice from a place of cultural humility.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Clinicians?
Dianne Ciro Ph.D.: Clinicians need to have keen safety and clinical assessment skills. After COVID, we also learned that it's important for clinicians to navigate and adapt to providing services both in person and through telemental health.
What skills will help Clinicians earn the most?
Dianne Ciro Ph.D.: All of the skills outlined above are important for clinicians to be effective in their jobs and earn a good wage.
Dr. Nathan Tenhundfeld Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Human FactorsUniversity of Alabama in Huntsville
Psychology Department
What skills stand out on Clinician resumes?
Dr. Nathan Tenhundfeld Ph.D.: Strong analytical skills are a must. This includes both logic and reasoning skills, but also data analysis skills. For many jobs, the ability to collect and scientifically evaluate data will be vital, if not an absolute necessity. Similarly, a strong understanding of experimental methods can put a candidate in a great position to be able to help a company evaluate existing programs and chart a path forward for new ones. Finally, I would say that a strong ability to write is critical. Those graduates who are able to effectively and persuasively communicate in writing are setting themselves up for success at any company and allowing the company to leverage them for increasingly important tasks.
What soft skills should all Clinicians possess?
Dr. Nathan Tenhundfeld Ph.D.: Students need to be able to read individual and group dynamics in order to act appropriately in any given situation. This includes not only the interactions with one's bosses but also peers and subordinates. Similarly, being comfortable with networking can help any company, but networking skills shine through in interviews.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Clinicians?
Dr. Nathan Tenhundfeld Ph.D.: Technical skills like the ability to perform statistical analyses are critically important for most Psychology-related jobs. This allows a candidate to collect and analyze data but also to interpret and understand other existing data. A strong statistical background can also help set a candidate apart from their peers in the application process. This includes understanding when and how to use various parametric and nonparametric statistics to be able to answer questions regardless of the data one is working with.
What skills will help Clinicians earn the most?
Dr. Nathan Tenhundfeld Ph.D.: An understanding of a programming language, like Python or Javascript, can be a huge advantage in the job market. It will allow candidates to handle not only large datasets but also do rapid prototyping (in cases of UX work, for example) or even simply design a way in which to collect data for a customer. A student who knows how to code and who can apply those skills in their chosen career field is likely to differentiate themself over the competition.
Treniece Lewis Harris Ph.D.
Associate Professor of the Practice, Program Director, Master's Program in Mental Health CounselingBoston College
Department of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology
What soft skills should all Clinicians possess?
Treniece Lewis Harris Ph.D.: -compassion
-active listening
-perspective-taking
-open-mindedness and respect for differences
-humility
-curiosity and critical observation
-problem recognition and analytical thinking
-creativity and flexibility
-presentation skills
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Clinicians?
Summer Cook Ph.D.: Absolutely. First, these graduates did not have normal college experiences for the last year and a half. There is a lot of disappointment and frustration there. They missed out a lot of classroom and volunteer experiences. Internship experiences were limited or had to be scaled back. Graduates may be skeptical about entering graduate programs with the uncertainty of in-person vs remote learning.
What's a good job out of college for Clinicians?
Summer Cook Ph.D.: Perhaps any job within the field of Kinesiology would be a good start. Students need a variety of experiences and if they missed out on normal shadowing or internship opportunities during the pandemic, any opportunity will allow them to determine what they like and don't like about certain careers. Telehealth in Exercise Science is new and a lot more opportunities in that area could be interesting.
What will help Clinicians increase their earning potential?
Summer Cook Ph.D.: Experience through shadowing, interning, and working and perhaps obtaining certifications will increase earning potential for fitness professionals and coaches. The greatest increase might be a graduate degree if one wants to practice in the medical field.
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Clinician job market given the pandemic?
Dr. Joseph Vedora: The need for people to work from home or provide telehealth services to clients, which is obviously different from services delivered in person.
What certifications/licenses/courses can have the biggest impact for Clinicians?
Dr. Joseph Vedora: Our students will meet the educational requirements to sit for the Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) exam and when they pass, will meet the requirements for licensure in Massachusetts (LABA). Our students have an average pass rate of 88% over the last 5 years, well above the national average of 66%! There is a shortage of BCBAs locally and nationally. Thus, individuals with these credentials are in high demand among public and private schools and organizations that provide ABA services in Massachusetts, and nationally. These credentials signal to consumers that the clinician is qualified to provide services and also permit them to bill insurance companies.
How have salaries changed over time for Clinicians?
Dr. Joseph Vedora: Salaries have risen over the past few years as the field moved to certification and licensure. Also, the high demand and need for BCBAs has resulted in increases in salaries.
Catherine Herzog
Clinical Assistant Professor of Field and Recruitment, LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker)Indiana University
School of Social Work South Bend
How have salaries changed over time for Clinicians?
Catherine Herzog: As social workers have become more in demand, the starting salary for a MSW is around $45K/year and the more experience and licensure/certifications as well as administrative roles, this can increase to $65-$70.
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Clinician job market given the pandemic?
Catherine Herzog: I think with all of different levels of trauma and loss associated with the pandemic, both clinical social and generalist workers and will be greatly needed for many years to come. In working with first responders, including medical professionals, police and medics, COVID has had a great emotional impact on these individuals and the potential need for treatment for secondary trauma will be great. Not only the trauma associated with COVID, but the amount of loss and grief is going to be a huge piece of clinical work for many years. Not only have many people suffered loss of loved ones and major life events, but, COVID has impacted the way people have or have not been able grieve and process their losses.
Also, the need for school social workers has already increased due to students being home and engaging in e-learning to address the many barriers that families have been facing during this time. School social workers will continue to be needed to address the many complex needs of families and school-aged children as they are coming back on site and reacclimating to the classroom setting and catching up on their social and academic development.
What certifications/licenses/courses can have the biggest impact for Clinicians?
Catherine Herzog: The LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) is the preferred license for clinicians as is allows billing to private insurance and Medicaid/Medicare.
The LCAC (Licensed Clinical Addictions Counselor) is the preferred licensure in working with clients with addiction issues.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) an evidence based trauma invention that is used by many clinicians working with trauma victims, etc.
Suzanne Gile
Adjunct professorBay Path University
Clinical mental health counseling, developmental psychology
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Clinician job market given the pandemic?
Suzanne Gile: The pandemic has led to an explosion of telehealth options. Prior to the pandemic, most clinicians did not offer telehealth as an option. I myself would never have considered it because it felt so impersonal. But being forced into telehealth has been a good thing. We are able to provide services to homebound clients, clients with transportation issues or clients who have moved farther away from the office location. I believe as we move forward from this pandemic we will see more clinicians continue to offer this option. Telehealth will increase access to services.
Please note that all telehealth services must follow your state's licensure requirements.
What soft skills should all Clinicians possess?
Suzanne Gile: Graduates will need to be flexible as they enter the workforce. Many have had fully remote internships and will need to adjust to the field as things start to open back up to in-person sessions. Graduates will need to be able to advocate for themselves to get the needed support in areas they may have missed training opportunities in during their internships. Lastly, graduates will need to have a good grasp of technology to manage online platforms.
How have salaries changed over time for Clinicians?
Suzanne Gile: I am not sure of the actual percentage change but in my observation salaries have increased significantly. When I entered the field in 1999, I was making $29,000. Clinicians entering the field currently are starting around $45,000. I personally have seen an increase in insurance rate reimbursements over the past 2 years. Aetna used to reimburse $60 per individual therapy session a few years ago but recently made another increase and is reimbursing $111.22 per 60-minute therapy session. Other insurance companies have also increased reimbursement rates.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Clinicians?
Elizabeth Morgan Ph.D.: There seems to be the potential for a number of cross-cutting impacts on graduates from a variety of disciplines related to the coronavirus pandemic, including interruptions in their academic pursuits (e.g., taking more time to finish due to lack of internships, ability to complete coursework due to family obligations or health issues, or a lack of finances to pay for their education).
Once graduated, it is likely that they are encountering a shrinking marketplace for hiring, with companies enacting freezes due to economic uncertainty. Furthermore, more young adults are turning to live with parents, which might make it harder to find a job since they are tied to a residence (or because they may not need to work if parents are subsidizing them).
Related to Psychology in particular, graduates may find an increased need for mental health workers due to lasting effects from workplace instability, social isolation, and health fears. There will likely be enduring changes in the way human services are provided, including increased telehealth practices or services provided via webinars versus in-person programming that might require additional training or acquiring a new skill set on the job.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Clinicians to find work opportunities?
Elizabeth Morgan Ph.D.: One potential outcome of the pandemic is that place may matter less as jobs are created and sustained with remote work environments. For example, it might be possible to participate in education endeavors, community mental health, human services in general, or consulting remotely, which render geography less important.
In addition, there will likely be changes in the types of jobs available to graduates in Psychology as employers are rethinking employee productivity in the wake of the coronavirus and need human resources specialists or industrial/organizational psychologists to consult on organizational change. Individuals with training and experience in delivering services remotely may find themselves able to secure some of these new positions; recent graduates will have a leg up in that regard, since they experienced training in a remote environment.
How do you envision technology impacting Clinicians in the next 5 years?
Elizabeth Morgan Ph.D.: The forced use of technology to connect with others during the pandemic will likely encourage lasting change in education, counseling and human services, business and marketing endeavors, research, and other areas where graduates in psychology end up. This will create shifts in what the jobs look like, what training is needed, and even perhaps, the mental health and well-being of workers in general. As these technological changes are introduced, new graduates will need to learn and embrace them to keep up with the trends, as well as evaluate their effectiveness.
Dr. Tammy Abernathy Ph.D.
Professor Special Education, Special Education Program CoordinatorUniversity of Nevada - Reno
Special Education Program
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Clinicians?
Dr. Tammy Abernathy Ph.D.: Yes, of course. There will be an enduring impact on all of us and that holds true for our graduates as well. They have lost out on lots in school time and experiences with students with disabilities. We have filled in these gaps as best as we can through virtual classes, video work and other options, but the truth is, there is no substitute for real kids, with real problems in a real learning environments. I don't think the impact of COVID will be long lasting for our graduates. They have chosen teaching as life's work and they work diligently in class and out of class to be prepared. They may find some gaps in their knowledge or experience, but these will fill in very quickly. Our graduates know how to advocate for themselves and they are skilled at reflective practices that will help them overcome the challenges they may find.
What type of skills will young Clinicians need?
Dr. Tammy Abernathy Ph.D.: Young graduates will need to linked to the host of resources that are available to them. To they will need to continue to be learners and willing to spend the time to hone their craft. Young graduates may need some financial assistance to join professional organizations that offer resources that will keep them on the cutting edge of policy, research and implementation. It is important that young graduates learn how to get and how to use the most current information and not rely solely on colleagues or their school district for information.
For example, the most cutting edge information for teaching students with disabilities in a COVID environment came of professional organizations posting information weekly and not from their employers. These organizations have been responsive to questions from educators and supportive of innovation from teachers. Young graduates are already technologically advanced and they know how to learn independently in some cases. We anticipate that they will be able generalize these skills into teaching practices for their own students. Young graduates must be knowledgeable in the content areas, but social emotional learning and trauma informed practices will be essential.
What experience really stands out on Clinician resumes?
Dr. Tammy Abernathy Ph.D.: Experience with students with disabilities in a variety of settings. A degree, a major and teaching license are important, but experience with students and their families matters. This is where the love of the profession and children is born. Special educators believe in their students. They set high expectations for students and they tirelessly push for these outcomes. We are not a sympathetic lot. We want our students to reach their own hopes and dreams and we can't do that unless we set high expectations and build self-determined students. Also, evidence that you are a strong collaborative partner, and you can show evidence of collaborative work will be noticed. Special education services are not provided by one teacher only. Being able to work within a group to serve students is essential. Advocacy skills are a plus. Experience advocating with and for students with disabilities will get attention. Further, demonstrating that you can teach students to advocate for themselves is also important.
What skills stand out on Clinician resumes?
Teresa Reynolds: Graduates who have had a variety of field experiences and not simply worked with one particular population definitely stand our as having more experience/skills. In addition, students who have a variety of leadership positions in extra-curricular activities or have demonstrated service through volunteering tend to "stand out" among his/her peers.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Clinicians to find work opportunities?
Teresa Reynolds: The unique feature that social work provides to its graduates is that there are a variety of settings to which graduates can apply. There are a variety of positions for BSW graduates in agencies such as Department of Social Services/Human Services, Nursing homes, hospice, foster care, probation & parole, domestic violence shelters, homeless shelters, prevention agencies, child advocacy agencies, early intervention programs and more. The trends are showing that the job market will seek social workers to work with the older American population, as our society is aging. Students are encourage to seek experience with a variety of populations so that he/she will be marketable.
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Clinician job market given the pandemic?
Teresa Reynolds: Due to the pandemic, many agencies have had to become well-versed in Telehealth/Teleconferencing and/or Zoom/GoogleMeets/GoogleHangout. I believe that this is going to be a new norm for many service related agencies, so students will need to become familiar with the various platforms used for telehealth and perhaps even receive certification in telehealth.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Clinicians?
Lynette Reitz: The coronavirus pandemic will impact graduates in several ways. The pandemic has forced social service agencies to embrace technology and to find innovative ways to deliver services to clients. Our graduates completed field education hours in agencies during the pandemic so they have seen how to pivot and build meaningful relationships with clients and coworkers under these extraordinary circumstances. With the overwhelming challenges that marginalized and oppressed populations experienced both before and during the pandemic, there are many unmet needs and graduates will be part of developing, implementing, and evaluating new programs. Social work graduates also need to be engaged in advocacy for social, racial, economic, and environmental justice.
What type of skills will young Clinicians need?
Lynette Reitz: The most important skills that social workers need are in relationship building, effective communication and practice, technology, and advocacy. In all areas of social work practice, it is crucial that social work graduates embrace the values of the profession and their ability to be culturally-sensitive in interacting with all constituents. Many social service agencies are utilizing technology in delivering services to clients and for workers to do their jobs effectively. Graduates need to learn how to incorporate technology into their practice and adhere to the profession's ethical standards for use of technology. Flexibility and adaptability in building and sustaining relationships are important characteristics for social workers because of the complexity of the people and systems where the work occurs.
What experience really stands out on Clinician resumes?
Lynette Reitz: Resumes that stand out are those that demonstrate that the graduate has experience in the field. Because social work is a profession that leads to employment in many different types of settings, it is important for the graduate to highlight his or her unique experiences including the knowledge and skills honed and gained from those experiences. Social workers work with marginalized and oppressed populations, so employers are looking for practitioners who are culturally sensitive, empowering, and dependable.